Critique of Book Stacks
Video recording outdoors demo with Nathan
CLASS walk and guided tour of the Arboretum with Interpretive Biologist Chris Earley – rain or shine! Bring appropriate clothing, shoes, and water.
Consultations and work time with video partner in the Arboretum
Book Stack Assignment– I wanted to explore how to make books stand out and create the most striking images. I experimented with various layouts and book arrangements to find the composition that resulted in the most eye-catching photographs
Assignment 1: Create 3 book stacks
The contrast of interests between an Uncle and a niece
B O O K S T A C K
I have chosen to make 3 separate book stacks with different, unconnected themes and concepts. It is my hope that by exploring three separate approaches I may learn the most about which approaches are best suited to the up-and -coming projects we will explore and expand upon in this course.
E N J O Y
JAWS Fanart (Ana Platanos, 2024)
For my first book stack I’ve chosen to create a book scape reminiscent of a beach with rolling waves. Formalistically speaking this is my best work out of the three book stacks presented because of its dynamic and creative composition. In terms of concept the book “The Old Man and the Sea” Being positioned like it’s about to be swallowed by the waves (so-to-speak) is a cheeky twist that I hope reminds you the viewer of when that sad old man died in JAWS.
The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone. (Ana Platanos, 2024)
For this bookscape the phenomenon of viewing woman as either The Maiden, The Mother, or The Crone (as per the title! Haha) found throughout literary history, religious practices and feminist theory is represented. The arrangement of the books arranged both in order of how the three figures are often referred to also serves the conceptual purpose of creating a sort of hierarchy for the trope. Both the Maiden and the Mother lean on the crone for example, however the crone peers through the shadows tucked away and unnoticed. As I battle with myself and my place in the world both in career, family and spirituality as a young woman the history of these tropes and their place in my life and every woman and non man’s life is significant and worth contemplation.
Pretentious (Ana Platanos, 2024)
To be pretentious is to act or behave in a way that expresses you think you’re important, usually more than you really are. I am a super pretentious person and actually I believe that’s the only way to be especially as an artist. I have no idea if what I make is good or why people should like it. At the same time I wholeheartedly believe they should! I like myself, I like my art and I will never apologize for thinking that what I have to share with the world is worth sharing. In order to create both art and connections within art I believe you have to do what every artist in my bookshelf of artist biographies has done, place worth on yourself, your art and the artists of previous and contemporary. In this piece I have created both a book stack and an altar dedicated to these individuals, my own principles and my own goals.
Stack #1: Missing Art work
When trying to think up the first stack, I knew I wanted it to have something involving mystery and relations to detective casefiles. I very much enjoy watching mystery themed content and thought it would be fun to start the assignment there. With this, I interpret this bookstack as:
We are looking at art pieces and the colour’s, the beauty and emotions they contain. The piece then becomes lost and the trail runs cold, there is nothing anyone can do but close the file for now and list the art piece as a lost masterpiece. However you can also interpret this as an art piece being destroyed and no one can figure out who would do such a thing, what happened? This then lead me to edit the photo to give a basic colour tint and nothing to sever.
Stack #2: To find yourself/ accepting who you are
With the second stack I had to dive mainly into my roommates/close friends books, so I took a different approach to the theme and thought to base it off of her. This stack is trying to show someone on the path to find who they are and that they can accept themselves for what they look like and what their personality is to begin with. Taking someone that comes from a dark place and finally being able to put all the pieces in the right spot so they don’t have to second guess every last decision, that they are now in the light and can hold their head up high without worry. They are a Goddess. When editing the image I wanted a very warm feeling coming from it, so I added a warm layer over the other modifications.
Stack #3: The story of their end
When completing the last 2 bookstacks I knew I wanted this last one to be the classic “with you until the end” I thought to start this story as if it was a person reading a letter that they have just been handed after opening the door. As they have read through the letter and realize whatever point the other person/lover/friend, ect. They went to meet up and have one last day together before ending their story before anyone else could get hurt seeing as the letter was implying that they were something the world would be better without. This bookstack would have to be my favorite, however I’m not completely sure as to why. I wanted the image to give off a dull get still life like feeling, as if it came from a movie with the plot being some non realistic documentary. So instead of giving a sad vibe and putting a cool tone over the image, I set out to try and keep the colour, but just have it muted in some way.
The three book stacks I created are titled Migrations, Possessive Desires, and Into Being. Through experimenting with different combinations of book titles, I created three distinct poems, each reflecting a unique theme.
