University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries Magazine 2018SpringLibrariesForJoomag | Page 16

Fourth Annual Bernstein Book Arts Lecture
Every Moment of a Book:
Three Decades of Work by Julie Chen
By Natasha Veeser,
Head of Communications,
UW–Madison Libraries
16 | LIBRARIES Spring 2018
F
or more than 30 years, Julie Chen has
been unlocking a world of imagination
through her artists’ books, giving readers an
experience that is artistic and playful and at
the same time very intentional.
“I use the analogy of a pocket calculator
to help explain the relationship of a normal
book to an artist’s book. Almost anyone
can use a pocket calculator to do simple
calculations just as almost anyone can read a
book,” said Chen. “But a mathematician can
take the same pocket calculator and unleash
a huge amount of power that a typical person
has no idea how to unlock and probably
doesn’t even realize is in there. This is what a
book artist does with the book form. There is
a huge amount of power inherent in the book
form vis-a-vis the reading experience that can
be unlocked once an artist starts to work with
it in an intentional way.”
Chen, who started the Flying Fish Press
in 1987, got her first start with artist books
at Mills College during her graduate career.
After receiving her undergraduate degree in
studio art from UC Berkeley, she headed to
Mills College, where she now teaches, and
was instantly captivated by one program in
particular: Book Arts.
“When I went in for a studio visit, I was
hooked from the moment I walked through
the door,” remembered Chen. “I can’t really
explain it, since I had no idea what any of the
equipment was for, but it just felt right to me.”
Now, decades later, the student who had
no idea how to correctly fold paper or sew a
book has become an internationally known
master, sought after for her meticulous three-
dimensional, movable books, and letterpress
printed works. Her books often take months,
a year, or even longer to create.
“Each new book starts to take on a life of its
own after a while and it’s my job as the artist
to honor the direction that the book wants to
go in,” explained Chen.
On March 20, 2018, Chen was welcomed to
the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus
as the guest lecturer for the fourth annual
Bernstein Books Arts Lecture, where she
gave the talk, Every Moment of a Book: Three
Decades of Work by Julie Chen. Additionally,
she helped lead a workshop for Professor Jim
Escalante’s Book Arts and Letterpress class.
“I was deeply honored to welcome Julie
Chen to campus to give the Bernstein Book
Arts Lecture and to showcase her work in a
captivating exhibit at the Kohler Art Library,”
said Lyn Korenic, Kohler Art Library Director.
“Her nearly 60 limited edition masterful
works explore the reading experience and the
materiality of the book. Using inventive book
forms and personal narrative to comment on
the human condition and the environment,
Chen creates book art that is nonpareil.”
Students who took the art librarianship
class through the iSchool during the 2018
spring semester curated an exhibition of
Julie Chen’s work in the Kohler Art Library.
The Reimagined Book: Julie Chen & Flying Fish
Press was on view from March 14–June 8, 2018.
Chen said she was excited about the
opportunity to share how her work comes
together, and to watch others experience her
art.
“My motto is to make work about what you
know, and even though my pieces have pretty
intricate structures, I hope that a certain level
of universality in the messages within my
books comes through,” said Chen.
Previous Bernstein Book Arts lectures were
given by Maureen Cummins (2015), Gaylord
Schanilec (2016), and Diane Fine (2017).
“
Each new book
starts to take on a
life of its own after
a while and it’s my
job as the artist to
honor the direction
that the book
wants to go in.
The lecture is funded by the Leonora G.
Bernstein Artists’ Book Endowment and
sponsored by Kohler Art Library /UW–
Madison Libraries.
For a full Q&A with Julie Chen, visit our
Libraries News page, www.library.wisc.edu/
news.
”
University of Wisconsin–Madison | 17