another great day at
Camberwell - it's that time of year within the College calendar when all is
possible. A folding workshop focusing on exploring the structure of book - what
more could one ask for - folding paper with thoughtful people all morning! Then a presentation exploring the possibility of book through the lenses
of bookness, https://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/001-a-what-is-book-bookness-2016 a concept I first came across whilst in dialogue with the
wonderful Ivor Robinson.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10750258/Ivor-Robinson.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10750258/Ivor-Robinson.html
I was helping to write the document that was to become the MA Book Art Course at
Camberwell with Alex Lumley and I came across a book art module that Ivor had
been running in Oxford Poly which allowed students to explore the possibility of book. He was wonderfully generous and incredibly supportive
in helping to develop my thinking around the building of a course and it goes
without saying sowing the seeds of my understanding of what was possible with
the book. The concept of bookness was just my thing, I enjoyed the slippage of
language - the space between things - not quite book but maybe more so - the
essence of book..... and I have talked about it and built a career around it since
then, 1990 seems a long time ago. I really enjoy coming across its use, that it is now a thing and
has becoming its own idea for people to make of it what it is for them. Even
though Ivor was a binder of the highest quality I am sure he would love this
spreading of the word where the book is only limited by the imagination.