Saturday 16 June 2007

Working Small

One of the most important things to do when constructing an artist's book, I've found, is to make one (or more) models and dummies.

I made a dummy of this structure, a sewn double accordion, with eight panels almost two years ago, when I first started binding, and it took me almost another year to find a concept to use it with. By that time, I had decided I wanted one that had six panels instead of eight.

When you use eight panels, you fold the piece of paper in half, then in half again, and then in half again. No muss, no fuss. Folding a paper into six isn't quite as easy -- after the first fold in half, you need to measure each sheet (or better yet, make a template) for the next two folds.

After doing that with the two, 2.5 inches by 11 inches pieces of paper, (one-quarter of the size of my "finished product"), I nested them and sewed the first, third, and fifth folds together with cotton thread, and popped out the opposing pieces. Add some salvaged cardboard for "covers" stuck on with a glue stick, and voilĂ ! One sewn double accordion book, just under 4 inches wide and 2.5 inches high.

The Model

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