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An exhibit of handmade books by USC student artists is on display at McKissick Museum through May 10.
The exhibit is the work of seven Honors College students who took the course, "The Art of the Book," which detailed the writing, illustrating, and binding of books, as well as the history and importance of artists' books as art forms.
Media arts professor Susan Mackey Hogue and local writer Claudia Smith Brinson taught the course. The exhibit, located on the second-floor lobby, features artists' books created by the students. As part of the course, students learned how to report and write memoirs, and how to use PhotoShop and Quark software. They also learned and practiced the techniques of hand stitching, binding, and folding used in book making.
The books are as varied as the students and the majors they represent. Stephanie Laureau of Charlotte, a sophomore majoring in chemical engineering, created a book in the shape of a building with examples of her reporting on USC's plan to build a research campus.
Senior Ranee Saunders' book is a reflection on women and feminism. The Spanish major interviewed performers in the USC production of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues and fashioned a soft book by stitching her pages together and stuffing them carefully with feathers. Drawing from her interest in science, sophomore Andy McCranie, a biology major, wrote about her experience of total sleep deprivation for a period of nine days and built a cover from which curved horns rise.
Other students featured in the exhibit include senior Kris Harrill, an English major; senior Jennifer Lynne Holmes, an English major; freshman Beth Murff, an English major; and junior Christina White, a biology major.
McKissick Museum exhibitions are free and open to the public. The museum, located on the Horseshoe, is open 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday; 9 a.m.–7 p.m. Thursday; and 1–5 p.m. Sunday.
For more information, call 7-7251 or visit www.cla.sc.edu/MCKS.
04/03
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"I've Heard the Bells at Christmas Play," a book that hangs on the wall, was created by senior Jennifer Lynne Holmes.
"To me," said freshman Beth Murff, "an artist's book is an extremely personal creation." She has two books in the exhibit: a memoir, and a travelogue of her trip to Costa Rica.
"Unlike a novel or a regular published book, artists' books allow the creator free rein over the material, structure, and content," said senior Ranee Saunders, whose red-covered books (right) are part of the exhibit.
