Altered Books

Altered Books

I have always worked in altered books using the subject matter/ images to inspire my work. I usually choose books that are related to my work in some way but also from the past, as the language is more formal with forgotten phrases and outdated terminology.  A favourite altered book from 1998 was entitled “A Students Handbook of Housewifery”, which was certainly not connected to a love of housework.

 I found  “Where and Which Way” in a local charity shop about 10 or 12 years ago. It is a primer book for learning to read from the early 1970s; what attracted me was the white text on a black background and the unusual language, which inspired the work. It is this book which has inspired the name of the blog and the work I am making now. Although on  completion I was unsure how to take it further; I found when I returned to it that by making photocopy reproductions I could play with scale, enlarging details and combining images together. 

The text is used both in and out of context, fragmented and combined with new images. It has provided a lifeblood to my work and the use of text has become a constant from many other sources.

Pages from my Altered Books

Where and Which Way

The History of Toys

 

The Complete Book of Handicrafts

 

These collages produced in the altered books provide the starting point for the subsequent work, either as a whole or in fragments. As the work is processed through photocopying, printing and image transfer techniques so the fragments gain new identities

(For some reason the titles are refusing to play ball - not sure why)

Another Gem

 A new book arrived in the post today and I know this is going to be a cracker.  I saw it last week in "Special Collections" at MMU ( a new discovery - also likely to have a big impact on my work). 

  
"The Lakes to Tyneside" published in 1951 by Festival of Britain office - it is a wonderful collection of maps, photographs, natural history "its people and their work and characteristics".  It is part of a series  so I'm sure at 99p I shall but more.
I have connections with Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, the Lake District and Manchester and references to these places feature in my work