5
ARTIST BOOKS
Elizabeth Sheehan
FINE ART AND BOOKMAKING
Artist books are a unique intersection between the worlds of fine art and bookmaking. They can be almost anything, from altered books to fine bindings, large sculptural objects to miniature books, scrolls to codices, and so much more.
To me, every aspect of an artist book should be well considered and the book thought of as an art object. The binding should enhance viewers’ experience as they explore the content and ideas within the book. An artist book should ideally have a reason to be bound in a particular way, either conceptually or formally. For example, if the imagery in an artist book is one long landscape, the artist might choose an accordion structure so that the entire book can be unfolded and seen at once. Alternatively, the artist could choose to bind the landscape as a pamphlet structure where only one spread can be seen at a time, encouraging a sense of passing time, and enhancing the importance of each spread’s individuality.
Beth Sheehan. Coruscation, modified accordion with pop-ups, 2012.
Editioning
One consideration in creating an artist book is the number of copies you plan to make. There are a multitude of artist books that are produced as single copies or “one-offs,” often because of the amount of handwork included in the production of the book. However, when an artist book incorporates repeatable processes, such as digital printing and letterpress printing, the artist may decide to produce multiple copies. This is known as editioning.
An edition is a number of books, prints, or objects produced from the same matrix (i.e., digital files, printmaking plates, or similar) generally at the same time. Artist books often intersect with the fine art print world when it comes to editioning, with books produced in a limited edition, meaning there are only a specific number. The number in the limited edition is often decided by the artist based on the cost of materials, time, and handwork involved in producing the edition; desired accessibility of the multiple; and the artist’s market. Zines are generally produced as inexpensively as possible and in larger editions (often hundreds) to maintain their accessibility to a wider audience, while a fine art artist book may consist of luxury materials, fine printing, and a more complicated binding type produced in a smaller edition (maybe only twenty or so).
A colophon by David Aubert / British Library, London, UK / © British Library Board. All Rights Reserved / Bridgeman Images BL3290181
Colophons
A final consideration when designing your artist book is the inclusion of a colophon page. Colophons are a historic tradition in books and are found in many artist books. A colophon is a short description of the book—there are no set rules on what information you include in a colophon, but some of the items might be your name, press name, signature, year, edition number, printing methods, typefaces used, paper types, other materials used, publishers, authors, and more.
Even if you do not wish to include a colophon, artists are encouraged to sign their artist book and to write in the year and edition number if applicable.
A colophon showing Richard Pynson's device / British Library, London, UK / © British Library Board. All Rights Reserved / Bridgeman Images BL3307352
DRUM-LEAF STRUCTURE
Even with the limitless possibilities of artist books, there are still some book structures that lend themselves better to artists’ needs: One of my favorites is the drum-leaf. This book structure was created by the bookbinder Tim Ely and is incredibly useful for a number of reasons.
Drum-leaf is a book structure that’s glued (or drummed) rather than sewn. The pages (or leaves) are adhered together as individual folios rather than as signatures or gatherings. These two factors can be ideal for artists because the absence of thread in the gutter means there is no visual interruption within the spreads. Also, working with individual folios rather than signatures means that you do not have to worry about page imposition or pagination when printing. The way this style of book is put together also allows it to open completely flat.
Another benefit to the drum-leaf structure is that the individual folios are glued back-to-back in creating the text block. This means that one-sided papers (such as some photo papers) can be used in drum-leaf because the back will not be seen when the book is finished. This can also be particularly beneficial to some printmakers, because certain print processes create impressions that can visually interfere with the imagery on subsequent pages in other book structures. These impressions are hidden between the spreads in the drum-leaf structure.
Beth Sheehan. Beloved, 2016.
This drum-leaf is has a drop-spine cover seen here. This cover style features the slightly hidden detail of silver ridges beneath the spine cloth and the thickness of the cover boards give the book a weight reminiscent of the concept.
Kyle Holland. Birds of Prey, 2015. Full-leather drum-leaf. Inkjet printing, screenprinting and letterpress printing on handmade paper. (Top: outside, Bottom: inside)
This book features a three-piece case allowing for flexibility in the spine and also features full leather covers and a suede spine.
Planning and Preparing the Pages
MATERIALS
Paper
Glue
Newsprint
TOOLS
Bone folder
Glue brush
Weight
Thinking about each step and decision before buying materials and prepping can be very important for successful artist books. Here are some tips and things to think about before you start making your book:
• When making an artist book, it is always a good idea to make small tests or “mock-ups” of the book before producing the project. I usually make a rough digital mock-up that I print on copy paper and bind, using the book structure that I plan to use for the final edition. This helps me get a sense of how a viewer will interact with the book’s structure, content, and sequence.
