Book Sculpture for Beginners
Event Info
This in-person workshop at Center for Book Arts takes place across two sessions on Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29, from 4–6pm.
Complete schedule:
- Friday, October 28, 4:00–6:00 pm
- Saturday, October 29, 4:00–6:00 pm
The book is always more than a carrier of words and pictures, and in this workshop we will explore the artistic possibilities of the book as raw material for art making. Using books that participants will bring, we will excavate, rearrange, cut—or tear—away, and explore the ways in which methods of altering the book allow other, more material, readings to take shape. From those portions removed from the books we will make collages and related works on/of paper while taking part in conversations about the relationship of viewing and of reading, the history of the altered book as art, and of the fate of the print book in an increasingly digital age.
There are a total of 12 spots open in this small-group workshop.
If you cannot comfortably pay tuition but are interested in taking this class, please consider filling out our financial assistance application here. We will notify you of your scholarship status before the start date of the class.
Required Materials:
1) Existing printed books of the student’s own choice, whether new or old. Whatever the subject of the book, consider that alterations of it as an object will affect its material integrity. As Susan Stewart puts it, “We are so often drawn to the sight of what is broken, damaged and decayed.”
2) X-Acto knives, for excising pages
3) Pigments for coloring (or for blotting out) text or image; pencils or markers for drawing in/on the book
4) Additional collage or 3-D materials for adhering to pages and/or cover
About the Instructor
Buzz Spector’s art makes frequent use of the book, both as subject and object, and is concerned with relationships between public history, individual memory, and perception. He has had solo exhibitions at the Saint Louis Art Museum, Art Institute of Chicago; Orange County Museum of Art; Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA; Rockford Art Museum; and many private galleries and alternative spaces. Spector’s writing, both critical and experimental, has appeared in various journals and reviews since the 1970s, including Artforum, Art in America, Art Issues, Bridge, Café Solo, POSIT, River Styx and WhiteWalls. Spector holds the BA in studio art from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale and the MFA from the University of Chicago. He is visiting faculty in the PhD in Creativity at University of the Arts, Philadelphia, and emeritus professor of art in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.
All images courtesy of the instructor.
Class size is limited to ensure an optimal participant to Instructor ratio. Register now before spots fill up! Registration for this workshop closes on October 21 at 11:59pm. Participants are required to comply with CBA’s Covid-19 health and safety measures. If you cannot comfortably pay tuition but are interested in taking this class, please consider filling out our financial assistance application here. We will notify you if you are selected to receive a scholarship before the start date of the class.