Book art can range from a simple zine to a unique altered book, a folded piece of handmade paper to a handcrafted and letterpress printed edition, and everything in between and beyond. Visual imagery may be generated through photography, illustration, graphic design, textile, and printmaking techniques and may feature poems, stories, and research. Students from all majors come together to learn how to make books in two classes offered by the Printmaking Program at CCA: Bookworks; and Papermaking and the Book. The exhibition highlighted selected book art created in classes taught by Alisa Golden and Rhiannon Alpers during the spring semester of 2017.
Increasingly popular, some artists and book publishers are making “bootleg” versions of photo books and editions that have become rare (and thus hard to find or very expensive). During the Fall 2017 semester, Mays gave the following assignment: “Make a bootleg version of a book from Meyer Library. Take inspiration from the original but make a version that you think is worthy of a re-issue that takes some imaginative liberties with the original. This may/will go beyond a strict ‘bootleg,’ BUT it should definitely go beyond a mere facsimile of the original.”