CALL FOR ENTRIES • pROSPECTUS

Pop-Up Now! A Juried Exhibition of Movable Books
Presented in Conjunction with The Movable Book Society’s Biennial Conference

Exhibition dates: September 22 - October 30, 2010**
Location: 23 Sandy Gallery, Portland, Oregon

Deadline for Entries: Friday, July 23, 2010

THEME – Pop-up books captivate and excite the child in all of us. They come to life as three-dimensional works of art hidden inside the pages of a book. Pop-Up Now! is looking for handmade artist books that pop-up, move, slide, twirl, whirl, light up, or even sound off. This national, juried exhibition of handmade movable artist books will be held at 23 Sandy Gallery in conjunction with the biennial conference of the Movable Book Society to be held in Portland, September 23-25, 2010.

According to Wikipedia, “The term pop-up book is often applied to any three-dimensional or movable book, although properly the umbrella term movable book covers pop-ups, transformations, tunnel books, volvelles, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs, pull-downs, and more, each of which performs in a different manner.”

MEDIA – This exhibit is open to hand bound book arts related artworks created as either edition or one-of-a-kind. Artist books, sculptural books, book objects are all encouraged as long as the book has at least one interactive, movable or pop-up element. Your books can employ any medium, any style, or any size.

JURORS – Pop-Up Now! will be juried by a team of three distinguished jurors: Ellen G.K. Rubin, Larry Seidman and Jill Timm.

Ellen G. K. Rubin discovered pop-up and movable books and paper over 20 years ago and has been avidly collecting them ever since. Today, she has more than 6,600 books and thousands of un-cataloged movable ephemera. She is especially interested in the various mechanisms used by paper engineers and seeks them out in whatever paper format they are used. Ellen has been a member—now Board Member—of the Movable Book Society since its inception when she began writing for its newsletter, Movable Stationery.  Her column, Poppits, alerts members to current happenings in the pop-up world. Today, Ellen continues to write about movable books, lectures on their 700-year history, conducts workshops, and curates exhibitions from her collection. She hosts the informational website: www.popuplady.com.

Larry Seidman, M.D. is an avid collector and seller of antique movable books, ephemera, puzzles, and pre-cinema optical toys. He has an interest in the preservation of these fragile books and works with a restorer to carefully heal these broken books and bring them back into circulation. He has been a member of the Movable Books Society since its inception, and has been a board member for the past 4 years. He has collected artists books for over 20 years with a main emphasis on miniature and movable titles. He enjoys "show and tell" at the MBS convention, bringing those old oddities with interesting mechanisms from upwards of 200 years ago. Currently, he shares the wonder of pop-ups with his pediatric patients and schools. His website is www.larryseidmanart.com.

Jill Timm is a full time, award winning book artist focusing on small editions of handcrafted books, often using interesting structures and non-typical materials to convey the essence of the place or subject. With a varied background in graphic design, photography, teaching and marketing her Mystical Places Press has work in many corporate, university, public and private collections worldwide. Her artist books are included in a number of consumer crafts and bookmaking books and articles about her books have been published in the numerous periodicals. She is the publisher of Artist Book News, a full-color, book-marketing newsletter showcasing book artists worldwide. Her web site is www.mysticalplaces.com

THE MOVABLE BOOK SOCIETY was organized in 1993 to provide a forum for collectors, artists, curators, booksellers, book producers and others to share enthusiasm and exchange information about pop-up and movable books. The Society has nearly 450 members worldwide. Learn more about the society and their September 23-25, 2010 conference here.

AWARDS – The jurors will honor the best movable books in Pop-Up Now! Awards will be announced during a reception for MBS conference attendees at 23 Sandy on Friday, September 24. Stay tuned for more information about these awards.

INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS - Artists residing outside of the United States are welcome to enter this exhibition. The exhibition entry fee of $25 must be paid in US funds. Return shipping of all artwork will be handled via the carrier of your choice and we'd prefer provide pre-paid, ready-to-ship shipping labels and customs documents. However, if your postal service makes this difficult we can work it out at the end of the show.

ONLINE AND PRINT CATALOGS -23 Sandy Gallery will publish full online and print catalogs illustrating this exhibition. The print catalog will be a full-color, 40-50 page that will be sold in the gallery, online and will be mailed to librarians who purchase artist books. Both catalogs will include photos of each work, production specs, an artist statement and artist biography. In an effort to keep entry fees low we are offering artists the option to purchase the catalog at our cost rather than increasing our usual entry fee to cover printing costs. You'll get an email about this option after the show is juried.

EXHIBITION DISPLAY - This exhibition will be displayed at 23 Sandy Gallery. We feel very strongly that artist books need to be handled to be fully appreciated. Handi-Wipes are provided for customers along with a friendly word about proper book handling.

