Championship Boxing game/bookset
Arts
ART126: Art of Bookmaking
This was my final project for my Book Arts class. The project prompt was to create a book and did not give any guidelines to follow. Through our class discussions we explored the notion of book and whether or not it was the binding that made a book to be considered a book.
For my project I chose to build a box that held a series of books that would complete an installation when assembled. The box itself was built to resemble a miniature boxing ring and the contents that fit inside included: 1 hardbound "Championship Boxing book" with a repeating trophy image, 3 pamphlet books printed with betting grids and intros to the boxers and an image of an audience on the covers, miniature toy figures of the boxers in various poses, and a flag book of a boxing match scene by scene (completed in a different course but with the same characters).
The edition of 3 pamphlet stitch books form a triptych surrounding the box with an image of an audience on the covers. The pamphlet books are meant to resemble show bills for sporting/performance events and the content of the books include betting card grids and introductions of the two boxers in the match. The pamphlets were made with grey fine art paper and newsprint to match the cheap mass production of show bills for
The hard bound book is meant to take place of a championship belt or trophy. Its contents are of a repeated trophy image. The book has been hand painted with shining gold paint and acts as the prize of the set.
The miniature toy figures are made with shrinky dink plastic and hand painted with screenprinting ink and mounted on small squares of Davey bookboard.
The flag book is screenprinted on Rives BFK Tan paper and shows both the normal view and mirror image view of a boxing match "play-by-play." The characters in the book are the same who appear as the miniature toy figures.
The box itself is made from Davey book board, butcher paper, wooden dowels, rubber bands, and waxed thread. The box becomes the unifying piece ("the spine/binding") that contains all of the books and pieces ("the pages").
I chose a limited color palate to reinforce the vintage appearance of my boxing themed art pieces and have printed/used mostly Tan or Grey Rives BFK with other cheap materials such as newsprint and butcher paper. The effect I chose to convey was of a cherished vintage toy.
