I adore the illustrations in this Golden Book version of Rapunzel. Very funky.
I started the Golden Book series more than a year ago, and this was the first book I began to alter (see it here). I fashioned some pockets and folded the pages into them. But it didn’t quite work.
I tried over-printing with one of my favourite quotes (“Fairy tales are more than true – not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten” which is a Neil Gaimen rephrasing of a G.K. Chesterton idea: quoted in Coraline). it added some nice texture to the blank parts of the illustrations.
Since then i made the tunnels and carousels. So it seemed a good idea to re-cycle the altered Rapunzel into a different shape. This is an Interstate Highway format. No glue required.
All of the golden books (except Scuffy) are 14 x 12 cm, and this is no exception.
I made the holes too small and the cardboard on the initial pages did not respond well to being rolled to insert through the holes. When i made them larger they didn’t sit right. So I’ve added in many more pages than I originally planned, adding in the process more extras: a bramble from sepia ink that goes all the way through; a cover back and front from some old rubbings done at Sturt probably 2010; some purple tissue paper recurring through the work; Some sheet music scanned onto old banana paper in probably 2008 or earlier. So this work is not only altered, it’s using a heap of old supplies.
I had used the quote and the typeface (a typewriter font I bought online) already here and the quote alone in a series of sketchbooks I customised in January 2014 (when I did the Oscar Wilde piece). Nicola bought me the books (they were paper samples in small booklets).
