What makes a book a book? Is it having pages and a cover? Does text have anything to do with it? Although no doubt we've all been absorbed in a book that contains only pictures - whether illustrations or photographs - we probably still thought of it as a book even if it lacked words. Obviously a book doesn't have to have a hard cover because there are paperbacks. And it is an easy slide into artists' books which come in so many shapes and sizes. There are ones that unfold like an accordion, and ones that can be pieced together like a puzzle. Some artists' books unroll while others pop up. If you aren't familiar with artists' books, you are certainly in for a treat. Perhaps start with the Bainbridge Island Museum of Arts Artists' Book Collection.
As a bookstore owner, I mostly deal with what might be considered traditional books. Hardbacks, paperbacks and children's books are the three categories I use for pricing. Occasionally I have copies of hand-bound book if I am fortunate to have some available. And last summer while set up at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art for a festival, I took a few artists' books along.
But it wasn't until today that I realized a quilt I recently finished could be a book. Trying to be open minded, I began to wonder if it is possible to be both a quilt and a book. This quilt is one of three created following a course I was part of in 2020, Pandemic Art Lab. Participants were asked to envision an art show they would like to have and what that show would contain. Although not really a quilter by any stretch, I decided to make three quilts. And I did. One has woodblock prints by Shirley Jacobs of twenty individuals who died from Covid in 2020 - some are people I knew, some are famous, some became famous through their death. The second quilt is about touch and contains gloves and outlines of hands. How many people stayed home during 2020-2021, isolating to protect themselves and/or others, and when going out didn't hug or shake hands? We didn't touch. The third quilt which is the one pictured here, has quotes from people I spoke with about Covid, about face masks, about vaccines, or people I heard speak at board of health meetings here in Lincoln County, Montana.
Not being a quilter by nature, it took a long time to finish these especially the third one. No doubt you can identify with this - a bit like putting off doing your taxes, or organizing that closet which is a catchall. It was truly a relief when the third quilt was completed last month, and I decided to enter all three into the Eureka Montana Quilt Show that happens in early August. But then today something sparked the awareness that this quilt is a book. It has words. It is bound in its own way. I could even make the case that the words are tied together. But really, I don't need to make a case at all. It is enough of a quilt to be in the quilt show. And hopefully enough of a book to inspire thoughts.
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