The Project

Part 1. The Artists will make an Artists’ Book on the theme of Shakespeare and the Wonder of Trees

• An established artist will make leaf-shaped bookends
• Six student artists will make leaf-shaped pages
• The established artists will construct the pages into a book or book-like object

The finished artwork will remain the property of the Scholar, but will be catalogued as a collaborative work, including all of the artists’ names. Perhaps it will be offered to UNCC’s Rare Books collection.

Part 2. The Scholar will write something about it, incorporating visuals of the artwork into the finished essay. The Artists will be required to sign an agreement that the work can be represented within the essay with full rights for publication.

The essay will be published in Books of Wonder, edited by Sujata Iyengar and Jennifer Low with either Bloomsbury/Arden or Delaware University Press. The deadline for the essay is Dec 31, 2024

The Commission

You are to submit one double-sided leaf (in more durable material if you are doing a bookend, in paper or material akin to paper if you are doing a “page”)

It should be in the form of a leaf. You should choose the leaf shape, something that appeals to you

(rough size guide: 8 x 5 inches).

The visuality is entirely up to you, but you should think about wonder, especially the wondrous nature of trees.

There should be some kind of Shakespearean text, however brief. An integration of the theme, the form, and the text would be most welcome!

Resources:

Shakespeare Concordance (you type in a word and it tells you where it features in the plays and you can look them up):

https://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/concordance/

You might consider early modern (let’s say between 1580-1680) illustrators / botanists / etc.

Due: December 15, 2024