• Make adjustments. At this point, I sometimes change the binding I planned to use if the one I tested felt like a hindrance to the viewer’s experience.
• Once the design, layout, and binding have been finalized, I like to make a mock-up using the actual materials I hope to use for the edition. This can be a smaller version of the book—the goal is to test the materials within the structure to see what problems might arise and solve them before buying the materials for an entire edition. If your paper doesn’t fold well, for instance, you might want to use a thinner paper or a binding that doesn’t require folding.
• Once bound, the drum-leaf text block can be trimmed on a guillotine to make perfect edges on the head, tail, and fore edge. If you want to trim your text block after it is glued, it is a good idea to cut your paper so that it is a little larger than your final book size and print crop marks on your pages to use as a guide for trimming.
• The drum-leaf book is a structure that works well for almost any material, so you have a lot of freedom to express your artistic vision. From thin Asian papers to thick watercolor paper, as long as the material folds nicely, it can probably be made into a drum-leaf book. I usually pick my paper based on the printing or image-making methods I plan to use, the color that I want, and the finished feel of the book. If I plan to include etchings in the book, I will choose a thicker printmaking paper in the color I desire. Or, if a commercial paper doesn’t fit my needs, I make handmade paper in the thickness and color I desire.
• If I plan to digitally print my book, I can choose a paper that is pre-coated for digital printing or I can coat a non-digital paper in an ink-receptive coating before printing.
Printing the Pages
Once you have finished all of your tests and prep, you are ready to start producing your pages. This might mean painting or drawing each page, digitally printing, stenciling, letterpress printing, screenprinting, laser cutting, offset printing, making paper, sewing, collaging, or any other method of image making you decide is right for your book. It is easiest to print, draw, or paint all of your pages as flat sheets of paper, let them dry, and then bind them into the drum-leaf structure. Figure A
If you are producing an edition of artist books, you might want to organize your stacks and collate the books before folding pages. If I want to end up with an edition of ten, I will usually make plenty of extra in case any part of the process goes wrong. I expect to lose at least one at every stage but sometimes that can be compounded. I may still bind misprinted pages so that adjustments in the text block I tested can be made before finishing the actual edition.
Folding Pages
1. Once the pages have been printed and collated, you are ready to start folding. Fold each of the sheets in half, print touching print. If your book has endpapers, these should also be the same size as your pages, collated with your book pages and folded in half. Figure B
2. To help keep things going in the same direction, write the number of the spread lightly in pencil on the back of each of the pages in the top right corner.
3. Use your bone folder to sharpen the folds. Figure C
4. If the paper is very thick, you might want to score the center mark to encourage the paper fibers to fold. You can do so by lining up your ruler to the center mark and using the tip of your bone folder to press into the paper. It is a good idea to do a scoring test on a spare page—it is rare but a possibility for some inks to flake or look damaged when they have been scored. If that is the case, you might want to score from the back of the page. Figures D and E
5. Test on a spare page ahead of time to determine whether you prefer the look of scoring and folding on the face of a sheet or paper, or on the back of a sheet of paper.
Gluing the Text Block
There are quite a few ways to glue a drum-leaf book. Everyone’s hands work differently, so you may find a method that you like better than the examples I show you. There are two slightly different methods that I employ for gluing my drum-leaf text block.
Most papers will work well with PVA, but I recommend testing your paper before gluing the entire edition. If you are using a translucent Asian paper, you might want to use paste instead, and you might want to interleave the pages with Holytex, interleaving, or wax paper in case the pages are so thin that the adhesive comes through the sheets.
If you find that the PVA dries too quickly for you but you still want the strength of the glue, you can make a mixture by adding a dollop of methylcellulose or paste to your PVA. This will give you more working time without lowering the sticking quality. Alternatively, if your page material rejects wet adhesives, you can use archival dry adhesives such as double-stick tape or Gudy double-stick adhesive.
THE FIRST GLUING METHOD:
1. Stack the entire text block for the book (including endpapers), tapping the spine edge and tail edge so that your book is perfectly aligned. Place the pages on top of scrap paper or newsprint and place a small but heavy weight on top of the book toward the fore edge so you have access to the spine edge. Square up the book once more using a small triangle.
