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October Issue 2005
Converse College in Spartanburg, SC, Offers Exhibition Focused on Book Arts from USC
The Milliken Art Gallery at Converse College
in Spartanburg, SC, will present the exhibit, More Than Words
Can Say: A Celebration of Book Arts, on view from Oct. 6 through
Nov. 4, 2005. The traveling exhibit that developed out of a University
of South Carolina Honors College course taught by Susan Hogue
of the Department of Art and Claudia Brinson of The State
newspaper. The exhibit, which is scheduled to travel to several
universities and
colleges throughout the US in 2005 and 2006, features works by
students of that course works created by nationally recognized
book artists.
Alison Hahn
Increasingly, book arts have become highly celebrated works of art in their own right. The "book" as we know it today evolved through history in diverse forms and materials. In ancient Mesopotamia, cuneiform script was engraved into clay tablets which were then baked to preserve the text. Nearly two thousand years later Egyptians painted hieroglyphics on papyrus scrolls. Little change in the development of the book was undertaken by the ancient Greeks and Etruscans. China, Japan and other countries in Asia also favored the scroll. However, it was during the early Roman Empire that the earliest example of the modern book was produced. The codex, a volume of animal skin leaves, called folios, was bound on one side and often covered with wood binders wrapped in leather or even gold and jewel encrusted. For centuries thereafter, the leather bound codex format remained the preferred method.
Peter Madden
The historically diverse nature of books raises the question "What is a book?" The definition in artistic circles is as varied as the materials used to make them. Book artists not only fabricate the stories within the pages, they also create the methods for presenting the themes which best convey their stories. Within this definition books have become truly interactive. They challenge the reader to explore the composition and the interplay of form and function, not simply flipping from one page to the next reading standardized fonts. Handmade paper, mixed media, a multitude of colors, and a wide variety of imagery make each book a work of art independent of the richness of the story found within.
Founded in 1889 and located in Spartanburg, S.C., Converse College is an independent, residential liberal arts college for women with a professional school of music and graduate programs in education, music, and the liberal arts. For more than 100 years, Converse has been guided by one vision-to prepare women to approach the world with intelligence and compassion. An emphasis on leadership development and service learning coupled with career preparation through a liberal arts foundation helps Converse students to find their place among the successful and influential people of tomorrow. Converse is consistently recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top college in the South, and is named to Colleges of Distinction and The Best 201 Colleges for the Real World.
For more information check our SC Institutional
Gallery listings, contact the Milliken Art Gallery at 864/596-9181
or e-mail at (art.design@converse.edu).
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