As far as I can tell it all started in 1993 with Armenian-American
artist Nina Katchadourian. She called her project “Sorted Books.” She would
start with a library – public or private – and collect books with titles that
in some way caught her eye. These she arranged vertically with the spines
facing forward sandwiched between backward-facing books. She then photographed
and shared the result. Today it’s an artform called “Book Spine Poetry.” Book
spines are stacked horizontally so the titles can be read top to bottom, their
combination forming some new meaning. Sometimes they create a haiku; occasionally they rhyme. Like most poetry, they may startle, amuse, set a mood or provoke
thought. One of my favorites (wish I’d thought of it) is, “My Dad is Big and
Strong, BUT...I Am a Tyrannosaurus.” Here are two from my own shelves:
Love this block! I'm going to have to give this block a try. It looks great in multiples. The 1930s repro prints are perfect for this.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you like it. I was originally thinking of rendering it in two contrasting near-solid prints. But I have SO many 30's scraps lying around...
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