Alison Kuller is a practicing bookbinder and book conservator who began her studies at the North Bennet Street School in Boston. She has worked in several libraries and conservation labs over the years, including those at Widener Library, Harvard University, and the renowned Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, MA. She has treated books and manuscripts from the 16th Century through the present, frequently designing and building enclosures to house them. Since her return to the mid-coast area, she binds books, photograph collections and corporate reports and continues her work in book conservation, box making, and teaching. Currently, Alison is researching unusual bindings under a grant from the Maine Arts Commission.
Photographic Portfolio Box Making
Time and again instructors, curators and gallery owners will speak to the importance of presentation. How one chooses to convey one’s work speaks volumes about the individual and the work itself – begging the question of whether one’s vision ends with the print or expands to include the care and integrity of the work as a whole.
When presenting a portfolio to others, one is acting as a curator. The sequence, format, and materials of the presentation are all expressive, conveying a message that may, or may not, represent the work as intended. Just as one makes choices when one decides on how to print and matte an image, one is also making a choice to present work in a black plastic box rather than a custom made enclosure. One is expedient, the other expressive, each of them “labeling” the work.
True, a box or portfolio is primarily intended to house and transport artwork. As such it should be make well of materials that won't off-gas or degrade over time. These and many other considerations are part of this course on box making. During the workshop participants not only learn and use appropriate archival materials, but they have the opportunity to make an enclosure of their own design. Is space needed to house negatives or discs? Is both small and large formatted work to be housed together, without damaging either? Should the interior lining of the enclosure calm the eye, or excite it? What about texture, color, and script?
Most of this week is devoted to working at the bench, learning a variety of methods to house work including portfolios, four-flap enclosures, and clamshell boxes. There is at least one field trip to a local studio to learn more about the impact of presentation from a collector or artist. Students leave the workshop with several examples of strong, preservation minded enclosures that will enable them to make their presentations an integral – and distinctive – reflection of their work.
Instructors
