Books in Capsules

I've long liked the idea of books in vending machine capsules. I've been hoping to incorporate this into my next show, which will be in the fall. Acquiring an actual vending machine is probably more investment than I care to put in (although, to be honest, I was surprised to discover one can be had for not much more than, say, framing a largish piece of 2D art).

However, I also thought it would be appropriate to have the "vending machine" be a handmade piece of the art. I have built a box that would be the perfect size, although, through trial and error, the dispensing mechanism has become increasingly simple until, in the latest incarnation, it is not more than a sloped drop down to a hole with a swinging door on it. The problem is, the @#$%! capsules tend to get stuck on the way down. I'm imagining the visiting public having to shake the box and shove their fingers up into the chute to unjam the capsules. Not quite the right idea. Alas.

By last night I was ripping out most of the innards of the thing and growing panicky over the time I've let go by on this. (Due to the usual health considerations, I've already lost much precious preparation time.) Sigh... I'll also need to complete about 50 tiny books to go into the capsules, in addition to the rest of the show. I have some one-of-a-kinds so far, and have some multiples in the making. They are actually kind of fun to do. Several have included found word texts. We'll see....

By the way, miniature books in toy-style vending machines are not a new idea. After I started on this, I discovered they have them in Japan, where miniature books are popular. And there are places in the US with a similar idea.

(Thanks to artist Scott Blake for sending the last link. He, incidentally, helped bring an Art-o-mat vending machine to Omaha, Nebraska.)

Paste-painted Dura-lar Book

I discovered that the paste-painted Wet Media Dura-lar that I mentioned in the last post can be cut, folded and stitched. I made a miniature book with it. The only problem was that it didn't stay shut. The pages insisted on staying open.

However, magnets in the covers solved that problem.

And the magnets can keep the book open in a circle too. (My favorite source for these is K&J Magnetics.)

The bits of colored plastic visible in the top picture are vending machine capsules. They will be explained soon.

A Cat's ABC

In the end, I did decide to finish a couple more copies of A Cat's ABC in addition to the recent pharmaceutical work. It's a small open-ended edition miniature, about 2" wide and just a bit taller.

Daily Planners

My Daily Planner

I did a stupid thing last month. I discovered that if one takes life-sustaining meds, it's a bad thing to forget a dose. A really bad thing. This little oversight, and then my trip south, put me out of commission worse than usual for a while. I guess I should've paid more attention to my own bookmark design from a few years ago. Alas.

I'd been planning to contribute something for an exhibition next month at Eureka Books that our local book arts guild is having. I was going to make something appropriately sellable and commercially pleasing, like my miniature cat ABC book. But it just wasn't in me. So I finished My Daily Planner instead. It fit my mood better.

PS: I wrote earlier about how I waxed the papers to make the cover material for the little books.

E-motives Laptop, Finished

The cover has a little more wobble than I'd like, and there turned out to be problems with the Tyvek cover—it was wearing on the corners. So I did some touch-up and coated it in matte medium, which seems to have worked. It's not the texture I would've preferred, but still, my little book about online depravity is done. 

(An earlier post about some of the inside pages is here.)

E-motives Laptop Project

The miniature laptop, my recreational amusement of the moment, is coming along. The basic form is assembled. The keyboard will be resized and added soon. For a while it wouldn't close properly, but that problem was solved with the use of a smaller diameter hinging wire. And the pages for the book, which will be housed in the "screen" and are meant to look like parody web pages, are just waiting to be put together (the mock ups are shown here). 

"How to stalk someone" turns out to actually be a popular search item on Google. I was thinking in terms of parody, outrageousness (although you'd think I'd know better, seeing as I've been harassed myself). After typing only a little bit of it, the rest of the phrase quickly pops up, suggested by the search engine itself. This is presumably based upon this term's 5,190,000 hits. Um.....interesting. I think.

Etc...

(Ok--perhaps it'll make more sense once it's finished...?)

