The opportunity to make a 'real' tunnel book finally presented itself in the form of excess monoprints from a print run that I created for a group exhibition 'Elements'.
I intrepreted the theme 'Elements' into the 5 elements of Japanese Buddhism. Japanese stone lanterns are one of the most common representations of these five elements, known as 'Godai', "five great". Each section of the lantern represents one of the five elements - earth, wind, fire, wind and void.
I've visited Japan a few times (5 times plus another trip planned this year) and my tunnel book was inspired by my love of Japanese culture and the beauty of their gardens. Using the tunnel format, I have creatively reimagined the layered viewpoints of a garden, looking through ginkgo trees across the pond to the stone lantern, the koi swimming in the water below.
I started the process by making a prototype out of photocopy paper, then set to work cutting out elements of my rejected prints. I used strong black card to make the framework of the book.
To house the book and protect it, I created a black cover secured with a Japanese bone clasp.
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| Tunnel books are interesting as they're like little theatres, where each panel makes up the final layered image. The final 3D image is like looking across a vista in a Japanese garden. |
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| Looking into the book from the side front. |
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| The closed cover, made of box board and mulberry paper, with the bone clasp |
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| Looking down into the book |
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| You can see I've attached the monoprint images onto each panel. |