front cover
Roberts describes this book using a term for a folded book that I had not heard before, he calls it a “Boustrophedon fold book”. The Boustrophedon fold book also has another name and that is "snake book", with both relying on the same construction method of making cuts in a single prepared sheet and folding different sections, which creates at least one two-page spread opening up diagonally to the main folded book (snake-like!). See the black and white graphic on the front of this book that illustrates a sheet of paper with these types of cuts.
About this book and its theme Roberts includes an introduction:
"This publication was conceived and made by Richard Roberts. It consists of screenprinted images composed from cast-off pieces of laser-cut acrylic using the 'work and turn' printing technique. Translucent inks were randomly changed during the printing of the edition to create multiple colour variations.
Das Kunstwerk Im Zeitalter Seiner Technischen Reproduzierbarkeit (The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction), written by Walter Benjamin in 1935, proposed that the 'aura' of a work of art was diminished by mechanical reproduction due to its ubiquitous nature.
In this era of digital communication it seems like the physical printed book has gained an 'aura' of its own."
I would agree with Roberts that in our digital environment the printed book, almost by definition has an auratic presence uniquely its own compared to its digital equivalent. This screenprinted and letterpress book also testifies to the handwork and craft involved in such a production, and combined with the experience of feeling the ink on the paper it offers us both a visual and sensory experience not available from any digital alternatives. This is the kind of 'aura' I can support!
12 pages, individually 5.5" x 5.5" and when unfolded 3ft 8"
reverse side
back cover
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