Don't Get Jittery on Me, or "The Tale of a Re-Altered Altered Book"

I started an altered book in October of 2011, after being profoundly moved by a visit to an exhibition of Joan Miró's work while traveling in Barcelona. My book bombed, mostly because I was on the road, but also because of poor prep. A few days ago, while cannibalizing materials for further artmaking from the Pile of Perpetual Embarrassments that exists in my loft, I stumbled upon the Barcelona book and eventually decided to rip it up and use some of the pieces in a new altered book.

The page above is one of the pieces I wanted to save. The little bit of text next to the lady's head says "Don't get jittery on me." If it weren't for this page, I think I might have chucked the Barcelona book without missing a beat. But that message? It meant something to me when I made the page in 2011 and it means something to me now. What choice did I have but to take my own advice and to soldier on in the creation of a new book?

Here are some of the other pages that I ripped from the Barcelona book for possible repurposing.

Since poor prepwork was one of the reasons the Barcelona book found itself in the Embarrassments Pile, I decided to be a little more methodical this time around and to document my process of work. For anybody who is interested in altering a book, I offer this journey as a sort of cautionary tale.

This is my new book...well, new as of 1955. It's a charming organizer that was probably used for promotional purposes by a department store headquartered in Bridgeport, CT. You'll notice that my book is protected by a cover made from a brown paper bag. It is important to protect your book. If you don't, it will get grubby. Enough said.

The first thing I do when altering a book is to remove some of the pages from each signature to create room within the binding for the new material that I'll be adding. If you look at my book, below, you will see that the pages are organized into seven clumps. Each of those clumps is called a signature.

Each signature has a centerline where the binding string is visible and it's at that string where my page-removal process begins. I have circled the string in the photo below.

When I start at the center of a signature, it becomes an easy matter to lift off book pages two at a time--in spreads--leaving a minimum of ripped paper fragments behind. My right hand was on the camera button to take this picture, but in reality it's working right alongside my left hand to slide the paper out of the binding. Note that I'm using my thumbs to lift the paper around and off the string. I am not sawing against the string, which could stretch and ultimately weaken the binding. 

This is what you don't want. Every scrap of paper left behind will cause another scrap of paper to be left behind which will cause yet another scrap of paper to be left behind as you attempt to lift off subsequent spreads. Of course there will always be a scrap or two remaining here or there, but you can invite it out with the tip of an Xacto or your scissors.

Because I got into a nice groove, I was able to remove quite a few spreads from my book while generating only a few paper scraps. The photo below shows the proportions for those who are scientifically inclined. The pile of paper on the right consists of removed pages that I might want to incorporate back into the book--cool things like some 1950s astrology and neato advertisements. There was also a Christmas Card List.

 

And here's the binding as it looks when I'm done removing pages. I have created plenty of room to allow myself the freedom to add whatever I want to my book without stressing the binding.

Now to do a little more prepwork to protect my book's paper, which is thin and somewhat fragile. Because I'll be asking that paper to handle glue either from a glue stick or gel, collage elements, and even possibly some mixed media (and probably some interactive elements as well), I'll need to create new strong pages by gluing several original fragile pages together. 

If you think of the collage elements that I'll be adding as ceramic tiles, think of this work as creating a flat and stable plywood underlayment. Therefore, glue together only pages that seem to want to be together. Try to find pages that naturally align at the edges. This search for compatible papers is less mystical than it sounds when you have a book open before you and the paper is under your hands.

In this book, I glued up two and three layers of paper for each new page, using sheets of wax paper in between to prevent accidental stick-downs. For the flattest pages, burnish the papers together hard after gluing.

Here's the book all glued up.

And here it is weighted down for the night.

Next up: I'll be working on more prepping of my altered book, but structural work this time. Maybe I'll cut some windows, construct a fold-out door, install a lift-up flap....

You can see the next step in the process here: http://lauratringaliholmes.blogspot.com/2013/03/dont-get-jittery-on-me-part-ii-or.html