Codex IX International Book Fair & Symposium
Ath’wart Press will be at CODEX book fair at TABLE #155. Come visit and see my latest artist books as well as collaborative works with poet/artist judi goldberg under the imprimatur of Off Press.
Come for crumples & tea with conversations!
10 10th Street Oakland, CA 94607
For more information about Codex: www.codexfoundation.org
CODEX VIII International Book Fair: April 10th through 13th at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond
REMINDER:
I will be exhibiting artist books
under the imprimatur of
ath’wart press at TABLE 26.
What you might like to know about ath’wart press here and more at https://www.brookeholve.com/athwart-press:
ath’wart and “resistance”
—what role it plays in my art practice
—when I feel it, how I respond
—Do I react to or hold the feeling?
—Do I have other words to describe this experience? ie. willfulness, frustration, steadfastness, others?
Recently I read Roni Horn’s latest book, Island Zombie, Iceland Writings. She devoted an entire chapter to “weather reports”. We have our own internal weather reports, which for me the “resistance” front often shows up and passes through. I found her words insightful: ”The weather’s like that. If you don’t fight it, you become one with it and vanish. You cease to exist if you don’t show resistance and cunning. Some people are said to have an eye for the weather but that goes hand in hand with having an eye for life in general. They’re doubtless better hunters and fishermen and notice more things in nature.”
Resistance shapes. And it was an act of resistance that introduced me to art.
An ath'wart story:
I did not set out to be an artist and it took me awhile to proclaim that I was. My father planted the seed although at the time I did not realize it and he never did. Driving by an abstract sculpture one day he exclaimed “Why would anyone make something like that!” Internally I remember questioning “Why would anyone make something like that?”
Little did I know at the time, that turning a statement into a question was an act of transgression and the beginning of a life as an artist. Questioning opened a way.
The Or Not - An example of an art project that would not have happened if I had not encountered the “resistance” front. Ath’wart honors the role of mistakes and the opportunities offered while working. Artist Books (extracted from The Way Things Are catalogs) will be on display at Codex VIII, Table 26.
Another ath’wart story:
Eric Johnson, founding and former director of North Bay Letterpress Arts, had an exchange with his #2 son, Dino recently. His son occasionally sends him nonsense compositions. He recently sent a two-liner picking up on the oddness of one of my favorite words.
I once fought athwart
I lost
To this Eric responded:
We had a funny moment in the shop four years ago when Brooke Holve encountered a word in a text she was studying and called out to those of us in the room: “guys, what does ATH-wart mean? We tactfully explained that it was pronounced with accent on the other syllable and that it meant across the main direction etc etc. She had the reaction that it was very funny how wrong she had been and how ignorant. From that day on, she invented ATH-wart Press…it’s all explained on that web page.
To which Dino replied:
Ha! She athwarted athwart! They said it couldn’t be done.
Just for that, a bonus, no charge, dedicated to Holve Athwart:
Greed peels sweet needle skin
Up yup hip dippy rub grape space in ripped up crumb humps?
Like you said
CODEX VIII International Book Fair: April 10th through 13th at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond
DATES: April 10 - 13, 2022
LOCATION: Craneway Pavilion 1414 Harbour Way So. Richmond, CA 94804
HOURS: Sunday, April 10 12:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Monday, April 11 12:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Tuesday, April 12 12:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Wed, April 13 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
PROGRAM: Information at https://www.codexfoundation.org
ADMISSION TICKETS: Multi Day $35.00; Single Day $15.00; Student (w/ID) $10.00
More about ATH’WART in the blog post following.
Three years ago at CODEX VII, 2019.
The artist books to be featured at the fair were part of two installations on the topic of extraction exhibited last year at the Seager Gray Gallery in Mill Valley and North Bay Letterpress Arts in Sebastopol.
Catalogs of the installations below:
*masks required, safe distancing encouraged
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
The shop will be open on Sundays during the duration of the exhibit at set times below:
Oct 24th 11 - 1, Oct 31st 2 - 5, Nov 7th 11 - 3, Nov 14th 11 - 3, Nov 21st 11 - 3, Nov 28th 1 - 5
This installation is part of a larger movement of artists, “Art On The Edge Of The Abyss” a multimedia, multi-venue, cross-border art intervention that will investigate extractive industry in all of its forms (from mining and drilling to the reckless exploitation of water, soil, trees, marine life, and other natural resources) instigated by Peter Koch (Codex) and Edwin Dobb. The project will expose and interrogate extraction’s negative social and environmental consequences, from the damage done to people, especially indigenous and disenfranchised communities, to ravaged landscapes and poisoned water to climate change and its many troubling implications.
Featured here will be the installation & performance*
.NO TITLE
by judi goldberg AND Brooke Holve
A collaboration and conversation
between two artists
with different approaches and aesthetic
working with what is.
* To be held on Sunday, November 7 at 1:30pm
Little online presence recently as I have been involved with three others on a project at North Bay Letterpress Arts which we have called Prototype. Prototype #1 is a new _____________________. We are leaving it blank because it is still unclear to us what it is and what will come. So
Here beginneth:
Some Kind of Information. About the nature of Titles. Inspired by a poet who introduced a poem with two titles, then another with three and another without. Prototype #1 reflects our conversations and explorations about titles—-what they are, and what they are not. Of course we started by first consulting the dictionary for its definition:
NOUNThe name of a book, composition, or other artistic work
A name that describes someone’s position or job
The position of being the champion of a major sports competition
A right or claim to the ownership of property or to a rank or throne
(in church use) a fixed sphere of work and source of income as a condition or ordination
VERB1. give a name to (a book, composition, or other work)
ORIGINOld Englishtitul, reinforced by Old Frenchtitle, both from Latintitulus’ inscription, title’. The word originally denoted a placard or inscription placed on an object, giving information about it, hence a descriptive heading in a book or other composition.
