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Step 4Create a lovingly hand-bound copy of the book
In this step you're going to print out your entire book in 4-sheet signature format then lovingly hand-fold and hand-stitch the signatures into a single archival-quality volume complete with hand-made, ornamental hard cover.
Seriously, that's the whole step. (You thought this was going to be the hard part?)
Naturally I won't insult your crafting prowess by explaining how to make a hand-bound hardcover book from scratch. (There are other Instructables on that, if you really need the refresher.) But given the unique requirements of the project generally, there are a couple tips you might want to keep in mind as you tackle step 4:
1. If there's some part of "lovingly" you don't understand, please ask
I can't stress this enough: The effect you're going for here is what's known in the business as "foregrounding the materiality of the signifier" -- so for heaven's sake go for it! Your hand-crafted book shouldn't just look hand-crafted -- it should radiate hand-craftedness the way a fresh-baked country biscuit radiates oven warmth. It should reflect your painstaking attention the way a baby's smile reflects its mother's tender care. At the same time, though, and for the same reasons, it should also not turn out so perfect as to be indistinguishable from a machine-made book. Correct any glaring errors as you go, but if a page tears slightly or a bit of glue oozes out from behind the spine or (God forbid) you prick a finger on the binding needle and streak the cover cloth with a drop of your own red blood, let these imperfections stand as traces of the unfakeably human hand that shaped the book. (Or fake them, as necessary.)
2. Nothing says "pure abstracted market capital dancing in the paradoxical embrace of its own inevitably concrete self-representation" like legal-tender origami
The cover ornament is up to you, and if you can think of anything that conveys the essence of this project better than a single U.S. dollar bill artfully accordion-pleated and stitch-fastened to the cover in an assertively decorative truncation of its own iconic image, hey, knock yourself out. But you can't, can you? And there's no shame in that.
Seriously, that's the whole step. (You thought this was going to be the hard part?)
Naturally I won't insult your crafting prowess by explaining how to make a hand-bound hardcover book from scratch. (There are other Instructables on that, if you really need the refresher.) But given the unique requirements of the project generally, there are a couple tips you might want to keep in mind as you tackle step 4:
1. If there's some part of "lovingly" you don't understand, please ask
I can't stress this enough: The effect you're going for here is what's known in the business as "foregrounding the materiality of the signifier" -- so for heaven's sake go for it! Your hand-crafted book shouldn't just look hand-crafted -- it should radiate hand-craftedness the way a fresh-baked country biscuit radiates oven warmth. It should reflect your painstaking attention the way a baby's smile reflects its mother's tender care. At the same time, though, and for the same reasons, it should also not turn out so perfect as to be indistinguishable from a machine-made book. Correct any glaring errors as you go, but if a page tears slightly or a bit of glue oozes out from behind the spine or (God forbid) you prick a finger on the binding needle and streak the cover cloth with a drop of your own red blood, let these imperfections stand as traces of the unfakeably human hand that shaped the book. (Or fake them, as necessary.)
2. Nothing says "pure abstracted market capital dancing in the paradoxical embrace of its own inevitably concrete self-representation" like legal-tender origami
The cover ornament is up to you, and if you can think of anything that conveys the essence of this project better than a single U.S. dollar bill artfully accordion-pleated and stitch-fastened to the cover in an assertively decorative truncation of its own iconic image, hey, knock yourself out. But you can't, can you? And there's no shame in that.
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Oct 29, 2008. 1:13 AMemergencydpt.com
says:
I'm not sure why you posted this in 'offbeat'...Good job though...can you do another one?
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Aug 14, 2009. 12:31 AM
frollard
says:
frollard
says:
It's nowhere near on-beat.
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