{"id":9608,"date":"2017-08-19T17:05:15","date_gmt":"2017-08-19T21:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/?p=9608"},"modified":"2017-12-09T13:39:30","modified_gmt":"2017-12-09T17:39:30","slug":"creating-collage-artwork-on-a-book-cover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/archives\/9608","title":{"rendered":"Creating collage artwork on a book cover"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cA cold start is a hard start.\u201d
\n\u2014 Stephen King
\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There must be a lot of ruined publications out there, because the \u201ccollage on book cover\u201d has become a staple of the medium in recent years. I happen to live across the street from a public library, and I\u2019ve been known to peek into their recycling bins from time to time. If the decisions of libraries are any indication, cast-off books will supply the needs of artists for quite a while, and I\u2019m not talking about just covers. Perhaps the societal move from print to digital has in some measure fueled the explosion of collage worldwide. Much could be said about that alone, but let\u2019s stay focused on the book cover.<\/p>\n

As a substrate, it has all the aspects for which a collage artist is looking \u2014 strength, durability, unusual textures, and it often provides other desirable features, such as embossing, foil stamping, plus interesting typography that need not be superimposed. I will generally wrap my collage ingredients around the dimensions of the working surface, and this adds an \u201cartifact\u201d quality to the creation, because it takes on the perceptual properties of an actual object. Book covers can lend themselves to this effect.<\/p>\n

For me, the book cover also triggers its own unique intuitive responses \u2014 unconscious associations that will \u201cjump-start\u201d the process in a more experimental way than the typical \u201cblank canvas,\u201d which invites more initial calculation. Any component of a publication has the vestiges of an anonymous designer\u2019s preexisting sensibility. There is already a context, perhaps a pictorial or narrative allusion, but, at minimum, a tactile or color stimulus. It is not a cold origin.<\/p>\n

There are times when a collage at the scale of a book cover will capture a microcosm of \u201cthe moment,\u201d whether or not we can interpret all the elements at a rational level, whether or not we can ascribe \u201cmeaning\u201d to it. I see many collage artworks that communicate little beyond \u201cdisorganization\u201d or \u201cchaos.\u201d But there are others that probe deeper to the heart of something more significant, and are the result of an artistic intent at some level of mindfulness, even if it has not derived from a series of choices that involve an outer, deliberative awareness. Then again, it is dangerous for me to generalize about anything. Each creative process is distinctive. Discover yours!
\n 
\n\"Threshold<\/a><\/p>\n

Threshold Of Control<\/em><\/strong>
\ncollage miniature on book cover by J A Dixon
\n7 x 10 inches
\n 
\nPurchase this artwork!<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a><\/p>\n

This Side of Recklessness<\/em><\/strong>
\ncollage miniature on book cover by J A Dixon
\n7 x 10 inches
\n 
\nPurchase this artwork!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cA cold start is a hard start.\u201d \u2014 Stephen King   There must be a lot of ruined publications out there, because the \u201ccollage on book cover\u201d has become a staple of the medium in recent years. I happen to live across the street from a public library, and I\u2019ve been known to peek into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,118,1,52,22,18,35,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9608"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9608"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9963,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9608\/revisions\/9963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xorph.com\/jadixon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}