Four folds and 24 folds ago. Now prepared to assemble.
Four folds and 24 folds to go to create just the structure (the spine and cover) for prototype. Image above are the printed parts of the spine for 100 prototypes.
Still under construction due to be launched at *NBLA’s Second Annual Fundraiser on Sunday, October 6th.
We have printed and currently are binding an edition of 100. Pricing still under discussion as we are trying to decide how to price it— by its folds, its page number, print runs, and…..
All proceeds will benefit North Bay Letterpress Arts. More to come upon its completion.
*One more note:
Please join us at Hopmonk Tavern for our Second Annual Fundraiser on October 6th! A celebration of printmaking, book arts, education and community. Tickets are available by contacting NBLA
Sunday, October 6, 2019
Lunch: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM at HopMonk
Reception: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM at Iota Printshop
A rhythm of weather effects—light blinding rays offset by gray belting hail and rain. A spectacular and felt side show as my table was located on the aisle closest to the industrial sized windows of the Craneway Center in Richmond at the Codex International Book Fair.
I enjoyed every minute of this event. Where else can one experience a gathering of book artists from all over the world? Over 200 exhibitors from more than twenty-five countries shared their quality books along with engaging conversations on their creative processes.
The international focus this year was Codex Nordica and artists from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland were represented. Special to me as I have been traveling to Iceland for artist residencies since 2012. Last summer I taught Book Iceland at the Gullkistan Center for Creativity and met two of the artists as they presented the work of Airkir (www.aikir.wordpress.com), to the class. Eight from the group came to Codex. I invited them up to the NBLA shop in Sebastopol after Codex. They accepted. So, two days after the closing, we hosted what mushroomed into a delegation of ten artists: six from Iceland, three from Norway and one from Sweden. The whole afternoon was charmed. There was a lunch next door, then a showing of each other’s books, and finally sitting down with coffee and cake to talk about how we might collaborate or at least stay in touch. It was a wonderful ending to a week of non-stop conversation and contemplation on the medium of artist books.
The San Francisco Center for the Book is currently hosting the Nordic letterpress collaboration exhibition, Posted/Unposted. The exhibition opened before Codex and will run to April 29th.
I have been invited to present a talk during this exhibition on Book Iceland, a class I taught last summer at Gullkistan Center For Creativity in Laugarvatn to artists from the United States, England, Germany and Iceland. I will report back on my experiences there in the talk I have titled, Land & Texture: Exploring Iceland For Content in Artist Books. Inspired by the natural energies which shape Iceland’s landscape, the participating artists explored materials, tools, and processes, forming the content for their artist book projects.
The talk is scheduled for Tuesday, April 2, 6–8 pm at the San Francisco Center For The Book on 375 Rhode Island Street in
San Francisco, CA sfcb.org
Mark your calendars.
I continue to work at this press on Thursdays, making artist books and broadsides under the
imprint of ath’wart press. Each year I reflect on how fortunate I am to have discovered this
place and the printers who work here. Come by on Sunday and help us celebrate all that is offered!
Holiday Open House
Free! Donations encouraged.
North Bay Letterpress Arts
925d Gravenstein Hwy SO
Sebastopol, CA 95472
Join us at the print shop for our annual open house! Festivities include: handmade
books and cards, printed artwork, food & drink, delightful conversations, shop tours,
and printing demos. See you there!
Brooke reports back from her recent travels to Iceland and the workshop she taught, BOOK ICELAND. Presentation at North Bay Letter Press Arts (NBLA), on Sunday, August 5th from 2pm to 3:30pm NBLA is located in Sebastopol at 925d Gravenstein Hwy South. www.northbayletterpressarts.org
I will be teaching this class in March at North Bay Letterpress Arts. It is an abridged version of a three-day workshop that I will be teaching in Iceland this summer. To register: contact: www.northbayletterpressarts.org
Saturday, March 17, 10am - 4pm
North Bay Letterpress Arts 925 Gravenstein Hwy South Sebastopol, CA 95472
$150.00
To Register: contact www.northbayletterpressarts.org
An exploratory class in which participants will excavate an exploded book*, looking for material, content and form. With their finds and discoveries, participants will make a coptic-bound cover book.
*exploded book: a book taken apart with its parts categorized and on display
Participant Material list:
a worn cloth-covered book, willing to take apart and destroy
two irwin clamps
heavy duty thread
exacto knife
metal ruler
cutting board
bone folder
3 curved sewing needles
notebook
camera or iPhone
pva
scissors
pens, pencil & eraser
The Studio Printers of North Bay Letterpress Arts invite you
to our holiday open house on
Sunday, December 3rd from 1 - 5
925 d Gravenstein Hwy. So. Sebastopol, CA
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This is our 8th annual December Open House at NBLA. New this year: the riff-raffle with great prizes to be won and an exhibit of my letterpress work with the work of Lyn Dillin, Tami Lovett and Tiana Krahn. Come! Join us for the festivities!
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