STATEMENTS 270 LEONARDO, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 270–271, 2016 doi:10.1162/LEON_a_01241 ©2016 ISAST FLEXOGRAPHIC ARTISTS’ BOOKS Ilgım Veryeri Alaca, Koç University, Department of Media and Visual Arts, Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sariyer, Istanbul, Turkey. Email: <ialaca@ku.edu.tr>. See <www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/leon/49/3> for supplemental files associated with this issue. Submitted: 5 June 2014 Abstract This article introduces experimental artists’ books created in the interstices between technology and tradition. The series of books are created by utilizing scraps produced via flexographic label printing. Each book is constituted by means of the accumulation of paper on the machine, which introduces a never-ending page structure as a result of the continuous roll, creating a swirling formation. The work is an inquiry on growth, imperfection, form and time, enriched by the impact of mechanical processes that are inherent to the creation of the book. It also investigates experimental uses of printing and paper- cutting mechanisms. Keywords: Flexographic Label Printing, Artists’ Books, growth, imperfection, form Artists’ Books and Rotary Label Printing The process of flexography is the starting point of the artist’s books (Fig. 1) presented in this paper. The anatomy of the books is made up of scraps that result from a flexographic printing process involving industrial rotary label printing machines. As these machines produce individual stickers, they create a roll of excess materials, i.e. the frames of the stickers, which are usually trashed at the end of the label printing process. I manipulate these scrap rolls with bees wax, glass particles, acrylic paint and medium to make a uniform surface as well as a fleshy texture that empasizes the curves of the piece. The resultant form invokes a sea creature, a tree stump, a life form. The circular book series proposes inquiries on form and a narrative utilizing flexo printing synthesized with the book- making process. I discuss the imperfect presence of these books in connection to wabi sabi and lightness, drawing links to cyclic forms and time. The resulting work is a tribute to paper cutting, printmaking and bookmaking traditions—a combination of mechanical and handmade processes. Flexography and Paper Cutting Flexography, which utilizes continuous rolls, is a form of rotary printing that became popular in the late 20th century for packaging, label-making and newspaper printing [1].The spiral formation of the flexographic labelling machine remnants curiously promote a rhythmic aesthetic form through debris, hinting at a link between mechanical processes and those of nature. At the end of the process, the machine-generated paper cutting and printing creates two rolls. The original substrate roll in this case turns into a printed label roll and a scrap roll (Fig. 2). Separating a single roll into male and female complementaries is similar to the traditional Ottoman paper- cutting art called katı’ [2]. In katı’, the female and male parts are displayed side by side, whereas in this work, the negative and positive parts of the original roll are separated. The scrap roll is turned into an artwork; the commercial product—the printed label roll—is discounted. There is a resonating, wabi- sabi–like incompleteness and imperfection in this act [3]. The hierarchy between two twin forms is interchanged, turning waste into the object of a plea. Imperfect Presence I was inspired by John Cage in this series, in relation to his idea regarding the importance of indeterminacy and absence in forming a work. The work in question in this case is the book [4]. In the absence of writing, the book also is a reminder of nonnarrative and marks an attempt to “reinvent the structures of narration” [5]. The unpredictable adaptation of flexographic label printing leftovers into an artist’s book creates a metaphor referencing erratic growth. It also constitutes an effort to effect creation out of surplus. As Cook states, “The logarithmic spiral is an expression of growth,” as he draws our attention to the organic aspects of that growth. He also debates about perfect growth in comparison to erratic growth, questioning the perception of the laws of nature and art in his work, in which he studies spirals of varying types, from shells to spiral nebulae [6]. The organic look of the book also recalls a flimsy, machine- made structure that has been further manipulated by the hand, suggesting a coexistence of imperfection with aptness. In this sense, it is like the installation of Kemal Önsoy, The Rose Cannot Blossom in the Plasm. The spiral in Önsoy’s work starts from the ground and reaches the ceiling with its DNA- shaped structure as thin branches support its elevation. Lightness and Mass The eliminated labels create windows on the surface of the piece that enable a potential penetration to the depths of the roll visually but not physically, creating a texture by the superimposition of layers. The form is a simile for experiencing the past and the present in a holistic moment. The spine of the book is soft. Its shape changes very slowly, at a pace not visible to the eye, because very thinly cut strips nimbly hold up the book’s form. The bulky appearance is deceptive; the book is unexpectedly weightless because of the removed labels. This aspect of the piece makes reference to Italo Calvino’s praise of lightness. Lightness is studied in his work as an important component of literature, as he describes the poet who can “raise himself above the weight of the world” [7]. In this regard, the void that can be observed on the surface of the book not only enables an inviting possibility of access into the depths and layers of the book, but also introduces an ephemeral lightness in the structure of the book. Nonetheless, the thin wrapping of these columnlike strips creates a mass that is not possible to enter. This can be accounted for as a reference to the present moment and its links to memory and the past. Since the stickiness of the label is created by means of paste, the slow motion of this rolling created surfaces that automatically came to be glued onto each other. It is not possible to turn a page, nor is it possible to experience the book aside from its final surface unless by way of imagination or by its destruction, echoing the removal and occasional Fig. 1. Infinite by Ilgım Veryeri Alaca, mixed media, 12.5 × 17.7 × 17.7 inches, 2012. (© Ilgım Veryeri Alaca)