Dundee University
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design
Dundee Scotland

Barox

I have always maintained a holistic approach to any creative endeavour, both as a commercial designer and as a visual artist. This has manifested itself in acquiring Knowledge of as many skills and disciplines as possible, whether traditional or computer led. As a student I enrolled in an extracurricular bookbinding course at the College, where I now lecture.

The Artists Book format appeals to me as a vehicle to express ideas in a narrative form through the page and binding structure. Its status as part of an edition also lessens the negative, untouchable and precious aspects of some 'Gallery' work, demystifying art objects and engaging the viewer in an interactive process.

'Barox' continues a series of Artists Books investigating coastlines, the boundaries between land and sea, their tidal ranges and the accompanying flotsom and jetsom washed up on sandy or rocky shore. In 'Edit/Tide' (1997,Edinburgh: Semper Fidelis) and 'West Looking East/East Looking West' (1999, Edinburgh: Semper Fidelis), I investigated the natural affects of air, water, fire and earth, scientific and topographical influences, mythology, language and experience on both the land and the seascape, expressed in
palindromic form, both visually through image and conceptually through text.

'Barox' departs from these raw, natural West Coast landscapes and concentrates on the denser populated East Coast of Scotland, borrowing its iconography and symbolism not from nature but from commercial beach resort vernacular typography and its gaudy charm.