2. Use your thumb to pull up the spine edge of every page except the bottom page (or back endpaper if you have endpapers), then use your glue brush to spread a thin layer of glue along the spine edge of the page. I tend to glue about 1/4 inch (6 mm) onto the surface of the page. Gluing too far onto the surface of the page can cause your pages to feel stiff, and, depending on your paper, can introduce too much moisture into your book, which may cause unwanted stretching and buckling. Figure F
Note: I often start in the middle of the page and brush straight off the spine edge, then at a 45-degree angle off the head and tail. If you brush parallel to the head and tail of your book, you may push glue into the inside of your folios.
3. Once you’ve glued the bottom sheet, let go of the pages with your thumb, double-checking that they are still squared up. Burnish the second-to-last page and the last page where you have glued. Replace the newsprint or scrap paper under your text block if the glue is in the way. Figure G
4. Lift all the pages with your thumb again except for the two pages that are now glued together. Glue the spine edge of the bottom page and drop the remaining pages again, double-checking for squareness. Burnish the pages you have just glued. Figure H
Note: Sometimes the pages will want to slip forward and the spine will no longer be at a 90-degree angle, so it is very important that you monitor any movement and adjust the pages back into place before gluing. Once adhesive has been introduced to the pages, it’s almost impossible to change their placement.
5. Move your way through the entire book, gluing each page to the next in the method described. Once you have glued the entire text block, place a board over the book and a weight on top of the board to evenly distribute the weight. Let the book sit like this until the glue is set. For PVA, this may be as little as 15 minutes. If you are working on an edition, you can let the books sit under weight while you glue the rest of the edition and by the time you finish gluing the spine of the last book, the first one should be set. Figure I
6. Once the spine side has been set, you can begin gluing the fore edge. Place the text block on scrap paper or newsprint again with a weight along the spine side. (Now that the spine is attached, placing the weight on the book is optional.) Begin gluing the backs of each page together. If you wrote the page number on the back of each page before you started folding, they will act as guides to tell you where to glue—the key being not to glue printed pages together.
7. To glue the fore edge, lift all the pages until you see the last page number (or, if you have endpapers, it will be the place where the pages meet the endpapers). Place a scrap piece of paper or strip of newsprint under that page (meaning inside of the last page or endpapers) to protect against glue going between the pages. Use your glue brush to spread a thin layer of glue along the fore edge of that sheet in the same method as with the spine, again coming in about 1/4 inch (6 mm). Figure J
8. Once you have glued the bottom page, discard the scrap or newsprint, drop the pages, and burnish the adhered ones with a bone folder. Then pick up the pages until the next page number is visible, add a new sheet of scrap or newsprint beneath that page, glue it, and repeat. Figure K
9. After you have glued the entire fore edge, let the book sit under weight until the glue sets. You are now finished with your text block and can move on to the covers!
10. If you will be trimming your book after gluing, make sure the glue comes past your crop marks by about 1/4 inch (6 mm). If you are using dry adhesive and plan to trim your book on a guillotine afterward, take care that the tape doesn’t come outside of the crop marks. If the tape is cut when the book is trimmed, it can leave a sticky edge on the book that collects dust, dirt, and hair. If you do not have access to a guillotine, you can trim the book by hand. Place a triangle or ruler on top of your book where you would like to trim and repeatedly cut through each page until you reach the bottom. You can do this for the head, tail, and fore edge if you wish. Figures L and M
THE SECOND GLUING OR DRY ADHESIVE METHOD:
This method is preferable if using dry adhesive such as double-stick tape or Gudy.
For this method, I put each page on top of the previous page as I glue the book instead of stacking the entire book. This method takes a bit more time and can be a little fussier, but some people find it allows them to make a more precise book.
It is helpful to have a ruler or board clamped to the table. This will provide a perpendicular edge to jut your spine edge into as you glue.
