Marquee Maximus – Interpret Durban 4

Interpret Durban 4 or ID4 was big news here this last weekend.  Over the past few weeks, artitists have been working on photogaphy, video and T-shirt design submissions.   It was big news for me personally, as I submitted a work for the art exhibition and was chuffed to be awarded 3rd prize in the Open Art section.

The theme was Durban – Concrete Circus and the artwork had to be executed on one side of a cardboard box! 

I chose to work in one of my favourite mediums – book paper, and created a collage. [my rationale at the end of the article].  There were many amazing entries.

The event took place in the beautiful Durban Cityhall

Well done to the guys at Streetscene for hosting this significant event!

If you are up to it, here is the explanation of the work I submitted:

Marquee Maximus – The Moses Mabhida Stadium
The alliteration of the letter M in the title is a reference to the letter M in the name of the stadium it represents.
Marquee is another word for circus tent. 
Maximus is a reference to
  • ·         the large size of the stadium,
  • ·         the size and the heart of the city and
  • ·         the first Circus in the city of Rome,  known as Circus Maximus

The shape of the significant and iconic concrete Moses Mabhida stadium was used to represent Durban and create a giant circus tent.

This artwork was made from recycled and found papers.  Representing the history of Durban – not jaded and old, but re-invented and fresh.

The techniques used were – Cut paper work, chalk pastel colouring, string art, line drawing, stencilling.

The bunting along the top has hand written words overlaid, blending in to the print.  Words that may be heard in the hub bub of life in the Concrete Circus of Durban.

The suspended shapes signify some of the facets of performance life in Durban.  The shapes are circular representing a Juggler’s balls and they are suspended from string ‘swings’ representing circus acrobats.   

(Strelitzia leaf – tropical climate; Sun – weather and hot spicy Indian culture; Soccer Ball; Bicycle Wheel – Cycling culture; Beach Ball; Ship’s wheel – Maritime; Shield – Zulu Culture)

Stencilled footprints of lion and elephant represent animals that used to roam Durban and, sadly, are often found in circuses

The repetition of shapes and lines throughout the piece signifies the comforting rhythm of the city life.  A rhythm that draws you to join in.

The blue, natural and green layers on the bottom represent the sea, the sand and the sub-tropical vegetation that form a foundation for life in Durbs.

Poetry in Motion

Poetry Collection stores have been running a fund raiser to counteract illiteracy.  We were delighted to make up book strings for The Shaw Sisters who supplied them to stores countrywide for this campaign. 

The promotion has been running since early July and is nearing an end now, so I was pleased to finally get to the only Poetry Store in KZN at the buzzing Midlands Mall this weekend.

 


I am a shy photographer and so appreciated the friendly and interested response from the manager and staff who happily let me click away.

 

We enjoyed browsing around the store.  Shoppers in other parts of South Africa have been enjoying dedicated Poetry Stores for a while now, and I believe we can look forward to some more opening closer to our KZN home soon.

Lovely to think that these old recycled books could be part of a new momentum to help more people to read by bringing attention and encouraging donations to Ikamva Labantu

Concertina Shells…

These are the interesting leftovers from an enormous project we have just completed.

Christy, Sandile, Hlengiwe and myself have sourced, sliced, folded and strung together hundreds of folded books for the Shaw Sisters, who are supplying a nation-wide chain store in South Africa.
So…when you are at the mall – please be on the look out for this coming-soon literate installation, and let me know when and where you’ve seen it. – and send us a pic too.  Thanks♥
A special thanks to the Highway Hospice Charity Shop for supplying us with books to recycle and to Isla Designs for your contribution too!

Book Shelving

Barrel Roll Folded books stacked into shelving.  The print stripes and gentle folds form a pleasing rhythmic backdrop to some quirky collectibles.

 

The delicate book rolls are surprisingly stable and can be stacked in many combinations.  Here we filled a corner, creating an interesting wall covering and lots of display space. 

 

This is an ideal budget treatment that can be erected easily and moved or rearranged if needed, and eventually completely recycled.

See the Freshly Found book folding tutorial for instructions on making the rolls.

Basic Barrel Roll – Book Fold Tutorial


In response to loads of interest, we will be posting some tutorials on the art of book folding or Bibliogami.  It has become a very popular craft and Freshly Found has been folding books for years.  We are in the middle of an enormous order right now, so thought it would be a good idea to document some of the techniques we use. 

One of the simplest folds is the barrel roll  Start with a paperback that has a flexible glued spine. Choose a book of 200 – 250 pages.[100-125 actual sheets of paper].  Remove the outside cover.
Lay the book down flat and count 5 pages.  Roll the pages towards the spine.

Tuck them in as close to the spine as possible, then repeat with the next 5 pages and so on.  Always work in the same direction.  

Here you can see the lovely gentle symmetrical pattern that forms.  Continue until all the pages have been rolled.  At first, you will have to hold the rolls in place, but as the round is completed, the tension of the folds will keep everything in place.  No glue is needed.

These look good just as they are.  Simple book fold forms have a lively, yet calming effect.  Over the next few days, we will give you some ideas for using these beauties. 

If you create any these, we’d love to see how they turn out♥

We’ve talked about these shaped books before on this blog.  
Do you remember these Barrel Roll Decor items?

Table Tut                  and                           Bookshelf Display