Isabell Buenz, who works on altered books, tells us about her artwork, and her thoughts about the Scottish
I have been altering books since 2010 now and really enjoy this art form. It is very satisfying to extend the life of a book that otherwise would have gone to the landfill or sat unused in a shelf for years to come.
When I was working on a number of commissions for Dunfermline’s Andrew Carnegie Day Celebration last year I quickly had ideas and was working on them before I knew it.
Producing an altered book in response to Robert Crawford’s poem ‘The Scottish Constitution’, however, proved to be much more difficult. I do love the poem, don’t get me wrong. It is clever, witty and both, a representation and appreciation of Scottish characteristics and life. You’ll see what I mean when it will be revealed during the ‘Hear the Nation’ event.
It was causing me some grief that the altered book was supposed to represent something as significant as the Scottish Constitution. I couldn’t possibly just start and go with my gut feeling and work with the first old book I came across. So, instead I started to dither, bought several books from charity shops and couldn’t even make up my mind which one to use!
Finally a few things helped to get me started:
I’ve been working with ‘The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Scotland’ edited by Iseabail MacLeod. The ground work of altering this has been done. The folds represent a number of things for me: the Scottish landscape, it’s richness and the Scottish way of life. It also makes me think of the beautiful thistles that grow in this country, inspired by the endpapers of the book.
I still have to incorporate the poem into my work, but it is nearly done and I won’t show you the final result as yet. Come to Cupar for ‘Hear the Nation’ and have a look for yourself. Hope to see you there.
Isabell Buenz
www.isabellbuenz.co.uk
http://isabellbuenz.wordpress.com/
www.flickr.com/photos/isabellbuenz/sets/
I have been altering books since 2010 now and really enjoy this art form. It is very satisfying to extend the life of a book that otherwise would have gone to the landfill or sat unused in a shelf for years to come.
When I was working on a number of commissions for Dunfermline’s Andrew Carnegie Day Celebration last year I quickly had ideas and was working on them before I knew it.
Producing an altered book in response to Robert Crawford’s poem ‘The Scottish Constitution’, however, proved to be much more difficult. I do love the poem, don’t get me wrong. It is clever, witty and both, a representation and appreciation of Scottish characteristics and life. You’ll see what I mean when it will be revealed during the ‘Hear the Nation’ event.
It was causing me some grief that the altered book was supposed to represent something as significant as the Scottish Constitution. I couldn’t possibly just start and go with my gut feeling and work with the first old book I came across. So, instead I started to dither, bought several books from charity shops and couldn’t even make up my mind which one to use!
Finally a few things helped to get me started:
- I was preparing a workshop for pupils on how to be more creative. This included suggestions, such as: just start, don’t think too much about the project, pretend it is of no importance… Fortunately I realised that I really should follow my own advice!
- Deadlines are an artist’s best friend. Once the pressure builds things usually start to happen.
I’ve been working with ‘The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Scotland’ edited by Iseabail MacLeod. The ground work of altering this has been done. The folds represent a number of things for me: the Scottish landscape, it’s richness and the Scottish way of life. It also makes me think of the beautiful thistles that grow in this country, inspired by the endpapers of the book.
I still have to incorporate the poem into my work, but it is nearly done and I won’t show you the final result as yet. Come to Cupar for ‘Hear the Nation’ and have a look for yourself. Hope to see you there.
Isabell Buenz
www.isabellbuenz.co.uk
http://isabellbuenz.wordpress.com/
www.flickr.com/photos/isabellbuenz/sets/