Representing the Creativity of CSUN Students in Special Collections & Archives

by Gayle O’Hara, University Archivist, Special Collections & Archives - November 05, 2024

Many years ago, Peek in the Stacks took a look at artists’ books. The post noted that although artists’ books had been globally produced for nearly 200 years, it was not until the 1970s that they were really recognized as a genre. Artists’ books are works of art that look to books for their inspiration and take book form. While at first glance many appear to be traditional books, inside there is a whole new world.

multi-colored book cover with title next to small rectangle pack of prints with a graphic of a blender in gold; Put It In a Blender by the Spring 2019 Printmaking III: Relief class with instructor Jamie Russom, N7433.4.P88 2019 Since that Peek in the Stacks post on artists’ books, Special Collections & Archives has taken in a number of artists’ books created right here on campus by CSUN students. Often when people think of Special Collections & Archives in an academic library, they think of a place with old books and dusty documents created by famous people a long time ago; however, we have so much more than that! Students are the creators and subjects of many of our materials.

During the Spring of 2019, students created artists’ books for their final project in Printmaking III: Relief, a letterpress and bookbinding course taught by former CSUN instructor Jamie Russom. Students were then generous enough to donate them to Special Collections & Archives. In addition to the 7 artists’ books represented here, the full collection of 17 books created for this class are available for viewing at Special Collections & Archives.

The Artist book of Joshua Tamayo is an amazing example of books and common household items as inspiration for art. Taking the shape of a flyswatter, including a wire handle, this artists’ book opens to an accordion page of color illustrations of insects. It allows you to appreciate the time and effort that the artist took to come up with his object and the detail he put into the images. Along those same lines, Jordin Rice created Colors, a tribute to the coloring books and activity pages that Jordin loved since childhood.

unfolded Turkish fold pages with illustration of half a monstera plant and half a woman’s face; Bloom: a duality by Kayla Kaniel, N7433.4.K36 B56 2019 Many artists’ books are 3-dimensional, using what are referred to as Turkish Folds or Turkish Map Folds, which involve a single piece of paper folded in such a way that when they are flat they do not appear to depict much of anything; it is in the unfolding that the art, map, or story is represented. Bloom: a duality by Kayla Kaniel is one example – it asks you to consider the similarities and differences in how we think about common concepts and if we might find more common ground than what initially appears possible. Another is Visualizing the History of the San Fernando Valley by Carlos Godoy, which uses imagery and text to fondly examine the artist’s experience of growing up here in the Valley.

While some of these artists’ books leave interpretation open to the viewer, others tell more of a story. Armenian Velvet Revolution 2018 by Nina Avadisrostamian uses illustrated prints with outlines of the Armenian flag colored in red, blue, and orange to depict the joy of Armenians as they converged in the capital of Yerevan in April 2018 to celebrate the fall of the corrupt government and the promise of democracy. Void Eater by Erick Romero uses both human and animal forms to depict a fantasy of heroism and doubt.

Although at first glance, Put It in a Blender appears along more traditional book lines, it is the creative work of all 17 students in the Printmaking class. Group projects are challenging by nature, but these students were able to come together to create a multi-colored bound book of illustrations, as well as a smaller pack of 20 printed cards, representing both individuality and the collective. The paper they used to create the book is also a part of the experience – the tactile sensation is meant to be experienced as a part of your interaction with this piece of art.

SC/A at CSUN holds many unique and important materials. Some of those materials capture the history and culture of the people of CSUN – students, staff, and faculty and depict the full range of the human experience. If you are ever looking for inspiration, or are just curious, stop in and see the impact of student creativity at CSUN.