1. Place your bottom page (or endpaper) on top of newsprint with the fold of the page against the board and the second-to-last page on top of the bottom page, lining them up. Place a small but heavy weight on the spine, double-checking that the sheets didn’t move in the process. Place a sheet of scrap paper or newsprint inside of the bottom page to protect it from glue. Lift the top page and glue the fore edge of the bottom page, coming onto the sheet about 1/4 inch (6 mm). If using dry adhesive, prep the pages by adhering a strip of the tape along the spine edge and fore edge on one side of each folio, except for the first folio, which will not receive any adhesive. Figure N
2. Remove the newsprint or scrap paper and drop the top page, carefully burnishing it into place. Tip: If you push your bone folder too hard, it may move the sheet so that it is no longer squared to the page below. With the dry adhesive, you will similarly place the bottom page against the board and place the second-to-last page on top, lining them up. Lift the edge of the top page, revealing the double-stick tape on the bottom page. Peel the protective sheet off the double-stick tape to reveal the adhesive. Lower the top page. Burnish to adhere the two pages properly. Figure O
3. Remove the weight and place the next page on top of the two that have just been glued. Line them up and put the weight back on the spine side of the stack. With double-stick tape, continue to add pages in the same manner as above. Add each page on the stack, checking for squareness. Peel the adhesive, lower the top page, and burnish. Figure P
Note: If you glue only the fore edge of the book and skip the next steps for gluing the spine, you will have made a butterfly book! It is a variation of the drum-leaf and acts slightly more like an accordion book. Because the butterfly book does not have a glued spine, it has much more movement, allows for a wider variety of cover options, and can be displayed in more ways. However, because the drum-leaf book has two points of adhesion on each page, it is a much stronger structure than the butterfly book.
4. Take another sheet of scrap paper and place it inside the second-to-last page. Lift the top page, glue, remove the scrap, lower the top page, and burnish. Repeat this method for the entire stack of pages.
5. Once you have finished gluing the fore edge, place a board and weight on the book and allow the glue to set. If you are using a dry adhesive, you do not have to wait for the adhesive to set. You can immediately begin adhering the other edge.
6. Once the glue has set on the fore edge, you can begin to glue the spine. Placing a weight on the fore edge of the book is optional when gluing the spine, but it can help ensure the pages don’t shift or twist when burnishing and gluing.
7. Lift all pages except the last and glue outward in the same method as for the fore edge. Lower the stack of pages and burnish the two that were adhered. Continue to glue all the spine sides until complete. For dry adhesive, your spine edge should also have been prepped with the double-stick adhesive when you prepped the fore edge in step 1. Now, you will work your way through the book, simply removing the strips to reveal the adhesive. Lower the page that is getting adhered onto the one below and burnish well. Do this for each page until your entire book is adhered.
8. Place the book under weight until the glue has set. You are now finished with the text block and can move on to the covers!
Note: Some binders like to “back” the text block for this book to add strength. To do so, once the text block has been glued, you can glue the outside of the spine. You might also want to adhere a thin piece of strong Asian paper or a piece of mull (also called “crash”) to the spine. I do not recommend adhering anything that is very thick to the spine because it can inhibit the book’s ability to open well.
COVERS: A FEW OPTIONS
MATERIALS
Paper
Glue
Newsprint
TOOLS
Bone folder
Pencil
Ruler
Cutting tool
Cutting mat
Soft Covers
Soft covers are a great option, particularly for thinner text blocks. For soft-cover books, you might want to use thicker paper. Sometimes I use a thicker stock of the same paper I used for my text block, or I might choose to use a nicer material like a thick handmade paper.
An easy, soft cover is a dust jacket that is not adhered to the text block but is held in place by folds that hug the first and last page. Another option is to make a drop-spine soft cover that is adhered to the text block.
1. Cut the paper so that it is the height of your text block with the grain running parallel to the spine. The length of the paper is double the width of your book, plus the thickness of your text block. You might want to cut it slightly longer than needed and trim it after it has been folded. Figure A
2. Place the text block on top of the cover paper, lining up the fore edge of the book to one edge of the cover paper, with the spine toward the longer section of paper. Score the cover paper along the edge of the spine using the bone folder. Figure B
3. Measure the thickness of the spine and mark that measurement, coming away from the spine score mark you just made. Score the new line on the cover paper and test that your spine fits snugly. Figures C, D, and E
4. Flip the cover paper to the face and score 2 more lines into it, one on either side of the spine lines, coming away from the spine scores 1/4 or 1/2 inch (6 or 13 mm). (There will be 4 scores total.) Figure F
Note: This measurement is sort of arbitrary. It must be far enough away from the spine to allow the cover paper to drop at the spine, but not so far away that it interferes with the structure of the book. See what you like the look of and what you feel functions best with your materials.
