It has been almost two years since the first piece of anonymous book art popped up in Edinburgh. Then the works of Ian Rankin where all the rage. This time A. A. Milne has the honor. The piece is titled Preparing To Fly 2/5 and it recently showed up at the Leith Library with this quote from Winnie-the-Pooh: "It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like 'What about lunch?'" Here is a sampling of the gems previously left behind by the mysterious book artist of Edinburgh : ...
For the Third Culture Kids
Love this project by Jessica Y. Wen for her Artist Books class at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Third Culture Kids: A set of of 5 Self-Identity Accordion Books. First: A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents' culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture may be assimilated into the TCK's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background. Next: Wen designed and produced...
Living with and sharing 35,000 books
The Johnson family has been collecting and accumulating books since the late 19th century. In 1899 the first family library was built by Thomas Moore Johnson (1851-1919) to house his 8,000 books. It is little wonder that with a library of that size he was known as the “sage of the Osage” (the house and library were built on the Osage River). Now there are two family libraries and 35,000 books.The three generations of Johnsons did it the right way. Collecting “rare books” was never the intention. Collecting books that fell within their diverse areas of interest was the mantra and it...
A Bookish Look at Art Basel 2013
Art Basel is the world's premier international gathering for Modern and contemporary art. The leading art galleries from all over the globe converge on its shows held in Basel, Miami Beach, and Hong Kong each year. Fortunately for those who can't make it to Art Basel 2013, which begins today in Basel, Switzerland, Artsy gives us a front row seat to the action. Here is a small sampling of works for the book set that are currently on view: Noriko Ambe, A Book of Minimum (2013). SCAI The Bathhouse Anselm Kiefer, Für Paul Celan: Rutengänger (For Paul Celan: Diviner) (2005-2007),...
Booksellers for the Post Office
You've heard all the gibberish regarding the demise of the post office and the need to privatize the service but guess what? In some areas they are doing better than they ever have!Yes, of course, the advent of email and text messaging has decimated the need for a First-Class Mail service and changes will be surely needed to adjust to the changing landscape but check out what is going on with its shipping business:Total Shipping and Packages revenue in the second quarter increased $267 million, or 9.3 percent, compared to the same period last year. For the six months ended March...