| Title | Watching Time |
| Artist / Creator | Camille Riner |
| Artist's Nationality | American |
| Place of Publication | Custer, SD |
| Publication Date | 2012 |
| Process / Technique | Digital archival pigment printing |
| Image Process | The original print for this book was carved and then hand printed on my etching press, scanned and then digitally collaged with photographs from my garden. |
| Structure / Binding | Miniature flexagon |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 3 x 3 inches |
| Edition Size | Edition of 40 |
| Signed & Numbered | Yes |
This pair of artist books was created after spending time in Yellowstone National Park last summer. The two books are miniature flexagon structures, 3” square when opened, which fit side by side in a small portfolio. The different sides of the flexagons feature digital images of geysers I painted on site in the park. The cover of the portfolio is from a photograph I took of the footprints around one of these geysers.
I enjoyed painting and learning about the many different areas of Yellowstone and was struck by the way the park so dramatically illustrates the concept of change through something we think of as unchanging: rock. I liked the way I could use images of the geyser as an analogy for the continuity of change and the vastness of time. Each flexagon contains a poem about this idea.
The book Time contains the poem, “In the valley you wait. Bone white, you bubble and steam. Nourished in your warm liquid embrace, tiny heat lovers flourish in your pools. Secrets of the deep whispered through your vents.” The book “Watching” contains the poem, “Perched on the edge of your canyons we watch. Witness to your changing stones. Rocky drifts pushed up from your underground world flow at our feet. Keeping rhythm to an ancient song, you continue to rise and collapse.”
To view these flexagon books start with the title page, turn the book to the right 1/4 turn and open from the inside out, like two shutters on a window. After each page continue to turn the book 1/4 turn and open the book from the center. There are four “pages” in each book counting the title page.
Artist Bio
Camille Riner's prints and artist books express her appreciation for the little things in life. She has appreciated being able to walk with her dog along a quiet trail, watch her 6 year old daughter marvel at the moon or sit on a hillside and see the wind move through the grass. Artist books are works of art realized in the form of a book. Riner's bookwork is based on her relief prints. Her relief prints start as blocks carved from wood or linoleum and she uses hand tools or an electric router to carve the images. The blocks are then printed using an old fashioned etching press that she cranks by hand. Riner scans and manipulates these final prints for use in her books. Each book is a combination of her prints, poems, origami (paper folding), handmade papers, beads, and linen threads. Most of her books are miniatures and easily fit in the palm of your hand. Riner has a BFA from the University of South Dakota and her MFA in printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before moving back to South Dakota she taught art and design at Southwestern Michigan College. Currently she works in her studio with her husband Paul Horsted and teaches workshops in printmaking, papermaking and book arts.