5. Put your text block into the scored cover paper and place it on your work surface, holding the spine and that 1/4- to 1/2-inch (6 to 13 mm) section in place. Flip the rest of the cover back and spread a thin layer of glue about 1/4 inch (6 mm) wide at the fold near the spine. No glue should be placed between the set of score marks, only along the outside score mark toward the fore edge. Figures G and H
6. Burnish the glued area in place, then lift the fore edge of the cover and glue 1/4 inch (6 mm) along the fore edge to adhere the cover and first page (or endpaper). Burnish with the bone folder. Figure I
7. Flip the book over and glue the back cover in the same method. Let the book sit under weight overnight to allow for complete drying. Figure J
Hard Covers
MATERIALS
Book board
Book cloth or paper
Glue
Newsprint
Waxed paper
TOOLS
Bone folder
Pencil
Ruler
Scissors
Cutting tool
Cutting mat
Weight
Hard covers are an excellent option as well. One option is to create two separate covers, allowing the spine to remain exposed.
1. Cut the book board slightly larger than the size of your text block. I may add a board thickness to the head, tail, and fore edge of my text block measurements to use for my board measurements.
2. Make sure the grain direction of your boards runs parallel to the spine. Thinner boards are generally better for this type of cover because thicker boards can put too much strain on the first and last page.
3. Cover each board separately in cloth, paper, or leather. Figure A
4. Place newsprint or scrap paper inside the first page (or endpaper), then glue the outside sheet and remove the newsprint. Carefully place the cover onto the book, making sure it’s flush at the spine edge and evenly placed on the other three sides. When you’re sure it’s correct, gently press it into place, flip the book over, and burnish inside to remove any air bubbles and ensure secure adhesion. Figures B, C, and D
5. Repeat for the back cover. Let the covers sit under weight overnight. Figure E
German Case
MATERIALS
Book board for covers
Thin board or multiply cardstock for spine
Book cloth for spine
Paper or book cloth for covers
Glue
Newsprint
Waxed paper
TOOLS
Bone folder
Pencil
Ruler
Scissors
Cutting tool
Cutting mat
Weight
The German case, also known as a three-piece case, is another option. For this, the two cover boards are covered separately from the spine and they sit on top of the cloth that covers the spine a slight distance away from the spine itself.
If you plan cover treatments like printing or hot stamping, do these before adhering the covers or spine to the book. That way, if there is a mistake, you only waste board and covering material rather than an entire book.
1. Begin with the spine. Cut a spine piece (thin board or multi-ply cardstock) whose width is the same dimension as the thickness of the text block, and whose height is the height of the text block plus 2 cover board–thicknesses.
2. Cut a piece of cloth to cover the spine whose height is the height of the spine board plus the length for 3/4-inch (2 cm) turn-ins at the head and tail. The width of the cloth should be at least the width of the spine plus 3 inches (7.5 cm). Figure A
Note: The 3-inch (7.5 cm) measurement mentioned above is my own preference. I prefer that the cloth attach to the cover boards by at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) on each cover and that the gap between the spine and cover boards be around 1/2 inch (1.3 cm).
3. Glue the spine board to the center of the cloth, with the grain direction for both running parallel to the spine. Glue the 3/4-inch (2 cm) turn-ins, fold them over the spine, and burnish to remove air bubbles and secure them in place. Figures B and C
4. If your book is very large, you will be able to see into the spine when it drops down. You may want to cover the inside of the spine piece with extra cloth for a cleaner look.
5. Cut cover boards the same height as the spine piece (the height of the book plus 2 board thicknesses). The width should be the width of your text block plus a board thickness, but minus the dimension for the gap between the board and the spine. If you are using the measurements I mentioned above, that dimension is 1/2 inch (1.3 cm).
6. The gap measurement is partially a functional decision and partially an aesthetic one. The cover boards should come away from the spine enough to allow the spine to drop out of the way so the pages open flat. But the gap should not be so big that the covers strain against the pages. For bigger, thicker books, the gap can be larger; for thinner, smaller books, it should be smaller. For the best results, consider producing a mock-up to test the desired dimensions. Figure D
7. Cover each board with paper, cloth, or leather and turn in the edges.
8. Once the boards and spine are covered, glue them onto the text block. I prefer to glue the pieces onto the book separately, as this gives me more control over the end product. But you can also glue all three pieces together to make a single case.
