Box of Happiness

Philadelphia: Alice Austin, 2009. Fine. Number 36 of 40 copies signed and numbered by the book artist on its box. This inventive work from Alice Austin has an unusual structure that is described on her website as having a construction that is reminiscent of the children's toy {called a buzzer or buzz saw) in which twine or cord passes through something like a button so that the suspended button can be picked up by the tails of twin on each side. If you hold the ends of twine and toss the button in a circular motion, you twist the twine that can be pulled taut, and the button spins. The resultant work is a ball of happiness with pages that read "eat more pie," "travel far," "sleep late," and more. As was written in New Yorker Book Notes, sometimes all that matter is what a book looks like. The book is handset with metal type and linoleum cuts printed on a Vandercook press, the paper is made from abaca cotton and shredded money, handmade by Michele Wilson for the artist. It measures 3.25 x 3.25 x 3.25 inches. It is housed in a lidded lightweight green paper box . In fine condition.

Alice Austin is a printmaker, book artist and painter living and working in Philadelphia. She has been on the faculty at the University of the Arts, teaching book structures, and has also taught workshops at the Center for Book Arts in New York, Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland, The Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, and other institutions. She earned a BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art and has been an active member of the Guild of Book Workers since 1998. She worked as a rare book and paper conservator for over 20 years at the Library Company of Philadelphia. Alice has also been awarded several artist residencies in Europe, and her work is widely held in private, public and special collections worldwide. ARTB/012925.