Springs, An Artist Book by Enid Mark

Introduction

Book Cover

Springs is a limited edition artist's book created by Mark, Enid and published by the ELM Press in 1990. The book was made in Wallingford Pennsylvania, and features a series of hand-pulled lithographs printed from a combination of hand-drawn and photographic plates. This 11.5 x 36-inch book comprises of 10 pages, each page featuring a full-length image. Text is sparse, and can be found hidden within the pictures, title page, and front cover. The book is Mark's reflection of her visit to the Pollock-Krasner house. This particular copy is the second of only 25 signed copies by the author. It was acquired for the Penn Libraries with the assistance of Martin and Margy Meyerson Endowment Fund for Special Collections. Springs offers a unique creative experience, as it blends elements of Pollock's action painting with Mark's own artistic style.

Background

Author

Born in 1932, in New York City, Mark attended the High School of Music & Art in Manhattan and Smith College, where she studied English literature and studio art. In the early years of her career, she pursued painting and printmaking, and came to favor the technique of photolithography. As her career progressed, she began to gain the reputation of an adventurous bookmaker who explored many printing techniques. The texts of most of her books are works by contemporary American women poets. Each of Mark's books is devoted to a theme (such as travel, mythology, or botany). Mark selects poems that reflect that theme and develops images to complement those poems. She once wrote, “I imagine the book as a continuous picture plane on which word, image, sequence and structure all reinforce each other. What interests me most is the relationship between word and image. I plan no hierarchy of them. An artist’s book is a unique form of visual disclosure. It must be slowly savored. It should be held in the hand and carefully considered. Only then are its contents fully revealed.”

Historical Context

As seen on the credits page of the book, Mark was inspired by her visit to the Pollock-Kraser house, home to the late Jackson Pollock and his wife Lee Krasner. Jackson Pollock was an American Painter who was a leading figure of Abstract Expressionism, an art movement which began in the early 1940s, as artists sought new ways to express themselves and break away from traditional artistic styles. Best known for his unique style of drip painting, Pollock's work is characterized by his use of unconventional materials; such as using sticks, trowels, and knives to paint the canvas. He would often work at a large scale, such as using his whole body to create his paintings. This drip technique allowed Pollock to create complex layers of color and texture that were impossible to replicate with traditional brushstrokes. While he was painting, Pollock would dip his material of choice into the paint and then rapidly move his wrist, arm and body, allowing it to drip and fall into weaving lines all over the canvas. “There is no accident,” Pollock once said, “just as there is no beginning or end… Sometimes I lose a painting, but I have no fear of changes, of destroying the image, because a painting has a life of its own.”

Jackson was an early pioneer in the Abstract Expressionism movement, which emerged after World War II. The movement has been interpreted differently by various generations of critics. For instance, Harold Rosenberg saw "Action Painting" (Pollock's drip technique is one example of Action Painting) as an autobiographical act of self-creation, in which artists express their anguish while paying little attention to conforming to a certain form or style of painting. This interpretation linked Abstract Expressionism with the likes of French existentialism.

Another interpretation, offered by John McCoubrey, connected Abstract Expressionism to the American tradition. He emphasized that the core of this movement was emotional honesty and naive feelings. This was an updated form of the stereotype of America at that period in time, as being a raw but vigorous country. It strayed away from the pretentiousness of previous art forms, and was perceived to be a more honest conception of American culture.

Book as a Physical Object

Substrate

The pages measure 11.5 x 36 inches, and the book showcases hand-pulled lithographs created using photographic plates in blue/black and gray/green hues. The cover is composed of a cloth-covered board with a sturdy material, likely cardboard, beneath it. The book uses Rives BFK mould-made paper, renowned for its absorbent wove surface that is ideal for a variety of printmaking techniques. However, the first and last few pages are hand-torn dark gray Moriki paper, contrasting with the mould-made paper used throughout the rest of the book. This cloth-like page may have been placed between the cover and the main pages as a protective layer to prevent paint from smudging when the book is closed. Each page showcases a full-length image spanning two pages, with writings hidden within some of the pictures. The text is printed letterpress in black and dark red. The type style is Optima, and was selected to reflect the style of the period of Pollock's lifetime.

