Somatic Linguistics: artist's book

Here is an artist’s book ‘Somatic Linguistics’ which I bound for artist Shane Murphy for an exhibition held in The Library Project, Temple Bar, Dublin. The exhibition explored the process of home taping and the ideas that come with it. Each artist presented an artwork in the form of an audiocassette, accompanied by an artists’ book.

This book explored issues of phenomenology using the writings of Merleau-Ponty. Fragments of his work are reproduced in braille and printed text, accompanied by tape drawings which investigate the gaps between sound and vision.

I worked closely with the artist in order to develop a binding style that would reflect and amplify the book’s theme. I incorporated various elements into the design e.g. using cassette tape reel to bind the book, whilst establishing a cohesive look and layout for the whole book. The stitch is a Japanese stab stitch and the book measures 25 x 15 x 3 cms.