17 January 2011

Mourning pages again

My first volume of the "Mourning pages" is in the Hidden Spaces exhibition at college, and work is proceeding on the second.

All last week I was throwing salt water at the pages - several at a time were spread out drying -The salt made interesting stains on the tissue paper that was sort of absorbing the drips. I might use that for wrapping the books in -
The ink lines can be broken by the runs of "tears" -
The moisture makes the pages buckle and the book open out -
Press it closed and it springs back open. Resilient - c'est moi.

(This links into the "imagined interiors" that I was interested in, about a year ago. A different sort of interior...!)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I left my mourning books on the shelf and they are opened once a year, On the anniversary of the death. I guess I am not ready to let go, even though I am remarried. I find that I occasionally still write about my first husband. I cant get rid of the ashes yet either. I was married for 49 years, 11 months. My new husband is very understanding and even talks to my first because we keep the ash urn in the bedroom. I love what you did, but cant bring myself to it yet. Syd Gelbwaks Harper

Margaret Cooter said...

Thanks for sharing your story, Syd.