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  (The cloth-like paper between the covers and pages)

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  (Typical page in the book/ blue/black and gray/green hues)

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  (Example of how the text is printed over the paintings)

Format / Structure

Double Leaf

This book is in a folio format, but deviates from typical folio size expectations, as its pages are in much larger dimensions. It is a picture book with limited text found on the front cover, title page, and within the images. There are no page numbers, and only 10 leaves (20 pages) are present, excluding the cloth-like protective pages at the beginning and end of the book. The text has unique fonts and sizes, indicating that the creator most likely did not opt for standard movable type to print. Each leaf consists of two separate pages glued together along the vertical edges. This unique structure enhances the thickness and feel of the leaf and was potentially created this way to prevent paint from bleeding through. The binding was done by hand.

Navigation

The rough edges of the pages facilitate easy turning, and the folio-based structure encourages readers to flip through from right to left. The book is simple to navigate, assuming readers are literate and familiar with books. No special navigation features such as a table of contents are present.

Paratexts / Annotations

An accompanying note from the ELM press provides background information on the book's printing and materials, focusing on the lithography process. Additional paratexts can be found on the last page (the dedication page), which includes background information on why the book was written.

The author has signed the book on the dedication page, and wrote "2/25", indicating that this is the second signed copy of the book. On the last gray page, there is a scribble that appears to be a label, reading "RBC Artists' Books Portfolio 19." Another label is crossed out. This might indicate that the book's previous owner labeled it for organizational purposes within their catalog. Aside from this, no other marks are present in the book. Finally, the last page of Moriki paper is folded upon itself multiple times, indicating that the book must have been open and closed many times by readers.

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  (Last Page, with Mark's Signature)

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  (Page with Annotations)

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  (Accompanying Note, Not Part of Book)

Innovation

Lithography

Lithography is a planographic printing method invented in 1796 by German author and actor Alois Senefeider. In the early days, the result it delivered was not advanced enough to avoid the gray, flat quality that gave it a cheap feel. It was not until the 1950s that lithography achieved a perfect balance of water and ink, and was so used for the best quality of print. The process involved welding a flat smooth stone into grease-receptive (printing) and water-receptive areas (nonprinting), then pressing the paper to the stone to transfer the ink from the grease-receptive areas. As the method progressed, metal sheets were used to imitate the stone grain - but stone is still used by artists in non-commercial settings. In the book, Mark used hand-drawn and photographic plates.

The Elm Press

The Elm Press, founded by Mark in 1986, is devoted to publishing fine press artists’ books. Specifically, the press publishes limited editions that feature hand-lithography, letterpress printing, and archival hand binding. The works have been acquired by more than 90 public collections across the world. Most featured Mark’s delicate lithographs, although she was an adventurous bookmaker who also explored many other printing techniques. She had a special affinity to the relationship between word and image, and knew how to complement a poem rather than just illustrate it. Much of the other prints in the ELM Press appear to have much more text, specifically poems. Springs is unique as it seems to be one of the books in the collection with the least amount of writing. Not all books in this collection are folio formatted - for instance, The Bewildering Thread is one long page bent in opposite directions as to fold into one book. Mark Enid's visionary approach to bookmaking and her deep understanding of the synergy between words and images have made her an influential figure in the world of fine press artists' books.

Reflections

Flipping through the book, one gets the sense that Mark is heavily influenced by Pollock's style of drip painting. At the start of the book, we see the vast landscape lithographic paintings that is Mark's signature style. The very first page with a painting does not have any words on it. However, with every subsequent turn of the page, there is more and more text that is printed over the pictures. Words such as "Anxiety", "Defeat", and "Chaos". Certain ones, such as "Anxiety," are repeated more often throughout. This culminates to a set of pages that does not have any landscape paintings, only Pollock-like drip painting with a slew of words splattered all over. However, after that page, emerges a landscape painting with only one word: "Triumph", and the page after that, Pollock's tombstone. There is a quote near the end (said by Pollock a few days before his death), saying "Life is beautiful, the trees are beautiful, the sky is beautiful, but I only have the image of death." There are a few ways to interpret this. One is to recognize and pay tribute to Pollock's influence on modern day artists. Another could be a way to understand Pollock's troubled life as an alcoholic, and his often raw but bleak outlook on life. However one interprets this piece, it is clear that Mark offers a unique perspective on Pollock's work, and how her own creations are impacted by it.

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  (First landscape page)

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  (Triumph page)

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  (Pollock's Tombstone)

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  (Pollock's quote)