Tyvek For a Miniature Laptop

I've had an idea that I've been hoping to turn into into a book before the We Love Your Books submission deadline in less than a month. The theme for their next show is "e-motive," to be interpreted widely. The book will be about unsavory things people do online--"not everybody's e-motives are as nice as yours and mine" will be part of the text.

I decided on a sculptural cover designed to look like a laptop. It's made of bookboard and a little bit of basswood. For the keyboard and overall look of it, I scanned all the various sides of an actual old grey laptop and manipulated them in Photoshop. Even so, what could I use for a covering material that would suggest a laptop in looks and texture?

I had a hunch that Tyvek might just work. In Photoshop, I made a sheet-sized area to print from the scan of the laptop's outer top cover. It's a slightly textured-looking grey. I printed this onto the Tyvek with my pigment inkjet. Only it came out green, not grey. So I tried it again only using black ink. Not bad.

To hinge it together, I cut a plastic cotton swab handle into sections and fashioned them into a hinge attached to alternating parts of the cover's inner edges. Through this I will thread a wire to hold it together. It's still not assembled, but it looks as though it's going to work. The reason the bottom half looks blue and streaky in the photo is that I had to rip the Tyvek off. It's waiting to be re-covered. The keyboard will be added on top of that.

It doesn't exactly feel like a plastic laptop cover, but it suggests a plastic-like texture, and is definitely not like paper. And the variations in the Tyvek add to a look of beat-up old laptop. We'll see...

The book's pages are going to fit into the screen area on top. Along with all the rest of it, I'm still working on those.

Background on Tyvek

Maps as Art

The world's smallest atlas, made for Queen Mary's doll house.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

I've been pondering a potential project--a metaphorical atlas (for lack of a better description). I've long loved maps and map-like visuals, and have been wanting to use that kind of imagery in my artwork for as long as I can remember. I think the time is coming to do it as a book. We'll see if anything materializes. For now, it's mostly in the sketching and pondering phase. 

What made me want to mention this was stumbling upon this exhibition review on the BBC news site. The British Library and the Royal Geographical Society are both currently putting on shows that focus on the artistic aspect of maps. One of the items they show is the miniature atlas above. 

Waxing Paper

As I mentioned before, I wound up waxing inkjet-printed papers for use as covering material for my latest books. I've been quite pleased with the result. I thought I'd outline the process.

First, rub an even layer of wax over the paper. Since this is for a miniature and my block of beeswax is rather large, this is fairly easy. (This fantastic block of beeswax, by the way, was found in a local health food store for less than $3.)

I then experimented with different ways of sanding the waxed paper. Regular fine grit paper did not work--it rubbed off some of the ink. I found this rubber sanding pad at the hardware store, and it works well. I can also roll it up to make it a little easier to grasp. For some reason, a regular sanding block with the same grit number did not work.

Then smooth with a buffing pad, also from the hardware store.

Wiping with tack cloth helps smooth out the wax, but it can leave a little stickiness. I buff some more after this step. Repeat until the desired finish is obtained.

Even though this is a small area to do, this process was causing me problems. I have painful and not very strong hands. I got the idea to try a cheap electric toothbrush to do some of the buffing. It works...up to a point, although I found it actually was not that much easier. However, it is another option and does allow for some finer finishing. I discovered at the drugstore that the toothbrushes are not all equal. Some only vibrate, and others simply don't feel nice in the hand when they're turned on, and, on some, only a small portion of the head moves. If you like this idea, take advantage of the ones that allow you to turn them on in the package at the store. That way, you can get a better idea if it might work for you.

In spite of the hand thing, I've been excited about this. The finish is just perfect for this project. It's smooth and glossy, and is far more durable than regular unfinished inkjet paper. It also deepens the colors of the printouts. I use an Epson with pigmented Dura-Brite inks. I'm not sure how others would hold up to this process, but I imagine they'd be similar.

My Daily Planner

Book blocks made from pharma inserts, waiting to be cased in.

Here's some more background on those miniature books I mentioned in the last post. Several months back, I found a 7-compartment weekly pill organizer in the drugstore. There was just something about the size of it—slightly larger than usual—that screamed "art supply."

