Peter Bushell
TRAVERSE
TRAVERSE is a 14-page artist’s book cut and folded from a single press sheet. It includes a non-adhesive cover that slips on. It was letterpress printed with five colors and blind de-bossing. TRAVERSE chronicles a family vacation by presenting names of destinations explored and mountain trails hiked. It uniquely engages the form of the book by allowing the content to straddle the mountains and meander through the valleys of the accordion structure.
The inspiration for this piece came from synergy with deadlines, vacation, hand made paper and a new letterpress facility. My intention was to create a letterpress artist’s book or broadside utilizing an 18”x24” sheet of hand made paper to be donated to a fundraising event. An unusual starting point, I let the dimensions of the paper guide my thinking about artist book forms and creative content.
I built models from other paper of the same size by cutting and folding into an accordion structure. Upon reflection, I made notes about which pages were connected by folds, and changed direction of content that was right reading to up- side down, and back again. Content was solidified once the mountains of the accordion showed themselves.
The final letterpress artist’s book showcases a recent family vacation through California, Idaho and Wyoming by presenting names of trails, peaks and destinations along the way. Content marries form as these names meander through the pages and straddle the mountains of the accordion structure.