Art Pieces of Books
©
Marion de Kort
Blank, to be filled with your story… just a reminder, you are the only author of your story and no one else.
THERE IS A STORY BEHIND IT
Once upon a time … there was no moon or sun in the sky. There was a time where time did not exist.
In my memory, our original nature is infinite movement, and every movement is in complete harmony with and brings delight to the whole. This movement consumes nothing, destroys nothing. Nothing is born, nothing dies. There is no cycle. One form flows into another in pure joy, without any limitations of possibilities and radiating uniqueness. It is a remembrance of pure creation.
My artwork can be seen as a reflex on a world where anti-aging and aesthetic interventions sell uniform and static beauty. And perhaps, in part, it is. I experience beauty in the transience of natural materials _ it's always in motion. But above all the Art Pieces or Books are, within the possibilities of a 3D world, an expression of my awareness of our original nature. This essence is (behind the masking of the dual world) still very much alive.
There is …
Marion de Kort
The basis of the Art Pieces of Books is the fibers of the stinging nettle. I love the play of colors, the softness, and the strength of this plant material!
125 stems of this plant have been incorporated into a single A5-sized book cover. After collecting the stems in late summer, I first ferment them in water (retting) to release the fibers. A faster method is to treat the bark with an alkaline solution (for example, boiling it in soda), but this yields a less beautiful and refined end result. Next, I let the fibers dry so that I can card them (just like wool). Finally, the fibers are beaten by hand. Only then are they ready to be made into paper for the book cover.
During my time of exploring papermaking, I have made paper from a huge variety of plants. No single plant proved to yield such beautiful paper as the fiber of the stinging nettle. The silvery-white, glossy fiber of the nettle is gossamer-fine and almost tenderly soft. I call it ‘cuddly’ paper. Nevertheless, it is incredibly strong. Here and there, I leave a sliver of green bark attached to the fiber, which, in combination with the silvery-white sheen of the bare fiber, provides paper with a magnificent structure and play of colors. Because the fibers determine their own path during the papermaking process, no piece of paper is identical.
The binding twine is also made from nettle fiber. The fibers are twisted into a string by hand.
The pages of the interior are made of industrially produced paper, but the aging is done by hand, for which I use herbal tea.
Each booklet is a unique copy. Given the labor intensity, one new booklet is produced annually.
Closed spine model - 60 pages 120-gram paper: €360.
No postal shipping - the Art Pieces of Books can be viewed (and possibly purchased) without obligation during the book drop-in.