While working on my altered book, I learned
several lessons. First, I learned that I needed a complete vision before I
began working on it, or else it would look really bad by the time I finished.
Second, I learned that I needed to keep the materials at hand in mind while
planning my alterations, because some things are limited by lack of materials.
Third, I had to learn to be more patient and flexible while altering my book.
As I kept going I realized that I may have taken a step I shouldn’t have before
another one, or that I might lack some materials. I had to learn to adapt to my
mistakes as I went, because I made a lot of them.
When I first approached this
project, I looked at the book I had and wondered how I could make its
appearance fit the story. It was my favorite book, Sundays at Tiffany’s, and I
had read the story so many times that I could practically recite it. I always
remembered how it was a story with many dimensions, so I began my alteration
process by cutting the edge of each page so that they were each uniquely waved
and gave texture to the pages. This was an extensively time consuming process,
but it ultimately came out well and I was satisfied with the result. Next I developed
a plan to alter the cover. I knew I wanted to make it hardcover since I had
practically worn out the paper cover from use and wanted something more
substantial and likely to survive my abuse. I also chose to make it white since
the story took place in winter, and wanted red accents because it was a love
story.
Making the cover the way I planned
it out really tested my patience and planning skills. The hardest part for me
to do was cut the binder’s board with the cutter. It was very frustrating because
I just couldn’t get it perfect no matter how hard I tried. Plus, it took a long
time to cut each piece out and I found myself growing impatient. However, my
impatience only made the matter worse. I would just make more mistakes.
Eventually I became satisfied enough with the pieces that I could move on, but
I had to take several breaks and couldn’t rush the process even though I really
wanted to. Next I measured the pieces to cover them with paper and finally
adhered them. At this point I made the realization that I probably should have
cut one piece of binder’s board that bent at the binding instead of three
separate entities, since I didn’t have any particularly good ways to attach the
pieces once they had paper over them. However, I was out of the paper I wanted
to use after covering the binder’s board with them. Once I covered the pieces
with paper, my last step was to adhere these pieces both together and to the
book- a hard feat when the binding of the book couldn’t attach to the new
binding I had made without making it impossible to open the book. After careful
placement and lots of glue, I individually stacked books on top of the parts I
glued together one at a time, each taking at least 15 minutes to dry. However,
after this I was completely done and I was very happy with the way it came out!
After I finished altering my book, I
moved on to our reading. In going through it, I really honed in on the Japanese
history of papermaking. Ever since I was little I’ve had a fascination with
Japan, and I even know bits and pieces of the language, so it really caught my
attention since I already knew a lot about the culture. I was particularly
fascinated to make the connection with paper and the gods. I had wondered prior
to this if it was intentional that the words “god” and “paper” were just
slightly different pronunciations of “kami,” since Japanese shines are usually
decorated with abundances of pure white paper. I was happy to find that they
were at least somewhat connected, as well as the words for thunder (“kaminari”)
and rain (“kame”). I was also interested by the story of the apparition that
had a shrine for papermaking history dedicated to him because many shrines are
named after similar apparitions. It was also interesting to find that Japan
printed the first book despite the fact that China had been ahead in all of the
inventions leading up to that. Overall, I was very interested in all of the
Japanese history.
Renate’s idea that having a complete picture in your mind about what message your altered book will convey is definitely a sound one. I also agree that an artist should keep in mind the limited materials that one has. Basbanes and Hunter have expressed this point as well. I used cut-out magazine letters for my book, and I purposely spelled out what I was going to put on the page before I started gluing. Since the letters were different sizes and colors, some combinations looked better on the page, while others simply did not fit.I cut out all of the letters that I could reach, so if I did this wrong I would have to buy another magazine. Since this was a snow day, I knew that that was not happening. Another aspect of her altered book that I liked was how she modified the pages. By altering the edge of each page to show uniqueness, Renate is enhancing and adding to the story’s message. I also think it is very interesting how Renate was able to take her love and understanding of Japanese culture and use this to expand her knowledge about the history of the book and paper. It is very interesting how the same information can have different meanings for different people, just like art. The same is true for books. Certain books may mean nothing to one person, but others may have a strong emotional connection to them. If we were to alter each other’s books we would not convey the same messages because we have varying ways of perceiving meaning.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way that Renate’s altered book turned out; she completely transformed the cover of her book to represent the actual story that took place. Renate also decided to go about the assignment in a completely different way than I did. She decided that she wanted a complete vision of what she wanted the altered book to turn out as before she began the process. I did the exact opposite, I didn’t have a vision of how I wanted my altered book to turn out. Instead I really wanted to just try different things with the book to see what would work and what would look interesting. I hope that with the next project, I can have more of a vision of what I want the end product to be before I start. I also think that by changing the cover from paperback to hard cover was a very creative idea. The paperback had been worn down and by making it into a hard cover, she could preserve this book for a longer period of time. I think that it’s great that Renate could connect with some of the readings because of her fascination and knowledge that she already had with Japan.
