Since the beginning of the semester I wanted to make an accordion book of some sort. I was inspired by the ones we passed around in class and an odd folding book about being a waitress that we discovered in the Rare Books Room.
I had the what type of art idea in my head, but not a lot of creative ideas otherwise. Like all of my projects I wanted to keep this final one close to my personality and interests. One morning during a run I was brainstorming ideas for my accordion book and realized that there would be nothing better than illustrating a great run (one of my favorite things to do). In addition, I could use the other side of the accordion to document a typical recovery- which for me involves cereal- after a long run I am never happier than when eating my Kashi Mighty Bites. The idea just fell into place for me and I fell in love with it. I could express something I love in a form that I think is really innovative and special. In addition, running and recovering are both very sequential activities and the concept fits well into our course.
I started off with a mock-up or story board that went through each of the processes.
RUN!
You stare at the clock when you wake up at 6am, and think, "yes! time to hit the trail!", then you roll out of bed, change and tie up your shoes (Saucony XT-900s). After that its just you and the trail, and maybe some plants and people in between. The runner's watch shows 0:00 as she runs down her driveway and waves to her neighbor- shes heading to the trail across the road. There are some big up-hills and big down hills, you can see the sun begin to rise as the runner's watch goes forward in time. A rough hill, a map on the flat trail, lots of trees- this runner might be in a local park or forest (maybe its in the Duke Forest or in the South of Berlin). She passes another early morning athlete as she takes another hill. Once looking down to admire or check her gait- "is my stride long enough? Keep up the pace!" Then she emerges from the forest into a newly harvested wheat field. Now she could be running on an old dirt road in Alberta or a trail in Kansas. She can just catch a glimpse of a train in the distance, beyond the beautiful rolling cuts of wheat. All she can think is "this is perfect, this is perfect!" She keeps going and going, noticing the trees in the distance, nearing the end of her loop. Finally she's home, making her way up to her house- ready to refuel.
RECOVER!
The first essential, get some carbs in your system, you need to be ready for cross training tomorrow afternoon. You grab a pack of Gu- and down it with ease, letting the creamy strawberry-banana flavor warm your mouth and wondering if this strange product is actually healthy in any way. The you down some much needed water- knowing the importance of staying hydrated. Preparation for the most enjoyable meal of the day begins. Grab the cereal, grab the milk, pour the cereal in the bowl, add milk to the mix, and chow down. You always make sure you eat every last Mighty Bite! Then it is essential to take your vitamins, making sure that you are getting all of the nutrients your hard working body requires. You grab the pills and down them with another glass of water. What comes next- a banana. You keep your body finely tuned and always ensure you get your daily serving of fruits and vegetables. After a hard run and good meal you are ready to give your body a little break. You slip into your favorite sandals, grab a good book and put up your feet. The perfect recovery.
I didn't run into any problems when creating my book. The art seemed to come so organically because I really had my heart in the theme. I never had to think twice about what to include. 6am is generally my run start time- I'm a morning person like no other. The forest was inspired by the areas I run in in Durham, the wheat field by my home, and the house by my own house. The shoes are also mine- as is the watch (I own 2). The image where the runner is looking down at her feet is a mirror of something I always do on a run- there is always that time when I look down to make sure everything is in check. The recovery is also based on my own experiences (although I also would be eating some Gu on the run if it was an hour and a half long). I always treat myself to Mighty Bites cereal post run, and there is always a banana involved at some point. Unfortunately I often do not get to put up my feet and read post-run, but if I had the choice or the time, I would do it in an instant!
I also had fun putting the physical book together. I have a square block of post-it notes in my room and used that as the pattern for each of my images. They were easily cut with the paper cutter in the lab. The accordion itself was created out of normal sheets of green construction paper that were bound together with glue on simple seams. The book How to Make Books was very helpful in illustrating exactly how to put the accordion together. I made sure to put a lot of weight on top of each glue piece in order to ensure that there was no bubbling or buckling of the paper. This was very successful- I put the pieces between pages of a hardcover book and then wedged the hardcover underneath my bookshelf. No buckling! I got the inspiration for the cover from a book we were shown in class and that I was able to borrow (Thank you!) , called Yell-O: Names and Faces. The book was bound almost like a normal book, but rather than a spine where every page was bound, the spine only bound the end of the accordion. I loved this concept, and found some thick white glossy paper to be the cover. I was able to fold it and glue in the accordion to create a fantastic finished product. (All of my folds were made sharp by running a ruler over them!). The title page of the book is very simplistic, but also symbolic. It shows the title "Run Recover" in two very meaningful sequential arrays. First is in a continuous square (or ring if you will) that shows they cycle. If you love to run, after each recovery you will be back for another run, and then you will recover and run again, and this pattern will continue on forever in a loop. There is also the bumpy road that the Run and Recover follow across the cover that show the ups and downs of the process, but also reveal that each time you get out there and run you are moving forward- paving your way into the future, opening up the possibility for that next run to be there.
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