Threefold 08
a print record, phase boxes and a new mould and deckle
Welcome to the Threefold Letter. This month, record-keeping practices, phase boxes and archival housing, and a new mould and deckle
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This month I bound a new book – a record of my printing over the last few months. My printing processes at home produce cast-off prints when inking and preparing the botanical specimens, as well as incidental prints of inked plants that reach off the page. There are also embossed prints, where an un-inked leaf or frond leaves a deep impression in the paper, and letterpress text test prints. In the first half of the book the pages are largely white – leaves printed around the edges, text, and embossing – while the latter half is blank ink overlaying black ink overlaying black ink from multiple printing sessions. Fern fronds, kanuka, kawakawa and ginkgo all overlaying each other, combining and creating new forms and shadows.
I have always enjoyed the cast-off ephemera of making, the evidential leftovers. Happenstance prints that are integral to the making; they are witness to it. This book contains the supplementary material traces of my making practice over a defined period: a discussion of process over outcome, an emphasis on time spent over conclusions.
March April May 2024, 45 leaves, 240x210mm, Japanese stab binding: hemp leaf binding / Asa-No-Ha Toji,
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I am assisting the Documentary Heritage team at Auckland Museum to appropriately house some artist books by Elizabeth Steiner and Tara McLeod that are new to the collection. The housing in this instance, are phase boxes made out of acid free archival card. These made to measure box/folders are a preventative conservation method to protect books in the collection from dust and handling damage. They are also used to protect books that have already deteriorated or are in a brittle state. I am using instructions from the University of Syracuse.
Having made some at the museum, I have begun making them for my own handmade books. As my books are fabric covered, they need extra protection from dust. The first box I have made was for the book highlighted in the March Threefold Letter: ‘passing through.’
Making the boxes at home has a very different set of challenges to making them at the museum: a little cat named Bobby thinks he should be involved.
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After winning the Changing Threads award, one of the first things I did when I received the prize money, was order a new mould a deckle. It arrived a few days ago from Canada. It will make sheets around 230x300mm. It is handmade, and built with mahogany. The dark wood is joined with tongue and groove so, unlike my current mould, there will be no metal in the joints to discolour the wood. It is a Japanese Su-geta style mould. The geta is the base mould with a bar through the middle. The su is a screen made from woven bamboo strips. I haven’t yet had a chance to use it, but I will share the results in the July Threefold Letter.