Irma Boom at LCC, 10 June 2010
Irma introduces herself as a Dutch designer, based in Amsterdam. She started out as a designer for a Dutch government office. From these humble white collar origins, she emerged as a significant figure in the design world. MoMA has purchased some of her work, including architectural drawings and book design. She highlights the importance of being seen as an architect rather than an illustrator. The idea of architecture is central to her practice, which is about building structures.
Irma's practice is experimental. She describes an interest in finding out what a book can be, exploring the limits of our idealized notions of 'the book'. She discusses how being experimental, in whatever area you choose, should include a permission to 'create failures'. You have to take risks when exploring content, form and technique (and sometimes you get it wrong).
Irma believes that book design adds another 'life' to a story, adding a layer of story-telling to the original content. In order to add such a story, the designer needs to secure the trust of his/her client. Irma's clients are called 'commissioners', they approach her directly because they like her work. Her work is commissioned. Irma's clients are also called 'victims', as she wants to do her own thing. She takes control of the total creative process, using the commission to further explore the boundaries of the book. In this respect, she sees the designer as author (and openly references this debate).
In any commission, Irma asks: 'What's in it for me?'
But also, 'What's in it for the commissioner?'
Irma told the Design Museum of Zurich, when they challenged her idea for a catalogue:
'You don't get what you ask for but what you deserve.' (And they needed a better kind of book to do justice to their collection). Here it is (at the top of this entry).
Irma loves industrial processes. She may work as an individual, as an author, but she is nevertheless committed to mechanical production. for Irma, a book is a mass medium, not a one-off. She does not like handmade books. Yuk! She loves industrial processes.
How does Irma define a book? She gives a list of qualities:
- developmental
- individual
- intellectual
- about knowledge
- minimal
- always as an object (this is central to her beliefs, the book as an architectural 'thing')
- social and subjective
- involving time
- thoughtful
- zen
Inside/Outside Movements (2000)
this book is in the collection at MoMA.
the publisher is Storefront for Art and Architecture.
the printer is Lecturis BV, Eindhoven, Netherlands.
it is made with Letterpress and photo offset lithography
its dimensions are: 5 7/8 x 4 1/8 x 7/16" (15 x 10.5 x 1.1 cm) - see top left of this entry.
Irma says the book is inspired by the work of Dieter Roth.
It is an architectural exploration of inside/outside.
It has holes in it.
The printer said: 'Holes can't be done. They'll be too much air in the book. We can't bind it!'
Irma left them to sort it out (and it was done).
The original digital files were of such poor quality, they were reproduced at 25% of the original size.
Sheila Hicks, Weaving as Metaphor (2006)
the publisher is Yale University Press.
the printer is Drukkerij Rosbeek, Holland.
the book was made with Letterpress and photo offset lithography
the dimensions are: 8 11/16 x 6 1/8 x 2 3/16" (22 x 15.5 x 5.6 cm).
Sheila Hicks is a well known textiles artist and weaver in America. The book is an overview of her work. Irma is interested in the poetic potential of weaving rather than textiles as such. Sheila gave her an article on weaving by Arthur Danto called 'Weaving as Metaphor and a model for political thought'. This is used as a basis for the book. The cover of the book is a graphic interpretation of the work of the artist. The publisher wanted a picture of Hicks or her work on the front. Instead, Irma gave them an abstract minimalist relief of woven type (spelling Sheila Hicks ad infinitum). The pages of the book are rough at the edges, like the selvage on cloth (unfinished/unrefined/uncut). This physical device echoes the unpredictable selvage of Hicks' own work. Irma says the book was expensive to make and the publisher thought it wouldnt sell, but Sheila liked it and, fortunately, 'The book sells like Hell!'
