One requirement for our course was to create a
libro d'artista (artist's book). This is a book I thought about for a while before I actually began working on it. The concept of the book is to explore the duality of the masculine and the feminine. The tool I used for this is the text written by Mark Twain in
The Diaries of Adam and Eve: Translated by Mark Twain. I chose parts from the text that I was particularly drawn to on a personal level and created original prints inspired by the text.
The etchings are actually a combination of woodcut and etching, as woodcut creates bold shapes and strong lines (representing masculine) and with the etching I was able to create softer forms and textures (representing feminine). Additionally I printed the woodcuts onto Japanese paper and when I printed the etchings on top of the Japanese paper I pressed it into the German etching paper. I felt the use of these papers also conceptually added another type of duality representing east and west.
The Diaries are published in English so for this project Franka and I translated the selected passages into Italian. I decided to do the translation as the words are so important for this book, that I couldn't present it in English to an Italian audience.
I designed the text in the computer using two unique font treatments for Adam and Eve respectively. The text pages are printed on thin vellum paper, then pressed it into parchment to create a color similar to the Japanese/German paper combination. I crafted the book and sleeve by hand. In fact I've decided to make it an edition of three, so I'll be crafting two more books in the coming weeks.
Today during my presentation
il direttore (director of the school) was particularly interested that the text was from Mark Twain and I explained to him that Twain actually wrote Eve's Diary while living in a villa in Settignano, just outside of Firenze. He didn't know that Twain lived here, so I shared with him that he actually lived here twice. I also told the jury that in my own way I felt that I was bringing Twain's work back to where he created it through my libro, which was a concept they seemed to appreciate. In the libro I also included a quote from Sam Clemens that I took from the afterword, from a letter he wrote to his wife before they were married. The jury asked who Sam Clemens was and I was able to share the fact that Mark Twain is a
nom de plume.
Some of you know
The Diaries are Don's labor of love, and I will continue to express to you that I am eternally grateful that you shared them with me!
Il mio libro d'artista, Adamo ed Eva (My artist's book,
Adamo ed Eva):
