The Assignment

Jennifer Cohen*
Claremont, CA

Title: Word

Number of Copies in Edition: 94
Size: 6.5 x 9.75 x 1.25 inches
Number of Pages: 124

Medium: Somerset Book 175gsm, spun polyester cloth from Philippines as interleaving, copper colored thread, Japanese bookcloth; printed by letterpress

Price: $250

To purchase, please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery.

*Additional Artists

Jennifer Cohen, Kyle Apuna, Alicia Hendrix, Kristina Hennig, Adrianna Freitag, Kelly Dern, Rosalena Miller, Lindsay Mandel, Avery Oatman, Leah Quayle, Danielle Peebles, Katie Ford, Rachel Schram, Evan Kelly, Kitty Maryatt

The Assignment

Words can have a multiplicity of meanings and can change in different contexts. Roget's Thesaurus was assigned as our touchstone for exploring those meanings and formulating how ideas can be classified and grouped. In the preface to each section, students were required to use three words: word, change, meaning, to develop a short text that previewed the content within the section. The goal was to express visually the way type itself speaks and evokes distinct meanings and emotions.

Artist Statement

Graphic novels with their simplicity of text and their brilliant imagery influenced my section in the collaborative book. I chose words that had, in essence, the feeling of a graphic novel. Text is often overlooked but can have the same energy as an image. Playing with the words typographically allowed me  to show varying meanings and establish different definitions of  simple words that when combined help create a compelling narrative. Minimal colors were used to emphasize the look of graphic novels and the feelings they express. Evocative spun cloth was used as interleaving between sections and was repeated on the sewing tapes. Because the cloth was hand-colored and the two sides were different, the effect of flipping through our book emphasized physical change.