Back by popular demand!

Coming This Summer to the

 Selections from the collection of Mary Austin beyond traditional codex.

Showing June 1 - August 31 2012 at

Exploding the Codex...... Expanded from 2011 show.

Showing artist's books, which are sculptural in nature. Come and discover story in structure and design beyond the boundary of the traditional page turning Codex. Curated by Daisy Carlson
 June 15th  Official Opening event where you can enjoy, The art of collecting books with  live interview collector Mary Austin and curator Daisy Carlson, as well as lightening talks by the artists. Presentation on the history of book also available at the show.

Restless Dust, Gail Wight  

Curator's Statement

     Exploding the Codex explores the theater of the book & storytelling through structure. Like alternative theater, these books go beyond the traditional format to unveil new ways of presenting and telling stories. Often theatrical or stage-like in the way they are presented to the world, they pull their readers and audiences into their individual dramas. This collection has a fascinating variety of form and presentation as well as, revealing a new way to see our relationship with information. 

    A book's size and dimensions determine our relationship to it and what it is trying to tell us. One can choose between the intimacy of a tiny journal, private and curious, easily hidden as if keeping a secret between reader and teller; or we may choose to be awed by a ceremoniously large book that engages us in alto, the spine boasting of a grand celebration. The size, structure, shape, are the book's octave.

  The Codex was invented two millennium ago, with two-sided, turn-able pages made from flexible parchment or paper, hinged to a spine and protected by a sturdy cover. It was quickly seen to give the ability to provide quick, random access to information, and thus replaced the oft-decayed, stiff papyrus scroll which presented a continuous information format.

   In our lifetime, we have seen an incredible change in the way information is presented. As information becomes digitized our relationship changes based on the way we access it. The form that information is delivered is a big part of how we interpret the story. I believe there will always be room in our lives for theater, and always room in our lives for the privacy of the printed word and the luxury of paper between our fingertips. Books are monuments to consciousness and begin collective conversations that evolve our culture, and our perception of our selves in the world.

    What I love about this show is how it surprises us by tickling our expectations and expanding our

possibilities for theater in everyday life.  May our conversations continue to expand.

-Daisy Carlson

About the Show

About the Collector

     Mary Austin has been a supporter and advocate for printing and the Book Arts for over 30 years. As the first Curator and Assistant Director of the Museum of Printing History in Houston, Austin fell in love with the diverse forms of printing. She moved to San Francisco in the mid 80's and began work with the Printing Industries of Northern California.

     In 1989 she started the Underground Press and in 1996 she co-founded the San Francisco Center for the Book. The Center has been an outlet for many local and international printmakers and artists to come and teach, as well as, learn the various forms involved in bookmaking.

     The collection that Austin has amassed is strongest in the area of alternative book structures. It ranges from flag books, scrolls, accordion and carousel structures, to book objects & altered books.

Austin currently sits on the Board at the SFCB and she is an active member of many local printmaking and book organizations. When it comes to the topic of the book in all its forms, Mary Austin is not only an advocate for educating the world on these fascinating structures; she is a connoisseur.

About the Exhibition Curator

     Daisy Carlson founded Daisy Arts in 1992 to support the integrity of hand made Italian crafts and book making arts in retail markets. Her designs have been sold in major department stores and museums around the world. Carlson's focus has always been to produce timeless product that will last for generations. Her family and wedding albums are a staple in Hollywood. Her work is in the homes of most stars, at least three presidents and several sheiks. Her journals have inspired the melodies of artists from Graham Nash to Train. She has designed product for the The Uffizi, Florence; Vatican Secret Archives, Rome; The Tate, London; The Met, NY; The Getty, Los Angeles. The integrity of handmade albums and journals is always a central part of her retail collections.

     Carlson's concern for the state of the environment and the paramount importance of solving climate challenges have led her to develop a retail model that supports fair-trade initiatives and deep systems sustainable development. She stresses the importance of achieving carbon neutrality in commerce and manufacturing. Her product offerings are currently marketed under the name Be DeLightful.

    Carlson has also produced a film & published several photo essays on the plight of children in East Africa. She hopes to clarify the connection between climate issues and sustainable development. "Aid matters, the type of aid matters more. We can end hunger in our lifetime with a robust carbon market that supports deep system sustainable development." If you would like to have a conversation or help in these issues please feel free to contact Miss Carlson at daisy@bedelightful.com

Special thanks to
   Kathleen Burch (co-founder, SFCB) for exhibition typography 

   Gordon Edwards, exhibition coordinator

   Tim Stone for show-mounting assistance
   John Glosson for retail website assistance

Enjoy the Show!