Readable Objects
22nd November 2013 - 17th January 2014
Readable Objects is an exhibition of experimental approaches to contemporary book binding. Readable Objects is the second in The Aram Gallery’s Beautiful Objects series showing contemporary designs alongside makers’ objects of inspiration. All pieces have been made by members of the international bookbinding collective ‘Tomorrow’s Past’ who make modern conservation bindings for antiquarian books. 9 members of the collective show new work in Readable Objects.
Bookbinding is often seen as the preservation of antiquarian books, in an antiquarian style. Tomorrow’s Past work only with damaged books, making conservation bindings which return a book to function, rather than copying a traditional aesthetic. The Aram Gallery uses this exhibition to consider how these rescued books are restored through the thoughtful design of a new cover or spine detail.
Experiments in articulating hinges, maquettes of book jackets, tests of the suitability of a fabric or paper will be exhibited for visitors to handle, to understand how this collective solve the design problems they are presented with.
To accompany each makers exhibit will be a contextual object; something which was related to making of the piece. It could be a sound which prompted the use of a particular material or a building which inspired a similar mini architectural construction. These background objects expand on a designer’s methods – they are a snapshot of their thinking. An interview with each participant about their exhibitions sits alongside their work to further illuminate on their approach.
Tomorrow’s Past participants are:
Kathy Abbott (UK), Carmencho Arregui (IT), Cristina Balbiano d’Aramengo (IT), Sun Evrard (FR), Charles Gledhill (UK), Katinka Keus (NL), Peter Jones (UK), Jen Lindsay (UK), Tracey Rowledge (UK)
Curator Héloïse Parke