However, based on artist feedback, we are offering a glass bookcase for fragile or expensive books that cannot be handled. It is the artist's responsibility to notify the gallery upon being accepted into the show that you desire your books not be handled. Space is limited, so let us know early upon acceptance if you need to be in this glass case.

If your book is an edition you are welcome to send either a display copy or a sellable copy, just let us know which it is when shipping.

SALES - We encourage you to offer your artist books for sale. We are a commercial gallery and we firmly desire to support artists with more than just a line on your resume. We also want to sell your work and write you a check! However, if you just can't part with your work, we understand. All work offered for sale will be sold on consignment. The Gallery keeps 40% of the sale price. The artist receives 60% of the sale price. Sale proceeds will be paid to the artist within 30 days of the close of the show. If your work is not for sale we will ask you to provide an insurance value on the entry form.

ENTRIES - A maximum of three works may be submitted per artist. Entries must be received online no later than JULY 20, 2010. Artists accepted for the exhibition will be notified via email. The gallery reserves the right to decline any accepted artwork upon delivery if the condition or quality are other than represented in the electronic entry.

PHOTOGRAPHS OF YOUR WORK - You may submit up to three photographs for each piece you are entering in this show. We are well aware that artist books are very difficult to photograph well, but it can be done. The key is using a camera with enough mega-pixels to get the size required and compensating for tungsten or other lighting casts with your camera's white balance setting. You should consider hiring a professional photographer to shoot your photographs. Remember, your photographs will be used not only for curating the show, but they will also be used in a high-quality, printed catalog. Put your best foot forward as you never know who might notice your artwork. Click here to read a helpful article on what makes for good photographs of your artist books. A second article on how to photograph your own books is here.

PREPARING YOUR IMAGES FOR ENTRY – You may submit up to three views each of your works submitted. Name your files as yourlastname-1-a.jpg, yourlastname-1-b.jpg, yourlastname-1-c.jpg, yourlastname-2-a.jpg, etc. Your last name is followed by the artwork number, which corresponds with the entry number on the online entry form. The a, b, or c letter are the additional views. Please submit JPG images that are ready to be included in the print catalog as catalog design will begin just days after the show is juried. All JPGs must be 300 ppi sized to 7 inches (2100 pixels) wide or tall in the longest direction.

VIDEO SUBMISSION - New to this show! Pop-up books area all about motion. With this show you have the option to submit a video of your book in action. Please no videos more than one minute long and only one video entry per book submitted. Videos must be posted on YouTube or some other video hosting site. You will paste a URL that points directly to your video on the entry form. Video submissions are completely optional and not required for entry and are not a substitute for still photographs. We do not accept video files via email or CD, you must have a URL.

TO SUBMIT ONLINE - Online submissions are fast and easy! Find our online entry form link at the bottom of this page.

FEES - A $25 non-refundable entry fee covers up to three works and is payable upon submission. Just to clarify, your $25 covers one, two or all three books, it is not a per book fee. When entering online you will pay via Paypal or any major credit card or you can even mail in a check. You do not need a Paypal account to pay via credit card.

SHIPPING – All artwork accepted into this show will ship to 23 Sandy Gallery. All shipping and shipping insurance costs to and from the Gallery are the responsibility of the artist and complete instructions will be provided upon acceptance into the show.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE – The Gallery is insured and shall be responsible for the safekeeping of all consigned artwork while in Gallery’s possession. The Gallery shall be strictly liable to the artist for their loss or damage (except for loss due to earthquake, flood or damage resulting from flaws inherent in the artwork), to the full value artist would have received from Gallery if the artwork had been sold.

DATES TO REMEMBER
JULY 20, 2010 - Deadline for Submissions
AUGUST 11, 2010 - Announcement of Accepted Entries
SEPTEMBER 15, 2010 - Artwork Due at Gallery
SEPTEMBER 22, 2010 - Exhibition Opens**
SEPTEMBER 24, 2010 - Artist Reception for Movable Book Society Conference Attendees, time TBD
OCTOBER 1, 2010 - First Friday Artists Reception, 5-8pm.
OCTOBER 30, 2010 - Exhibition closes and unsold artwork will be returned or held for pickup.

** Yes, the exhibition dates for Pop-Up Now have changed. These show has been extended by two weeks to accommodate the growing excitement of our gallery fans!

ONLINE ENTRY FORM - Click here to access the online entry form for Pop-Up Now!

CONTACT LAURA AT 23 SANDY WITH ANY QUESTIONS
Email: 23sandygallery@gmail.com
Phone: 503-927-4409

Thank you for your interest in Pop-Up Now! We look forward to seeing your work.