ReplyDeleteRenate’s book cover is simple, yet beautiful! Renate described the book alterations process to be extensively time consuming and that adapting to the mistakes made was essential. The book Renate chose was a meaningful book. It was a love story, so Renate felt that the cover should relate to the story itself. Renate made the cover to be a hardcover because she wanted it to sustain the “abuse” she was going to do to it by altering it. I can relate to Renate when she said she just couldn’t get it perfect. I felt that was a huge obstacle to me because I would spend the most time making sure every alteration was exactly the way I wanted it, and that made me very frustrated! Renate really had a clear vision about the alterations that were going to be done, and I definitely did not go into the alterations knowing exactly what I wanted to do. This also caused frustration for me. I thought the history of Japanese was really interesting as well!
ReplyDeleteI could definitely relate to a lot of the issues that Renate faced when working on this alteration process. Adapting to mistakes along the way was a big challenge that I feel I faced as well. I had wanted to glue the pages of my book together and cut a series of holes in them, each one getting smaller so as to create a little tunnel. However, I realized too late that I needed to cut the holes first and then glue the pages together because doing it the opposite way created a lot of challenges in terms of not being able to cut through to the right amount of pages each time. It definitely is a learning experience so I’m sure the both of us will be able to use our mistakes and experiences when it comes time to do our next altered book process. However, Renate’s book cover still came out very well and I think it was worth all the trials and tribulations, as the meaning behind her design was really fitting for the book. The history of Japan’s experiences with paper were interesting to me as well. Paper definitely seems to play a larger role in their culture than it does in ours, as I recall the reading said they used to use it for houses and windows, as well as how Renate mentions, for decorating their shrine, which it is not used for in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThe way Renate went through her process of making the book is totally relatable. It is so easy to want to just get something over with, but knowing that you need to take your time in order to make it come out the way you want. Her process of creating is very similar to mine, and I need to have a clear idea of what I am doing before I begin. It is totally understandable that she became frustrated when she couldn’t get the binders board to cut the way she wanted it too. When you are so close to finishing a project, any minor interruption can make you go crazy. It is really important to take breaks and to take a step back before continuing your work when these feelings start to happen! The way that she adapted to her mistakes was essential to her project, and it proved to be well worth it in the end. She did an awesome job altering this book, and while the cover may have been a hassle to create, it came out really good. Luckily for her, she was able to connect with the readings on a different level because of her prior interest in learning about Japanese culture, and was able to appreciate the readings more.
ReplyDeleteRenate did a great job with her altered book project. Similar to Renate, I had to form an image of a finished product in my head and think about what exactly I wanted to do before I began modifying my book. This however, is a different approach than other students’ who focused more on the process and jumped right into their book alterations. I am definitely the type of person who needs to list and plan out the steps prior to taking on a project. This is because I like to have a structured idea of what I want my finished product to look like. Usually, if I fail to do this, I am unhappy with the results. I thought it was interesting how Renate wrote about some of the problems she encountered throughout this process. Most students, including myself, did not bring up the difficulties they faced, and I actually made quite a few along the way. While at times this was aggravating, I think it helped me to understand the full extend of what Professor Hasseler wanted us to learn from this assignment. Also, I am trying to learn to love the process of doing something, rather than the just the outcome. Renate faced several struggles throughout her project but she was able to stick with it and produce a final product she was proud of. In terms of the reading, it was neat to see that Renate could connect the article with prior knowledge she had about Japan and its culture. Connecting the readings, which were dull at some moments, to things that interest you, is a great way to stay intrigued with the material. Because of this, the reading material was able to impact Renate in a more significant way.
ReplyDeleteThe three lessons that Renate learned while altering her book were very insightful and what I think was meant to be learned for our first alteration experience. I think that the most important lesson was to have some sort of a vision or idea about what you’re altering the book into before you start. Although the process may bring you many different ways while you’re working, it is still a good idea to have a plan so that the book doesn’t just end up a destroyed mess. My favorite part of Renate’s book was the cover and how she transformed a paperback book into a hardcover book.
ReplyDeleteIt was really interesting how Renate connected her passion for the Japanese culture to their history of paper making. The connection between the words god and paper are especially interesting and how their shrines are decorated with pure white paper. After learning about the history of paper and how rare and valuable pure white paper was, it makes a lot of sense as to why they would use this to decorate a shrine.