PROCESS

The production of BLANKBOOK is made made by the hand. There are about 30 steps involved in making a book from sheet. A large sheet of paper is cut into smaller sized sheets. The sheets are folded in half along the grain direction of the paper with the aid of a bonefolder. Sheets are gathered into signatures and pressed overnight. Each signature is pierced four to six times by an awl to help the needle pass through. The signatures are then sewn together with a waxed linen thread, forming the spine as the signatures are stacked on top of each other. The sewn book block is pressed before glue is applied on the spine and left to dry. A cover is attached and the book is trimmed on three sides; front, head and tail. The edges are either sprinkled, coloured or left raw. Finally a bookmark is attached and the cover embossed.

TOOLS

A bone folder is used to press the folds of the sheets amongst many things. An awl is used to pierce the signatures to prepare for the stitching of the needle. A curved needle is used when doing a coptic binding. However, the main tools are the hands. It has been a long process to get everything that is needed. Searching in thrift-shops, scanning for tools at auctions-houses and asking around. The hunt for tools and materials are an important part of my process since it is not just about the end result. Every tool, every building-block of the book have a special story. Sometimes the material feel so special that I cannot use it. Like my grandmothers weaved ribbons. But my friends grandmothers ribbons I can use. A saved ribbon that becomes the centrepiece of the book gives me a great pleasure. I give the material a new purpose and thereby taking care of resources.

MATERIALS

The materials are collected from various places, thrift shops, gifts, waste paper from productions. The material is re-used and re-purposed. The left-overs from trimming the edges becomes perfect padding for the packaging.