Book: Woven Jelly Book

ExperimentsARTBook

Nov 19

Video:

About the Project:

From our youngest reading age, we become familiar with the concept of a book as a pseudo-magical object. Some of our first experiences with books happen amongst the dusty wisdom-laden smell of old pages and the towering bookshelves of libraries where fantasy stories captivate our youthful imaginations. Our educators, parents, and librarians further mystify and empower books with their rhetoric. We’ve all heard something to the effect of:

“A book is a window into another world”

In this latest bookbinding experiment, Bounty Archive explores this “window” motif with a flexible woven cover, inviting natural light to collaborate in the design. Open this book in direct sunlight and watch the pages become flooded with dancing golden reflections. Making a book is an endless source of joy.

This project features a hybrid binding technique based on a traditional four-hole coptic stitch. Between the two middle stations, I’ve added a French link stitch to give the matching blue embroidery floss more attention.

Mindful of how the flexible cover will want to flop-open when the book is stood on its tail (think on a bookshelf), I’ve added a channel and 1/4” elastic band to keep the covers aligned.

Continuing the theme of transparency, raw book board on the edges of both covers has been left exposed. Those interacting with the book will be reminded of its handmade nature and further appreciate its other details.