Making Unreadable Books
There are continuous threads in my practice that weave through much of what I do; sometimes they disappear for a while but always resurface at some point. One of these is an interest in book structures that hide their words - that make them unreadable. It was a project based at Lyme Park in Stockport that began my interest in making unreadable books. I have written before about a sense of place, and I find that so often it’s the place that gives me the way in to something fascinating. At Lyme Park, I was first taken by the small domestic details - little patches of darning with lace on some lampshades - all the things that a family who have lived in a place for a long time might do.
Drawing of lace patches
I tend to start with drawing as it not only captures the details but it fixes them in my mind far more than a photograph does. Looking back at my sketch book on a project also helps me to make links - sometimes purely visual, at other times I am writing in my sketchbook, using it as a journal, and the juxtaposition of text and imagery can be really interesting and surprising. I did some research into the Legh family who owned Lyme Park, and found a wonderful collection of maps and letters in the Greater Manchester Archive. I wrote down an extract from one letter which particularly struck me - written by a woman called Mabell Brooke to Sir Richard Legh in 1685. She begged him in this letter to burn it saying:
“These lines being unfit to be exposed unless to so noble and worthy a friend as yourself I must beg you will burn them when you have read the contents.”
Obviously he had not done what she asked, as I was sitting in the archives over 300 years later reading it. It made me think of all the things I write that I woudn’t want anyone else to read. All the morning pages I write, where I just do an uncensored dump of things that are rattling round my head; those feelings that pour onto the page which are purely for me, to help me work out what I’m doing and what I think. They definitely are not intended for other eyes ! I was exploring making books at the time, just for the enjoyment of finding interesting book structures and it occurred to me that a star book shape would lend itself nicely to hiding text from view.
A ‘star’ book structure with text printed on the inside of the pages.
I went on to explore different ways in which books could be made unreadable - by shredding pages, or by stitching the pages together.
The drawings that I did in my sketchbook became prints for the outside of the book series, which I stitched into, echoing the hand stitched lace patches that I’d seen at Lyme.
Looking back I can see the threads of my unreadable books resurfacing in a later piece that I made as part of my ‘I Know Where I’m Going’ exhibition. This book - ‘Carsaig 704203’ incorporates all the words spoken in a particular location in the film ‘I Know Where I’m Going’. Part of the point of the scenes is that the location is a telephone box set right next to a waterfall so it is impossible to hear what anyone is saying. The book has all the words in it but they are almost unreadable - the pages are shredded and the words are printed on the spine. They can just about be accessed but only with difficulty.
It’s a thread I am continuing to explore. I love the way that books can be used to hide things - perhaps literally in pockets -
Or hiding writing amongst other scribbles and lines :
And if you are interested do sign up for my newsletter - I’m planning some workshops where we’ll explore these ideas and make books with pockets and secrets so watch out for those!