A Democratic Art

Altered art is a democratic art. Anyone can make it. There is no special training required and one does not have to invest a lot of money in its making. In fact, you really don't have to spend a penny. Many of us in this project barter materials. Ah, but that's another story...

Thinking about democracy and commercialism led me to design the suffrage book, which is nearing completion. (Thank God for snow days!)

Initially, I was going to make a spoof palimpsest on the discarded book, which was published in the 1950s and written by a male doctor who purported to know what was wrong with women (why women were so unhappy). I reveled in ripping out many of its pages, let me tell you.

So, thinking about the good doctor's advice, my loathing of the rampant commercialistic promotion of women as objects (a theory many women buy into, which is scary), and recent dispatches on women politicoes and trends in voting led me to re-design my book into a report and helpful resource on suffrage, women in politics and current voting practices, or lack thereof. With a female Speaker of the House (United States Congress) and a female presidential candidate, perhaps things will change on the lack thereof side of the ledger. One can -- and should -- hope. One can and MUST do her part to help other women vote.

This morning, while unsticking my fingers from a runaway page, I came up with a tentative title:

The State of Being unEqual

A Report on the Politics of Being Women

(2007 - Believe it or Not!)

Now before someone accuses me of being sexist and playing the victim card, let me inform you that, in addition to discussing inequality, the book takes women to task for their lack of interest in issues that affect so many vital conditions - from what we earn to what we do with our bodies. It seeks to remind women of the work our predecessors undertook to secure our right to vote, a right, I will add, which too few of today's women use or use wisely.

As I noted previously, this book differs significantly from "April Through August," which is now on display at the Pottsville Free Public Library, which graciously allowed us to take over an entire room to work on our books. "April Through August" is about color, texture and embellishment and it has few words. "The State of Being unEqual" employs color and ephemera, yes, but it is also filled with information and editorializations, including newspaper and magazine articles (wherein I leave the biolines intact in respect for copyright and in hope that readers will pursue additional related materials).

If it sounds like I am having a good time with this, you are right. I am. I also feel like I am doing a little bit toward my part of remembering that not so very long ago, women did not have the rights we have today. Predecessors earned it for us. We need to work to keep it.

Altered Minds: the things one learns when making altered art

Are you learning anything about YOU while working on your books?

I have learned that I need to let go. I need to let go of "stuff" and "strictures:" stuff like old pages, beer caps, string, torn headlines and frayed fabrics and strictures that come from that beastly critic within, the one who says "THAT is NOT A-R-T."

"April through August" is done. It is a book that looks NOTHING like it did when I rescued it from the discard pile. Every page, every word, every image is re-covered by something I created, by a record of what kind of mood I was in, a record of art technique, a testament to what I have learned about altered art since we launched this awesome project. Looking back, I spent WAY too much time on "April through August." Yet, none of the time was wasted. I would not trade a moment of the time I invested in the book. For every time I make an altered art object, I learn something new about art and about me.

In the workshops, I have repeatedly said "There are no rules in altered art." With every page or spread I do, I have to remind myself of this. I have to tell myself that I am free to think of myself as a scientist in a laboratory, a child with art supplies, an individual with the freedom to explore. I practice what I preach, you see, because I know that I am capable of falling prey to the beastly critic who has a highbrow outlook on A-R-T.

The altered mind is one of the results I most want from this community art project. I will have succeeded if at least one participant and one reader expresses a new understanding about the definition of A-R-T.


COMING UP:
Other books I have in progress retain some of their original features.

You're doing WHAT with a book?

I remember the first time I heard about altered books. A writer and a bibliophile to my very core, I was appalled at the thought of changing anything about a beloved, bound and printed book.

It didn't take me long to see the possibilities.