Tangled Letters

I had thought, an assumption I now realize, that cutting the letters [For the Helvetica Variations] with the laser [Charm City Laser] would result in the negative and positive spaces releasing easily. In fact I was a bit worried I wouldn't be able to document the process. As it turns out it is a time consuming job. Tweezers are vital, [thanks for the tip Will]  I get covered with soot and I may have to revise my estimated time of arrival. The positive shape works well but next time I would give more space in the negative, and use much heavier paper.

Tangled letters, positive shapes

Letters with the burn mark from the laser

Open magazine with bits and pieces of the negative shape floating about, The space between F and G is particularly problematic

Will sent me this link, love the work, http://www.listeningwithmyeyes.com/
 by Ebon Heath

Temporary Alphabet or A Time-Based Alphabet

This alphabet continues to elude me. Every time I think I have it, it's somewhere else. Maybe I need to tie string to it. Yesterday I decided I was taking the whole thing way to seriously and decided to play. Take a roll of paper, staple it to the wall, add a container of joint filler, and a paint scrapper and let's see what happens. The letters only lasted a few moments as I kept smoothing over the surface before writing the next letter; and I only forgot one letter, which I faked for the photo below. Next time I will use heavier paper and if I am really smart use a gessoed board so I can really move into the surface; the wet joint filler and my use of the paint scrapper ripped the paper several times. Oh well, just smooth that into the whole.

The Temporary Alphabet

After The Bath / Desperate Measures

After I had finished drilling the other night I soaked the alphabet in water and tied it up in desperation. I was giving it a bath. It needed to relax, probably I needed to relax. A friend, Rosie, [link here and here] talking about the [w] hole thing, quipped that the process was getting violent. She mentioned drowning, shooting. Mmmmn, she had a point. Things were not going the way I expected or hoped. Not being able to saw through the holes was a blow. It's still not totally dry but some of what has happened I love; the wrinkling and curling of the paper, the new texture of the paper [it feels so much thicker, more substantial]. I love the bound edge curling back on itself. In fact it's the paper, that has so much vitality and life, that intrigues and moves me. The holes give it the sense of braille, another form of an alphabet.

After a bath the bound alphabet

Opening the pages

View through the holes

Curling pages

Water meets binding

Folded pages

Layout Ideas

I am still making maquettes for this alphabet. Every idea seems to generate more ideas, try this, mumm, try that...what about this. It's exciting, frustrating, and baffling. At this rate I will have 102 alphabets. Need to get clearer...HOW??? Ah yes, my tried and true method, sleep on it. Here is the latest ideas. Using a laser to cut out the letters, all the letters cut from one book block.

layout, need to put the bridges in so all the inner spaces don't fall out

letters cut into the book block

Notebook, Nov. 6.11

Letter B. The negative shapes are more interesting, except where the positive shape of the letter is bound.  Love the pages splayed open, the play of the cut words. Check font used by BBC. Check that off the list, ugly, even if it is a square. DECIDE : upper or lower case, and stick with it. Why not both? Try frame around each letter and maybe lose the interior of the letters.

 Love the pages splayed open

Feeling Very Guilty

I have not started my second alphabet yet. And I signed up with a fine bunch of people over at A Letter A Week. Well I have thought about it, done some sketches, thought some more, bought old books a various library sales this summer, thought some more, procrastinated; well you get the picture. Now I am ready to start, still not sure quite where I am going but the only thing I'm sure of is that I will be breaking the rules. Maybe I should have warned them that I am not so good at following guidelines. Wandering through some of my books the other day I was reminded, again, of the work of Jacqueline Rush Lee. I love how she understands the physicality of paper. What it wants to do and be. I hadn't realized that she uses "used books" in her work. Here, in her own words "For almost a decade I have found myself drawn to the intimate, tactile, and symbolic qualities of used books. I am interested in how these recycled books come with their own histories of use and meaning and how they serve as potent vehicles of expression." How this will translate into my alphabet, I can only wait and see.

Volumes Series 2001-2003, Manipulated, soaked, dried books, Copyright Jacqueline Rush Lee 2010

I can't get her web site to work but here is the URL: http://www.jacquelinerushlee.com/

you might find her Facebook site easier: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001255745685&sk=wall