9. Start by gluing the spine piece onto the text block. Fit the text block snugly into the spine and mark with a pencil line where the cloth ends on the front and back of the book. Figure E
10. Remove the spine piece and mark a second line where the cover boards will fall. For my measurements mentioned above, this line is 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) away from the spine on the front and back of the book. You will only be gluing the spine cloth to the portion of the book between the two lines drawn. Figure F
11. Before gluing, place the text block snugly back into the spine. It may be helpful to have a board or ruler clamped to the table to butt the spine against to ensure a 90-degree angle. Figure G
12. Fold the cloth back, exposing the two pencil marks on the front of the text block, and brush a thin layer of glue between the two pencil lines. If you use too much glue, it can squirt onto your cloth or text block when burnishing during the next step. Figure H
Note: Use low-tack masking tape or newsprint as a guard so the glue doesn’t spread past the pencil lines. Once the glue has been spread, remove the tape before the next step.
13. Once glued, lower the cloth back into place, making sure the spine board stays in place and the book remains squared up. Burnish well.
14. Flip the text block over and glue the back in the same manner as the front.
15. Once the spine has been glued in place, you can begin to glue the cover boards. Place a sheet of newsprint or scrap paper in the first page to protect the book from extra glue. Brush a thin layer of glue on the first page, making sure not to get glue on the section of spine cloth that will be exposed as the gap. Figure I
Note: This can be prevented by using low-tack masking tape that is perfectly placed to protect the dimension of the gap—1/2 inch (1.3 cm) away from the spine in my example—or by gluing farther away from the spine than the gap, and adding glue to the edge of the cover board that will cover the skipped section.
16. Once the sheet has been glued, remove the newsprint and place the cover board on top so that there is a board-thickness hang-over on the head, tail, and fore edges. Press to keep the board in place, flip the book over, and burnish from the inside of the first page. Figure J
17. Repeat for the back cover.
Note: Use a small triangle to line up the back cover to the front cover when putting it in place. Figure K
18. When the covers have been adhered, the book is complete and can be put under weight or in a nipping press to dry overnight. Figure L
Note: Because of the moisture introduced into the book by adding covers, it is a good idea to place scrap paper or newsprint in the front and back of the book to absorb the moisture while it is pressed dry. You can also place wax paper or release paper between the scrap paper and text block to prevent moisture from moving through the book.
TUNNEL BOOKS AND MODIFIED ACCORDIONS
Accordion books also make excellent artist books. Their sculptural nature allows for some interesting variations, bringing them further from the world of traditional codices and into the world of art objects.
Because an accordion book is based on simple folds, the range of modified accordion structures is essentially unlimited. The invention of book structures is not always easy to place, particularly with modified books and variations on more traditional bookforms. Some structures, while using the bones of an older type of book, may be manipulated into a unique enough form to merit a new name and recognition. Carousel books, flag books, blizzard books, and tunnel books are some examples of structures that take the same principles of accordion books and expand the possibilities so infinitely that they become their own categories.
Two of my favorite accordion-based book structures are the tunnel book and the land and sky accordion.
Beth Sheehan. Mending, 2010. Portfolio binding. (Top: open, Bottom: binding)
This is a structure that features a concertina as the spine and folded pages adhered to each mountain fold of the spine.
Kyle Holland. I Know the Woods Come Alive at Night, 2018. Modified accordion. Offset lithography and screenprinting. (Below)
This is a land and sky accordion with no cover.
Beth Sheehan. Coruscation, 2012. Modified accordion.
This is a land and sky accordion adhered to hard covers. As seen here, this structure provides multiple ways to display and interact with the book.
Lauren Clay, Laser cut tunnel book in paper sleeve, Edition: 100 + 2Aps, 8 × 8 in., expands to 42 inches. Photo Courtesy of Small Editions.
Beth Sheehan. Reliquary, 2017. Tunnel book, Screenprinting and cut paper.
Tunnel books create dimension and mystery for the viewer, encouraging interaction.
Tunnel Books
The tunnel book is an old bookform that has had wide use outside of the art world. Early tunnel books were often cheap souvenirs sold at tourist attractions. Their incredible ability to provide depth, hide secrets, and encourage narrative in a single image is what has shepherded the tunnel book into the world of artist books.
MATERIALS
Pages
Adhesive
Newsprint
TOOLS
Bone folder
Pencil
Ruler
Cutting tool
Cutting mat
PLANNING, PREPPING, AND PRINTING PAGES
In choosing materials and printing techniques, it’s a good idea to create a mock-up to test the materials before moving forward. The “pages” of this type of book work best if they are a slightly stiffer material, but if they are too thick, they will be difficult to cut.
The two “spines,” or concertina accordions, that hold the book together should also be on the stiffer side, but take into account that a particularly thick paper might not fold nicely and might add too much bulk. I recommend 60-lb or 80-lb text-weight paper, but don’t let that limit you.
