When our ‘crafternoon’ group started off we’d no idea where we were going to end up. We just basically got together and got to work. Then a direction became obvious.
So, we folded 307 books… what a crazy idea? Why would anyone want to do that? Why ‘destroy’ books? Surely books are sacrosanct? They chart and document the progress of our imaginations and culture, they preserve for posterity our knowledge – history, science, politics, religion…
Well, actually, the sad fact is, that in Britain every year, around 13 million books are sent to landfill. So you could say we’ve saved ‘our books’ – fact and fiction, prose and poetry, biography and novel, legal textbook and recipe book, hardback and paperback – from that ignominious end. We collected most of them from a charity in Edinburgh which had no further use for them.
By folding them, we’ve alter their fundamental purpose. They’ve become anonymous (‘cover’ removed, ‘story’ no longer accessible), yet are beautiful in a different way, retain something distinctive.
We’ve folded 307 of them, to symbolise the number of years of the Union. Arranged together, we hope they make a powerful artistic statement and encourage people to think about change… which is a natural process and one of the few things in life which us guaranteed.
We shouldn’t fear change, but should welcome it. Everything needs to adapt and if we’re prepared to, we can influence the outcome – every one of us. Many small actions can create major change.
But 307? Why so many? Well, the number is easy – number of years of the Union. It’s been a long wait for the likes of George Lockhart.
We want people to interact with ‘A New Chapter’ at our art exhibition on 21st June at the Corn Exchange in Cupar. Come on, be bold! Re-arrange the pieces as you like, or take a piece away with you. (Limit, one per person.) The success of the installation will be judged by how few books we have left by the time of the referendum – hopefully none.
A new chapter is emerging, shaped by the community values, cultural traditions and folklore of Scotland, and our distinctive sense of identity. It expresses the hopes, aspirations and expectations of a new nation and looks ahead confidently, in poetic form. It has been contributed by the well-known poet, Professor Robert Crawford.
So, we folded 307 books… what a crazy idea? Why would anyone want to do that? Why ‘destroy’ books? Surely books are sacrosanct? They chart and document the progress of our imaginations and culture, they preserve for posterity our knowledge – history, science, politics, religion…
Well, actually, the sad fact is, that in Britain every year, around 13 million books are sent to landfill. So you could say we’ve saved ‘our books’ – fact and fiction, prose and poetry, biography and novel, legal textbook and recipe book, hardback and paperback – from that ignominious end. We collected most of them from a charity in Edinburgh which had no further use for them.
By folding them, we’ve alter their fundamental purpose. They’ve become anonymous (‘cover’ removed, ‘story’ no longer accessible), yet are beautiful in a different way, retain something distinctive.
We’ve folded 307 of them, to symbolise the number of years of the Union. Arranged together, we hope they make a powerful artistic statement and encourage people to think about change… which is a natural process and one of the few things in life which us guaranteed.
We shouldn’t fear change, but should welcome it. Everything needs to adapt and if we’re prepared to, we can influence the outcome – every one of us. Many small actions can create major change.
But 307? Why so many? Well, the number is easy – number of years of the Union. It’s been a long wait for the likes of George Lockhart.
We want people to interact with ‘A New Chapter’ at our art exhibition on 21st June at the Corn Exchange in Cupar. Come on, be bold! Re-arrange the pieces as you like, or take a piece away with you. (Limit, one per person.) The success of the installation will be judged by how few books we have left by the time of the referendum – hopefully none.
A new chapter is emerging, shaped by the community values, cultural traditions and folklore of Scotland, and our distinctive sense of identity. It expresses the hopes, aspirations and expectations of a new nation and looks ahead confidently, in poetic form. It has been contributed by the well-known poet, Professor Robert Crawford.