Migrations:
The first stack, Migrations, is composed of Migrations and All the Birds in the Sky. The word “migrations” refers to movement and transition from one place to another. Paired with All the Birds in the Sky, the stack can be read literally, evoking the seasonal migrations of birds flying through the sky, or metaphorically, suggesting freedom, change, and new possibilities. Together, these titles express the idea of freedom in movement and future potential.
Possessive Desires:
The second stack, Possessive Desires, is made up of Possession, A Certain Hunger, and Never Let Me Go. Possession conveys notions of ownership and control, while A certain Hunger hints at deep desire and longing. Never Let Me Go implies an intense need to hold on tightly. Combined, these titles create a powerful image of obsessive love and desire, reflecting the darker, possessive side of relationships.
Into Being:
The final stack, Into Being, includes A Breath of Life, Body, and You Are Here. A Breath of Life symbolizes the act of coming into existence, while Body refers to the physical nature of existing. You Are Here suggests presence in a specific space. Together, these titles explore the experience of being–focusing on the connection between the physical body and the immediate, present moment.
The composition of the photographed book stacks was also carefully considered. All three stacks were photographed against a blank background to ensure that the focus remained solely on the books. The stacks were placed on a wooden table, evoking a homely, familiar environment. In each image, the books are stacked alongside others with their spines turned inward, drawing attention to the outward-facing spines of the selected titles.
This arrangement was intentional, creating the impression of a bookshelf or a bedside table. The idea was to make it seem as though the books were left in this order waiting to be discovered in an intimate unknown space. This setting aligns with the fact that the books were taken from my personal collection, and the deliberate composition was meant to convey this intimate environment.
In the final photograph, the books are stacked vertically, allowing the titles to be read fluidly. This decision was necessary because the last book’s title, You Are Here, was printed vertically, while the others were printed horizontally. Stacking the books vertically ensured that the titles could be read seamlessly.
This book stack sculpture is modelled after a classic “whodunnit” book. As an avid enjoyer of murder mystery books, I wanted to have fun with this first book stack. The books are carefully arranged so the titles can tell a story, in this case, a very simple “whodunnit” story. The first book ‘The Midnight Murder’ is the piece’s title and gives the viewer a sense of the story. The books vaguely outline someone alone (‘Alone’) at night (‘The Dark Night’) who then gets murdered (‘The Twist of a Knife’ and ‘Death’). From there we learn there were witnesses to this crime (‘The Witnesses’) which leads to the murderer being found and eventually prosecuted (‘Suspect’ and ‘Found’), leading to justice (‘Justice’) once the case is solved. Collecting these books was a difficult process, only one of them was from home while I scoured the library for all of the other ones. I had a general idea and used books to fill in the spaces for the final narrative. I found the best way of arranging the books in the case of all three of my pieces was to stack them directly on top of one another.
**Trigger Warning** This next piece and the artist’s statement include themes/mentions of familial violence and abuse. Viewer discretion is advised.
The title of this book stack sculpture is ‘Absent Father?’ as shown with the book at the very top of the stack. Through this sculpture, viewers can look at the titles of the books from top to bottom, to gauge a general idea of the story or history presented. The themes of this sculpture are significantly more personal to me compared to the last one, it gives the viewer a look into life before, during and after my parent’s divorce. It is important to note that my parents divorced when I was only a child, so the perspective of this history/narrative comes from me as an adult with a more complex understanding of everything. As mentioned the narrative is split into three pieces, first, it’s life before the divorce, which includes ‘Hard Truths’ to ‘Coping with Family Violence.’ The before section touches on what I was going through leading up to my parent’s divorce. Although my memory is mostly blacked out from this time, I remember the struggle I had absorbing that my father wasn’t a good man, or even in some cases, a good father. From the violence I remember encountering to his allegedly cheating before my parents got divorced was hard for me as a child. The second piece of the narrative is during the divorce, which is from ‘Divorce and Disengagement’ to ‘Fathers and Daughters’. This touches on the breakup of our family and the evolving father/daughter relationship between my dad and me as I was forced to examine him in a new light. The third section is after the divorce, which is from ‘Daddy, We Need You Now!’ to ‘Learning to Live.’ This section details how my father slowly became more absent in my life, learning to come to terms with this, eventually working through those emotions, living life with my single mother and struggling, and eventually learning to live with my complicated relationship with my father, accepting that as a piece of me. I went about collecting the books the same way as the last stack, this time though, they were all from the library.
**Trigger Warning** This next piece and the artist’s statement include themes/mentions of sexual violence and abuse. Viewer discretion is advised.
The title of this book stack sculpture is simply, Survivor, unlike the first two, the book at the top is not the title, instead, it’s the beginning of the story.