I decided to make little books that look like day planners, one for each compartment. The pages come from copies of the pharmaceutical inserts from my meds. They are 7/8" x 1-5/8".

I've been trying to find a suitable covering material for the little books. I'd been thinking of using Tyvek, but in the end it didn't look "day planner" enough. Mostly, the tiny lettering just didn't look right no matter how I tried to affix it to the Tyvek. I opted, instead, for inkjet prints on paper.  

I made a solid black background and used white lettering. But then the coated inkjet paper scratches so easily and the texture wasn't quite right--what to do?  I decided, as a protective gesture, to coat the papers with beeswax, something new for me. It turned out that the coating not only offers scratch resistance, but the texture of the wax rubbed into the paper definitely suggests "day planner" to me. I was quite pleased with the result. They are smooth and glossy and not "waxy" at all (unfortunately, the picture doesn't convey this very well).

I made the first one last night and eagerly showed my husband, who said, "Wow, a bible--how funny!" 

Bible?! 

I had to confess, it did look more "bible" than "day planner." 

At any rate, I can recommend wax-coating inkjet printouts. I'll explain a little bit more about my process for coating them in the next post.

A finished "day planner"

Codex Goes to the Fair

As it turns out, my last two available bottles of Codex, out of an edition of 5, are heading to San Francisco this week. If you're in the Bay Area this weekend, Feb 6 - 7, consider stopping by Eureka Books' booth at the San Francisco Antiquarian Book, Print and Paper Fair at the Concourse (7th and Brannan), where they will be on view and available for sale. They'll also have copies of a new edition of my miniature Cat's ABC (more on that soon). Eureka Books put up an online catalogue sampling (PDF) for a peek of some of the rare books and ephemera they'll have there. 

Adverse Events on Codex...with Some Poisonous Plant Exposure

I have a collection of pharmaceutical informational inserts. I mostly use them as art material. Some actually came with my own prescriptions, and some were given to me. (It's helpful to have an acquaintance in the medical field who is willing to pass these things along.)

I first started paying attention to them when I was putting together an entry for a We Love Your Books show in '07.  The theme was A (is for add) B (is for book) C (is for collaborate). I chose to do P is for Pills. It was probably the first book-related thing I did that I packaged in a pill bottle. I filled it with little pamphlet-style books made from the informational inserts.

At any rate, I felt that my bottles of "Codex" (tiny books in capsules that, as a work, I'm calling The Literary Cure), needed a little something more--an accompanying informational insert, of course! So I opened up InDesign and Illustrator and got to work.

Of this edition of five, three are already spoken for, and one will be headed to a big book fair at the end of this week. I have not actually made that many bottles of Codex yet. Tiny capsules with tiny books are slow going for someone with hand issues (that is, me). The three that are being purchased were ordered by someone who is willing to wait, even knowing that it might take me months. What a great person! I partly added the insert for her. She deserves a little something extra for her patience.

All this reminds me of the funniest real pharma insert I've seen. Have you ever read the fine print on some of these? This was for a well-known sleeping aid. It had the familiar charts displaying the adverse events that had been noted in clinical trial subjects. After all the various bodily systems and their related side effects were listed, there was a mysterious category of "social circumstances." Here it was noted that one research subject, after consuming the sleeping aid, had experienced "exposure to poisonous plant." I tried to imagine... a crazed sleepwalker nibbling on a euphorbia? Running through a field of poison oak? The possibilities...

At Last, a Little Bit of Studio Stuff

Finally, I've been able to spend a little bit of time here and there in the studio. After a longish period of not being able to do much, I'm trying to get caught up on some projects. For one, I'm completing a couple more copies of the Literary Cure (pictured at right). This particular small edition seems to be developing a following. I hadn't realized that the concept of literature as pharmaceutical would resonate so well with others.

Here are some mini book blocks drying while clamped in small clothespins. They will be trimmed down and have covers added later.

Then they will eventually be put in capsules. Here's another example of what the finished encapsulated books  look like.

