Artist: North West Book Artists, UK

Work: An Inch a Day

We intend to produce a book that will take as a measurement an inch for every day of Magellan’s voyage. This will result in a book approximately 30 yards long by 5 inches high; the height will diminish as the voyage proceeds and ships and men are lost. The book will be made on plain cambric, closely approximating to the sailcloth used for ships of the time, and will, hopefully, be dyed using natural spices which relate to the voyage. Many processes will be used in the making of the book, including, ‘though not exclusively, calligraphy using natural dyes, embroidery, image transfer and pyrography. Given the length of the book, it will be housed in a wooden spindle which refers back to the medieval way of measuring speed in a ship. This will allow the book to be displayed at full length where space allows, or for portions of it to be open at any one time. The spindle will be hand turned and hollow, allowing a multi-sensory approach using touch (where the book can be openly displayed), sight and smell.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

North West Book Artists work co-operatively to produce books of a high standard using a very broad range of materials. For this project, they will aim to use as many natural materials as possible to reflect the world which Magellan inhabited. The concept has been developed, and continues to develop, jointly and aims to be inclusive in terms of its final presentation.

CONTACTS

Email: nwbookmaker@gmail.com
Instagram: northwestbookartists
Website: nwbookartists.blogspot.com

Here is a selection of images of works in the exhibition. Scroll down this page for comprehensive individual Artist submissions, including descriptions of their work, more images, artists’ statements and contact details.