This Friday, October 17th, from 3pm-5pm, Special Collections will be hosting a unique interactive opening for "Lost and Found," an exhibit of book arts projects from students in Michele Burgess' Art of the Book I and II classes. This event is part of the San Diego Festival of the Book, co-sponsored by San Diego Book Arts and University of California-San Diego.
Back in March, Michele's students browsed the shelves of Compact Storage in the Library Addition Basement, and selected an outdated or obscure book that somehow spoke to them. After finding a book, they were asked to respond to the contents of the book by making a new dustjacket for it, along with inserts to be placed inside the book.
The conditions: the dustjacket and inserts must be completely reversible, must not harm the book in any way, and must fuse together the subject matter, the physical book, and their personal experiences to create a new and provocative book object and "visual conversation." The results were truly fantastic--the students responded in energetic and thought-provoking ways, breathing new life into these books and fashioning items that are incredibly original and imaginative.
At the interactive exhibit opening, the books will be placed in their original call number spots in Compact Storage in the Library Addition Basement, and visitors will have the opportunity to browse the shelves, keeping an eye out for these remarkable creations and leafing through their pages to experience the magic. Please join us if you can, to see (among others) a book about Arctic exploration "encased" in ice, a nineteenth-century guidebook to Turkey in the form of a time machine, a rhyming dictionary turned dialogue between rappers, and many more delightful creations.
Our last time in May was great fun! But if you're not able to join us for the reception, don't despair--we will be installing these wonderful items in exhibit cases outside of Compact between October 20-December 31. Some new projects from Michele's Art of the Book II classes will also be on display, and include samples from a project on "altered" books.
