Wow-just-wow. My mood lately, that is. Letting things sink in. The book fair went really well, but of course it’s a bit exhausting to wander in the record-breaking crowds and to be on stage with a million other things competing for the audience’s attention. Before I get deeper into my personal wow stuff, I want to share with you my latest artists’ book I made for the #areyoubookenough bookbinding community challenge.
The October theme for the challenge was ‘Found’ and for some reason I struggled against using just some random found stuff (of which I have more than plenty of even in my own home, so it wasn’t because of any lack of material). In the end I narrowed down my approach by thinking more about items that are lost rather than found. Everyday objects constantly not where you expect them to be. Items that have actually become worthless with time and wear. My father passed onto me a tin filled with random old things put into safe keeping most likely by his parents or grandparents - a few pairs of rusty scissors, keys, buttons, nails, pins, razor blades, and the like. Absolutely worthless and useless stuff for most people these days, but I’m not most people. So, I turned my lost&found&forgotten&found items into a triptych.
Typewritten title on the case. To me the enclosure of an artists’ book is just as important as the book itself - I want them to really go together. Since my triptych items are small domestic items, I drew inspiration for the case from matchboxes and created a very simple sliding case for my book.
These ornate scissors have long ago been replaced by better ones, but saved just in case, maybe because you just don’t throw away stuff like this. The buttons were saved despite their massive wear and tear. The keys were saved and now no one knows what they once opened - the lock permanently lost in time. All these easily lost items were most likely forgotten as soon as they were stuffed for safe keeping into the tin where I found them. The tin was forgotten. The tin was found. Time had unexpectedly turned these items into something worth something, once again. It’s my turn to keep them safe and celebrate everyday items.
Back to the wow-just-wow: I won the book award I mentioned in my last post! My poetry book Koko meren laajuus was awarded for being the best second book by an author, and I got this beautiful wood and metal award that weighs a ton and is just waiting to be featured as a murder weapon in a novel! I’ve gotten so used to being in the margin as a poet that the win was an absolutely unexpected one for me - the award’s been handed out five times now, and my book was the first book of poetry to win, which makes me even more delighted over the jury’s decision. I’ve been beaming with happiness and will continue to do so for a while longer…
Photo by Jasper Kaarna
My book has been received so, so wonderfully, I can’t really believe it. It was a risk to write poetry about the sea and love/sex/intimacy/whatever, since those themes have been written about time and time again. I’m glad I dared to do it. I’m glad my readers have found my poetry fresh yet timeless. I actually see a clear connection between my aesthetics in writing and bookbinding. Things seemingly simple have surprising layers and a massive professional dedication behind them. I’m glad I dare to do me in all I do.