australian for awesome.

While I've always loved books, I don't think I've always loved artist re-interpretations of them. Even at my very youngest, I think the first strong opinions I held could likely have been about books and their purity. Maybe it's because I'm less imaginative, or maybe it's because I don't have the kind of fine motor coordination that my artistic perfectionist demands, but I love me two solid covers with a stack of clean-cut papers between them -- something that holds up to being used as a pillow or dropped in the bath or pummeled in a beach bag.

Now that my tastes have matured -- I enjoy a variety of vegetables and finally retired that bright blue, lace-collared party dress I insisted on wearing whenever I was out of my uniform -- I am blown away by how artists are reinterpreting one of my greatest friends and passions: the book.

Jonathan Tse (b. 1967)
Portrait of an Australian
Robertson, Qld: J. Tse, 1998
Edition: 6 of 10 copies
Australian Library of Art
State Library of Queensland
ALAAB TSE

Everything about this is wonderful. The best bits of the passport -- the rounded corners, the smooth - almost plastic - almost leather paper, the security patterns that ought to be used as wallpaper -- PLUS child-sized kangaroos, DICTIONARY treatments, and stamps. Whether this is a book about these creatures or only a spread, I definitely want to pick it up and see more.

Anne-Maree Hunter (b. 1965)

Tower of Babel
Newcastle, NSW: Anne-Maree Hunter, 2006
Edition: 3 of 4 copies
Australian Library of Art,
State Library of Queensland
ALAAB HUN

I really gasped when I saw this. I wish I could see it closed, as well, but the composition is -- obviously -- stunning. I've already confessed I lean a bit on the boring side, aesthetically, so it might come as no surprise that fantasy isn't usually my favorite genre, visually... and even though my brain sort of tells me this could be that, my eyeballs just see cities at sunset.