For this project we had to create an artist book in which narrative, conceptual thinking and creative use of medium was required. We could choose any story or poem to base our book on and we could choose the binding method which best conceptually communicates the writing piece's themes and meanings. This music box is completely handmade and all the contents inside are hand printed- and stitched. Hidden in the box is a digital mechanism which plays a song when the box is opened. All prints/images can be taken out and put back in, although some of them are connected by thin white strands.
The poem 'Do not stand at my grave and weep' by Mary Elizabeth Frye, written in 1932, is the narrative on which my artist book is based. The lines and meaning of this poem is illustrated through every print, stich, fold and brushstroke.
Text in above image: [The poem 'Do not stand at my grave and weep' has been appropriated countless times since it was originally written in 1932. The poem has inspired songs, native American prayers and various rewritten poems. This shows how universal the process of losing a loved one is.]
Text in above image: [The fact that the papers inside the box will never be packed out and put back in the same order reinforces the fact that the mourning process of losing someone close to you differs from person to person. Just as the historic poem 'Do not stand at my grave and weep' has been appropriated and re-written because of it's universal sentimentality, so my artist book's narrative is formed and 'written' by the viewer.]
Text in above image: [When opening the box, a small insert of Chopin's Nocturne No.2 in E-flat Major can be heard through a small electronic device hidden in the base of the box which is activated by opening it. It adds a nostalgic experience of opening a music box and looking into moments of a treasured life left behind. The images produce fragments of memories to which the viewer can relate.]
Text in above image: [The lines of the poem are written with a typewriter on semi-transparent paper so that the viewer can place them on their own choice of images. As the poem progresses, the type becomes more difficult to read.]
Text in above image: [From the front of the images it is almost impossible to see the small stitches which form a complex labyrinth of white thread. This symbolises the way in which people assume everything in a domestic relationships in a household is in good order when in actual fact it is chaotic, unpredictable and complex.]
Text in above image: [The gloves suggests that the contents inside the box are precious and valuable.]
