Read (Past, Tense)
Title
Read (Past, Tense)
Subject
Creative Writing, Psychology, Studio Arts
Description
4 x 4.75”; 16 pages. Handsewn in red cloth over boards. Cover title of raised and impressed letters, seen from below the surface of the cloth, extends the theme of text and subtext. Signed and numbered edition.
This highly unusual artist's book uses heat-sensitive ink, that relies on the reader's inevitable contact with the page, to explore the ordinary and uncomfortable phenomenon of blushing. At first sight, the book contains a text that is reversed (white) out of red ink—like letters incised into a surface. But as the reader handles the book, the warmth from her fingers causes the ink to fade, revealing a private and intimate text, between the lines. The reader has to actually feel her way around the primary text, to get the full picture. Rationale gives way to inner dialogue. The calm, reasoned voice of, " I f I'm honest, I think I was put off by my rather disarming tendency to blush. At the slightest thing. I t always perplexed me," covers subconscious embarrassment: "Never do this again. Avoid this at all cost. Confusion and distress cloak themselves in shades of nonchalance. It's only a colour. I'm fine. Really." The interaction of the materials informs the process of reading and the unraveling narrative.
This highly unusual artist's book uses heat-sensitive ink, that relies on the reader's inevitable contact with the page, to explore the ordinary and uncomfortable phenomenon of blushing. At first sight, the book contains a text that is reversed (white) out of red ink—like letters incised into a surface. But as the reader handles the book, the warmth from her fingers causes the ink to fade, revealing a private and intimate text, between the lines. The reader has to actually feel her way around the primary text, to get the full picture. Rationale gives way to inner dialogue. The calm, reasoned voice of, " I f I'm honest, I think I was put off by my rather disarming tendency to blush. At the slightest thing. I t always perplexed me," covers subconscious embarrassment: "Never do this again. Avoid this at all cost. Confusion and distress cloak themselves in shades of nonchalance. It's only a colour. I'm fine. Really." The interaction of the materials informs the process of reading and the unraveling narrative.
Creator
Weston, Heather
Publisher
Bookery
Date
2000
Rights
Description from Vamp and Tramp http://www.vampandtramp.com/finepress/w/weston.html
Format
1 volume (unpaged) ; 13 cm Denison's copy is signed by artist is is no. 108
Language
English
Barcode
35108007512825
Location and Call Number
DEN Spec Coll N7433.4.W477 R42 2000
Library catalog URL
Collection
Citation
Weston, Heather, “Read (Past, Tense),” Digital Exhibits | Denison University Archives & Special Collections, accessed April 27, 2024, https://exhibits.denisonarchives.org/items/show/344.