In week 21 I announced my call out for my artist book project, 'Share Your Subconscious With Me.' The book will become a reminder that everyone has a different story, their own mind, their own experience. No one walks this Earth on the same path, everyone has their own journey. This book will also be a reminder that you are not alone, maybe some of the things I may get sent is relatable to someone out there.
'Share Your Subconscious With Me' is like a secret diary, all the thoughts, stories, experiences, poems and art contained in this book will live forever and stored in a safe place.
The Process
I wanted the book to look like a scrapbook/junk journal/grimoire hand have a very hand made, tactile and textured feel to it. The book contains all contributions from a variety of people from different walks of life, not just artists. I have also included some of my own writing, as well as using my own homemade paper, sketches, graphite rubbings and old unused acetate prints as backgrounds or page decorations.
Here is the pinterest board I made for inspiration: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/kirstenfarquhar/my-mind-of-art/zines-artist-book-ideas/
< I tried out putting my homemade paper through the printer. I didn't know if would work or if it would break my printer but surprisingly I was able to print onto most of the sheets. I think I made the paper thickness just right for the printer, only 1 sheet jammed because it was too thin, and one sheet wouldn't go through as it was too thick. I printed most of the text and images onto the homemade paper, some images I had to print out on regular paper due to some images appearing too washed out on the homemade paper. I also printed things like long poems onto regular paper as due to the font sizes on those poems, the texture on the home made paper made the writing hard to read.
Some of the larger images looked so beautiful printed on the homemade paper:
Here is a timelapse of me organising and making the pages:
Book Binding
I chose the slip knot binding technique for my book because I love the way the pages open like a sort of ring binder way.
Here is the instructions I followed:
Here is all the pages bound together:
Making the cover
I forgot to document the process of making the cover however I found some faux leather to use as the cover, and I made the cover stronger using 2 bits of cardboard which were slightly bigger than the pages of the book.
^ These are the instructions I loosely followed, altering them to the book binding technique I used.
From then I added a wee button lock so that the book pages can be protected. I also braided the tails of the book binding thread to make a bookmark.
I then decorated the front cover with a spare sheet of home made paper, sticks I picked up from the Howff, a natural print of a fresh leaf I made on fabric, as well as some scraps from my graphite rubbings.
I accidently spilled my water all over my work space and water seeped through and distorted the writing of the title, but honestly I actually really like the way it made it look. A happy little accident as the icon Bob Ross would say haha.