There are also little book-like items with printing on them that are clamped and drying with the others (in the picture before last). They are miniature prescription pads for a pharmaceutical shrine I'm finishing up.

This is a sneak peek through one open side. Better pics of this will appear in a few days, hopefully photographed well enough so that you'll be able to appreciate the gold-leafed interior and offerings.

And while I'm at my messy worktable, I'll show a couple of my favorite tools that are sitting here. Top left is an ergonomically shaped teflon folder. It makes folding papers so much easier. The blue item is my British scalpel handle, which makes grasping the scalpel easier. In general, I prefer working with scalpels rather than craft knives.

More soon as things progress . . .

Bookshelf in a matchbox

Another Flickr find. Not quite as small as capsule-sized, but pretty teeny. This is from Buechertiger in Bonn, Germany. If you go to look, I recommend having a peek at the individual book pictures too. Coptic endbands the size of pinheads?

Bookshelf in a matchbox
Originally uploaded by buechertiger

Life from a Pill Bottle

I feel as though I am returning back to the land of the living. My original intention for this blog had been to focus on paper and book art to the exclusion of more mundane personal stuff, but I've been finding that hard to do. There is just too much overlap between what goes on with me and what I wind up doing (or not doing) in my work space.

Actually, when I set this thing up, I hadn't planned to let anyone even know that I was doing it. I'd thought I'd just create a little anonymous spot on the web where I could motivate myself by writing about projects I was thinking about and about miscellaneous paper-related discoveries I'd made online. If anyone actually stumbled upon it and kept reading, swell. But I wasn't aiming to share my life. Very unbloggerly of me, I know, but that was my thinking.

Then, a funny thing happened. When I was doing the bookmarks recently, I had to put my info on the back of them. And, to my surprise, I found myself putting this blog address on the back. I've been using the Paper Chipmunk name as the imprint for my book work. I guess I'm embracing my inner chipmunk. And sharing my life...

In spite of a show coming up soon with the book arts guild I belong to, I haven't been able to do much of anything for months. My health matters have been getting worse and worse. Not to sound melodramatic, but I'd reached the point where I was seriously pondering "my affairs." As in knowing deep down the time had come to damn well get them in order, however one is supposed to tidy up such things. But I felt too unwell to even do much of that. The scariest part was nobody could really offer much of an opinion what was wrong. Some major endocrine stuff, among other things, was happening, but of a sort that should be controlled by taking artificial replacements from pill bottles. However, it didn't seem to be working very well. And doctors' patience runs out when answers don't come easily. I felt like I was slowly dying, quite literally. My MD was probably hoping I'd be sucked up by aliens on my way home, never to reappear.

Then an amazing thing happened. My pharmacy was going to switch my hormone replacement with another generic brand. I have allergies to some ingredients in pills, and this new one had some questionable things in it. So, feeling annoyed that I was now going to have to pay a lot more for my meds, I grudgingly went on the name brand version of my rather common drug, hydrocortisone. Within half a day of switching brands, I felt better than I'd felt in a long time. People I hardly know have been stopping me to tell me how much better I look. Even the constant pain I live with, something that's not supposed to be related, became a bit more controllable. The change has been remarkable.

I'm sharing my rather personal medical saga as a sort of public service. If your medication doesn't seem to be properly controlling your problem as well as you think it should be, it might be the brand of your pills. This is actually not the first outrageous generic medication incident my family has suffered from. I'm discovering it's a common occurrence. The ever-expanding generic drug industry seems to be largely a racket.

However, in celebration of feeling alive again, and in honor of pills, I have made a bottle of a pharmaceutical I am calling Codex. Why read when you can take your books in pill form? Each capsule contains a miniature perfect bound book. If things remain controlled, over the next year I plan to make an edition of 5 bottles of Codex. Or, rather, Paper Chipmunk Press will be issuing bottles of Codex...

As an aside, I digitally designed several of the miniature book covers. Knowing they were going to be shrunk down too small to be legible, I had great fun coming up with faux titles. A few: Iatrogenic Horror: a Novel; Arts and Crafts for Phlebotomists; Doctors Kill... I think you get the idea.