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(un)Contained Vessels
July 12, 2007 - September 15, 2007

(un)Contained Vessels

Artist Members Annual Exhibition, Co-organized by Alexander Campos, Executive Director, The Center for Book Arts, and Pamela Spitzmueller, Book Artist and James W. Needham Chief Conservator for Special Collections, The Harvard University Library and the College Library

This exhibition examines the container not as merely a functional holding place, but as an integrated/activated part of the piece that is equally important and even enhances the art object it houses. Artworks featured in this exhibition represent a broad range of art containers that are more conceptually based and offer lyrical interpretations that challenge the traditional notion of the “box” (container).

People have been putting books in containers for centuries. Both the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hamadi codices were found in lidded ceramic storage jars in desert caves. Ethiopic book containers protect their contents from desert dust with telescoping double cases and extra flaps. Book containers can also become inseparable from the book or can be the object itself.


Noriko  Ambe
Flat File Globe 2
(2006) Metal cabinet, cuts on Yupo
Alice  Austin
Tides
(2007) Handest letterpress, lino cuts, paste paper and linen bag
Crystal  Cawley
Ledger
(2005) Altered Book 1980s concordance, beeswax
Macy  Chadwick
Cell Memory
(2005) Offset lithography UV Ultra paper, string, cheesecloth and Vellum envelope
Julie  Chen
Full Circle
(2005) Letterpress, mixed media, rotating wheel
Ana  Cordeiro
Contains: Notions
(2007) Letterpress, hot stamping, woven thread
Evelyn  Eller
Momento Mori: Iraq
(2007) Mixed media collage, metal case, nylon bag
Judith  Emprechtinger
From Water to Clouds
(2007) Cardboard, Japanese paper, handmade paper, linen thread
Anne  Gilman
Debris
(2007) Pencil, ink, wax, paper, thread, mulberry, kiti kaka, hot press
Josh  Harris
uNofficial AMBASSADOR
(2006) Box, japanese paper, linoleum prints, copper, matches, rosary beads
Sun Young  Kang
The Way to be Empty
(2006) Incense burning, Japanese papers (okawara, warahansy), brown paper; 108 small boxes in 5 large boxes
Kumi  Korf
Turning Leaves
(2007) Lithograph, black momi paper, joss paper, foamcore, balsa, broken mirror, nuts
Guy  Laramee
Refuge # 2, Anniversaires
(2005) Metal can, wood, wax, plaster, fiberglass, integrated lighting
Barbara  Mauriello
Artists' Housing (Anonymous, Jane Austen, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Julia Margaret Cameron, Sonia Delaunay, Emily Dickenson, Harper Lee, Liubov Popov, Virginia Woolf)
(2004) Mixed media; set of 9 boxes
Susan  Mills
Single Quire Laptop
(2007) Recycled plastic bags, hand-dyed thread; hand-dyed recycled wool
Ken  Montgomery
Right/Wrong
(2006) Laminated photocopies, cards, rubber stamp, binder's board
Bessie Smith  Moulton
Rabbit & House
(2006) Acid-free mat board, hand painted, collage objects, rabbit's foot keychain, mouse skeleton
Shervone  Neckles
Granny's Kitchen Area Cabinets
(2007) Collaged digital prints, mixed media with wall paper; set of 4 boxes
Tara  O'Brien
Walls
(2004) Porcelain, hand stamped, sill pillows, japanese bookcloth
Amee J.  Pollack
Civilized Digs
(2006) Screen and laser printing, bas relief and decoupage, embossed copper plate with patina, decorative papers, boards, acrylic
Michelle  Raccagni
Civilization Abducted
(2007) Board, plexiglass, foam, paper, iris cloth, broken glass
Rocco  Scary
Million Dollar Movie
(2005) Homemade paper, metal cabinet, mixed media
Miriam  Schaer
No Ornament So Precious As the Labor of their Hands
(2005) Gloves, beads, paint,
Tennille Davis  Shuster
Close to Tears
(2007) Inkjet printed tissues, bookcloth covered tissue box
Robbin Ami  Silverberg
Heteronyms
(2005) Drilled holes in ostrich egg, aluminum Coffee filter, handmade kozo paper cut and spun into thread
Gail  Smuda
History Container
(2007) fiber, paper, found object, acrylic, photo copies
Laurie  Spitz
Civilized Digs
(2006) Screen and laser printing, bas relief and decoupage, embossed copper plate with patina, decorative papers, boards, acrylic
Kim and Phillippe  Villard
Black Shadow Box
(2007) Monoprints, photography, color woodcuts, acrylic, granite aluminum, steel
Micki  Watanabe-Spiller
I am Miki, I was Six
(2007) Wood, metal, paper, fabric, found objects, set of 9
Sang-Mi  Yoo
Encounters
(2005) Inkjet print, screenprint, bookcloth, davey board
Liz  Zanis
My Favorite Legend
(2007) Screenprint on wallpaper, basswood, chest of drawers

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