For printing, you are likely to see only the face of the paper, so your options are not limited by the necessity to print on the front and back. For the book shown here, I screen printed my imagery.
Because the pages visually create a single scene, you should consider the amount of information that stays or is removed from each page and how it affects the composition of the whole. The pages toward the front of the book should have more cut away than the pages toward the back.
Also consider the colors of your printing in terms of composition. If you are placing a dark-colored page on top of a dark-colored page, the depth will be lost to the viewer.
CUTTING THE PAGES
As mentioned above, you will want your pages in the front of the book to have the most information removed while the pages toward the back of the book have the least amount of information removed. When cutting your pages, be sure to change your cutting blade frequently to prevent poor cuts or slipping. Figure A
There are cutting machines that are available for purchase. If you know you will be cutting a large number of pages or books, you may want to invest in a small vinyl cutter. There are several brands available, including Silhouette Cameo and Cricut.
Your pages will need flaps to attach to the concertinas. Be sure to leave room on each page for a 1/4- or 1/2-inch (6 or 13 mm) flap on both sides.
FLAPS
1. After the pages have been cut, mark and score each flap. It is helpful to use a triangle to make sure the scores are perpendicular to the bottom edge of each page. Figure B
2. The back page is usually glued to the full panel at the end of each concertina and therefore does not need any flaps. The front page also does not require flaps because it is usually glued to the first part of the concertinas, enclosing the book.
CONCERTINAS
1. To make the concertinas, take 2 long strips of paper and cut them to the height of your tallest pages.
2. Fold each strip in half and burnish the fold. You have created a mountain fold.
3. Take each end of the mountain and fold them back toward the center, turning it into a W. Burnish the folds. Figure C
4. Fold each of those sections in half to create a smaller accordion. Figure D
5. Finally, fold each of the sections in half again to create a very thin accordion, known as a concertina. Figure E
GLUING THE PAGES
1. Starting from the back of the book, glue the left side of the back page to the last panel of the left concertina. Burnish well using your bone folder.
2. For my book, I decided to use double-stick adhesive instead of a wet adhesive. The double-stick can save time and create less mess, but a wet adhesive like PVA creates a stronger bond. Figure F
3. Glue the left tab of the next page to the next valley of the concertina. Figure G
4. Continue this gluing method until you reach the front of the book.
5. Starting from the back again, glue the right side of the back page to the right concertina. Be sure to align the concertina with care so the page is nestled into the valley of the fold and so the bottom edge of the page is perpendicular to the concertina. Figure H
6. Move to the second-to-last page and glue the right tab to the next valley in the concertina.
7. Continue moving forward in the book, gluing the tab of each page to the corresponding location.
8. Once all the inside pages have been glued, you can glue the front page to the concertinas and you have finished your book!
Modified Accordion (Land/Sky)
This book structure is a more of a three-dimensional object than other books, and planning content and imagery that works with this structure can be fun! Be sure to test your idea by making a mock-up before producing the final copy in case the placement of your content needs to be adjusted to accommodate folds or the functionality of the structure.
MATERIALS
Paper
TOOLS
Bone folder
Pencil
Ruler
Cutting tool
Cutting mat
PLANNING, PREPPING, AND PRINTING PAGES
For this structure, both the front and the back of the “sky” portion of the book will be visible. This can affect your choices for image making and paper type. For example, you will probably not want to choose a paper that is one-sided like some photo papers.
Because of the sculptural nature of this book, you might also want to choose a thicker paper that will stand up on its own rather than a thin Asian paper that may fall over or get damaged when the book is displayed. It is a good idea to do a folding test with the paper you are hoping to use before starting your project. I recommend a cardstock-weight paper.
This book is made of two long strips of paper that are partially hinged together. Therefore, the book can be made either by taking two different strips of paper and tabbing them together or by using one large sheet of paper that is partially cut.
Using multiple sheets:
1. To use two different sheets, decide what the size of your book will be and add 1/4 or 1/2 inch (6 or 13 mm) to the height. Figure A
2. Cut 2 long strips to the height of the finished book size plus the previously mentioned 1/4 or 1/2 inch (6 or 13 mm) that will become the tab. You might want to print your content on the strips of paper before cutting them to the proper size to allow for bleed.
