Put Down the Beer Stein and Grab a Book
It's Octavofest 2009!

Throughout the month of October, you can help the members of Art Books Cleveland (ABC) celebrate the art of the book. ABC is sponsoring eight book arts-related activities this month, all under the umbrella name of “Octavofest.” The octavo is a traditional book format that refers to the size for pages used in the printing of early books in which a large sheet of paper or parchment is folded three times to produce eight pages.

Bonne de Blas, founder of ABC, says that the organization’s goal is to foster an appreciation of the book arts in Northeast Ohio. The key event of Octavofest and ABC’s signature event is the Abecedaria Project, now in its second year. If the word “abecedaria” looks as though it has too many vowels, don’t worry. Related to an abecedary (a child’s pictorial instruction book linking the letters of the alphabet with common words with which they begin), an abecedarium is a miscellany or collection of notes and/or images pertaining to the letters of the alphabet.

A members’ invitational, the Abecedaria Project celebrates civilization’s greatest invention—the alphabet—through means of the abecedarium. De Blas notes that more than twenty ABC members have created artists’ books thematically linked to an alphabet of their choosing. “Anyone with an interest in the book arts can become a member of Art Books Cleveland,” she says. “I’m pleased to say that we have one exhibiting member who is two months shy of her fourth birthday! She and her mother collaborated on a book. Some of our other members are custom binders, letterpress printers, painters, papermakers, calligraphers, textile artists, conservators, and printmakers at all stages of artistic development.”

De Blas recognizes that many people may not be familiar with the term “art book” and notes that just what an artist’s book is has been debated by artists, critics, and collectors for more than a century. She gives one broad definition: “…an artist’s book is an original work of art wherein the book integrates the actual form and production with its thematic or aesthetic issues. Its sheets of paper can be hand or commercially made or made of an entirely different material. Its binding can be hidden or exposed, sewn, glued, or hinged. Its visual imagery drawn, painted, collaged, printed, or a combination of any of these and other techniques. There may or may not be text.” She goes on to say that creators of artists’ books and those who collect artists’ books are responding to technology’s march into the virtual. “As something that can be held in one’s hand, artists’ books are tactile and intimate, drawing one into their creation, discovery, and appreciation.”

Most of us think of books as a sheaf of text-filled, printed papers, bound together on the left-hand side, that we read for information or entertainment. In this view, the content of the book is the only thing that really matters—is it a good read? An artist’s book, says de Blas, “is more than an illustrated book or a deluxe volume of a classic work of literature produced as a limited edition in which much attention is focused on packaging the design of the book. Everything in an artist’s book is the content—nothing is extraneous—and there is a cohesion among the elements that transcends the individual parts and creates a unique work of art.” She goes on to say that everything in an artist’s book can be read, not just the text (if there is text). “’Reading’ an artist’s book means looking at the chosen structure and the colors and imagery, and if there is text, the font and where and how the text appears on the page. There may or may not be a narrative sequence, depending on the format. It’s much like the way one “reads” any other work of art.”

At a recent planning meeting in advance of the Abecedaria opening, ABC members brought their finished books or, in some cases, books in progress for critique and suggestions. De Blas notes that “One of the questions artists’ books ask is “What is a book?” And there are many possible answers.” One of the works in progress resembles an Advent calendar. Others are accordion-shaped. One uses cloth and string pop-ups. Each challenges our conventional idea of what a book is. “As readers, we’re comfortable with the concept of the book as a codex, and we’ll even extend our thinking to include scrolls,” says De Blas. “But what if the book opens as an accordion or if its geometries aren’t that of a square? How about clay or wooden tablets? Can a deck of cards be a book? Hinged panels large enough to require the viewer to walk around them? Or a metaphysical concept ritualized in a performance? Artists’ books are any and all of these.”

The members of Art Books Cleveland are exhibiting their work and sponsoring the other Octavofest activities to celebrate the oldest, most ubiquitous means of art and communication we have: the book. De Blas acknowledges that many of us have personal libraries filled with dog-eared, scribbled-in, and yellowing books. However, she feels “We should take time to reflect upon the esteem and even reverence in which we have held books as objects of beauty. Writing itself was a sacred mystery, the mastery of which could change reality. And it does! The mystery and magic hasn’t gone away. Our appreciation of the way symbols, text, and the physical supports are interwoven is sometimes lost in our quest for information. We hope that Octavofest can provide its participants with the means to investigate, interpret, experiment, and celebrate these elements.”

If you’d like to join in this celebration of the book, check out the opening of the Abecedaria Project, Friday, October 16, from 6-9 p.m. at the Library Annex Gallery (formerly Heights Arts Studios) at 2340 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights. The gallery is also open Tuesdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. through November 30.

Other upcoming Octavofest events include:

Thursday October 15th, 7pm

Beautiful Book Binding

A lecture by Ellen Strong of Strong Bindery/N.O.B.S

Loganberry Books

13015 Larchmere Blvd.

Cleveland, OH 44120

216-795-9800

Tuesday, October 20th, 1-8 p.m.

See the Morgan

Tours of the facility and new show, papermaking and bookmaking demonstrations.

Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation

1754 East 47th Street

Cleveland, OH 44103

216-361-9255

Wednesday, October 21st, 7-9 p.m.

Beautiful Books

An opportunity to examine closely several rare examples of interesting and historic covers, bindings, and illuminations in the collection of the Ingalls Library.

Cleveland Museum of Art

11150 East Blvd.

Cleveland, OH 44106

216-421-7340

Saturday, October 24th, 1-4 p.m.

Book Arts Display, Demonstration, and Activities

Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Legacy Village, 24519 Cedar Rd.

Lyndhurst, OH, 44124

216-691-7000

Sunday, October 25th, 1:30 p.m.

The Book in Art

A guided tour in the new Cleveland Museum of Art galleries built on the theme of books,

led by Docent Laura Martin

Cleveland Museum of Art

11150 East Blvd.

Cleveland, OH 44106

216-421-7340

When Cool Cleveland contributor Susan Petrone is not writing an arts or culture article for Cool Cleveland, she writes fiction. Her first novel, A Body at Rest, was published in early 2009 by Drinian Press. An excerpt from the novel and some of her published short fiction are available at http://www.SusanPetrone.com.