Paper Buttons: Magnetic Attraction

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Magnetic Attraction

What is it about magnets that is so attractive? Is it the magical pull and push of an invisible force? Is it the sweet little clicking at the point of contact? Or is it something else? Depending on the "magnets," it could be something else! And that's where the story comes in.. and where this week's Book of the Week sits soundly on the shelf.

  The book is covered in handmade paper I made at Penland School of Crafts one hot July afternoon.. It's the color of the sky there... with flecks of dark blue pigment and fluffy white cotton. The spine is lined in Japanese kimono cloth of handprinted silk.. I imagine the soft flowing robe, a symbol of beauty and grace, as I affix it to the paper cover, adding strength with it's tight weave and adding interest with its complex design.

   The binding of long-stitches, kettle stitches, and chain stitches refer to movement.. positive and negative... and to change. The crosses refer to change.. the lines refer to moving forward and backward.. and the chain stitches? ...connection, of course. Chain stitches remind me of a hug...

   Inside the book are pages of marbled paper.. the ultimate magic! and some stickers from a jigsaw puzzle catalog. Don't you love the way jigsaw puzzles have a place for each unique piece? Just like us, there's one place where we fit just right... where we snap into place with no effort at all... like a magnet.

And the point of connection, where the magnet hits the metal plate, is snug behind the fore-edge flap and the front cover edge.. glued with Gorilla Glue® behind the kimono fabric. When the book is closed, the magnet goes "Snap!"

Magnetic Attraction is a book of contrasts, and of differences, and of blending those differences together into one vessel. Like a group of Japanese drummers, the individual beats become one in a push and pull motion.... seen, heard, and felt in the magnet closure.