3. We will deal with the tab in a moment. First, fold each long strip in half. Use the bone folder to sharpen the folds. If the paper is very thick, you may want to score the center mark to encourage the paper fibers to fold. You can do so by lining up your ruler to the center mark and using the tip of your bone folder to press into the paper. Figure B
4. Now take that mountain fold and fold each of the edges toward the center to form a W. Sharpen the folds by burnishing them with your bone folder. Figure C
5. Fold each section of the W accordions in half to form smaller accordions, sharpening each fold with your bone folder.
6. Once both strips of paper have been folded to the desired size, unfold them and mark the 1/4 or 1/2 inch (6 or 13 mm) tab up from the bottom of the book.
7. On the “land” accordion, cut off the entire 1/4 or 1/2 inch (6 or 13 mm) from the height of the strip.
8. On the “sky” accordion, leave the tab on the last panel but cut the dimension off the remaining panels. This will mean the land and sky strips are now the same final height except for a small tab on one panel of the sky accordion.
9. Score the tab on the sky accordion using the bone folder.
10. Line up the two accordions on the table with the back of the land facing upward and the front of the sky facing upward. Glue the sky tab to the corresponding panel on the land accordion. Now the book is complete! Figure D
11. To display, flip the book so the face of the land accordion is facing upward and move the sky accordion to be standing vertically on the table.
Using a single sheet:
If you are using a single sheet to make this book, you will want to print your content on the sheet and then trim it down to the proper size before moving on. This book does not need room to accommodate a tab. Once the book has been printed, you are ready to start folding.
1. Take the entire sheet and fold it in half along the long dimension, otherwise known as hotdog style. Sharpen the fold by burnishing with the bone folder. Figure E
2. Unfold the paper and fold it in half along the shorter dimension, otherwise known as hamburger style. Sharpen that fold with the bone folder. Figure F
3. Fold that hamburger fold in half by taking the two ends and bringing them up to the center fold (turning the mountain into a W). Figure G
4. Now fold each of those sections in half to make an accordion with more panels.
5. Cut along the single, long fold (hotdog fold), leaving one section attached. Figure H
6. To display the book, bring the left accordion up and toward the right to form the sky. To close the book, bring the sky back down to the table on the left, fold up both accordions, and tuck the sky underneath the land accordion. Figure I
COVERS
For this book, covers are not needed, but they can add extra interest and protection for the book. You have many options for this book structure. You might decide to make separate hard covers and glue them onto the ends of the book, or to make a slipcase for the book, or to even make a bellyband for the book.
My personal favorite cover structure is a hard cover option with a soft spine. To make this type of cover, you will need to cut the cover boards using the measurement of the book when it is completely closed.
1. Cut 2 boards that are the height of the closed book plus 2 board thicknesses and the width of the book plus a board thickness.
2. Once the cover boards are cut, you will need to measure the thickness of the spine, plus the 2 boards, plus 4 times the thickness of the material you’ll use for covering the boards. This should ideally be cloth. When you determine the measurement, keep it nearby.
3. Cut a piece of the covering material to the height of your cover boards plus about 3/4 inch (2 cm) for turn-ins on the top and bottom (meaning the height of your board plus 1 1/2 inches [3.8 cm] total) and the width of both cover boards, plus the spine measurement, plus 2 turn-ins of 3/4 inch (2 cm). Figure J
4. Glue the first cover board onto the covering material, leaving the 3/4-inch (2 cm) turn-ins on the head, tail, and left edge. Flip it over and burnish well using your bone folder. Figure K
Note: You might want to cover your cloth with newsprint while burnishing to avoid getting shine marks from your bone folder.
5. Use the spine dimension from earlier to mark a line away from the glued board. This is where the second cover board will be glued. Figure L
6. Glue the second cover board. Flip and burnish it with the bone folder.
7. Measure and mark 2 board thicknesses away from each corner at a 45-degree angle. Cut and remove those triangles. Figure M
8. Glue the head turn-in and burnish it into place. Then do the same with the tail turn-in. Be sure to burnish the spine gap really well. Fold the tiny corner triangles around the fore edges to cover any gap in the cloth. Figure N
9. Glue and burnish the fore edge turn-ins.
10. Cut a strip of cloth that is the height of the book pages and roughly the width of the spine gap plus two 3/4-inch (2 cm) turn-ins (1 1/2 inches [3.8 cm] total). Figure O
11. Glue the strip of cloth and place it evenly over the spine gap, burnishing from the center outward. Figure P
12. Cut an endpaper that is a board thickness smaller than the cover board on all sides. Glue it to the left cover board. Figure Q
13. Glue the first panel of the land accordion to the right side of the cover. Press the book under weight so the boards don’t warp. Figure R
