Anne Rook

 Anne Rook is a multimedia installation and book artist I came across in the list of artists for the Small Publisher's Fair 2021 (found here: http://smallpublishersfair.co.uk/publishers-2021/). Her own website consists of many small self-published (handmade) artist books that can be available to purchase. Because there are so many Rook covers a range of topics, yet all her books appear very delicate, minimalist, thoughtful. Here were a few of my favourites that provided me inspiration:

'Lines of Wear and Tear' comprises a series of 15 archival inkjet prints on fine art paper (square sized- 14.5cm x 14.5cm) based upon Rook's poem of the same name:

lines of wear I look at everyday
and rarely see
lines I don’t want to see
lines all around my house
looking at the overlooked

I love the idea of a publication that is simple and compact and that focuses on one idea, expressing it beautifully and poetically. Every one of Rook's lines is considered, and despite her book being mixed-media (containing photography, drawings and poetry) it doesn't feel like too much, but just enough to appreciate what she is telling us and drawing our attention too. 

There is also an additional publication of the same name, printed in negatives (rook calls them black drawings), folded in a concertina style book. The inverted colours seems to bring a sharpness to lines and helps them stand out even more against the black background. 

The Line 

the line
became a border
a stumble along the way
a river
a crack in the water
a scratch on the skyline
a longing over there

The Line Another very simple, Japanese-bound book consisting of an ink-on-watercolour paper cover (pictured above) and then each line of the poem printed again on fine art paper in a continuous 'line' of pages.  

My favourite publication, however, is the one entitled 'Her Most Intimate Thoughts', the content of which reads more like long-form poetry- is more heavily described, yet still remains concise, much like you are reading the artists own 'intimate thoughts'. 

Rook writes in the third person, as if observing herself as someone else. As the poem progresses, so does the imagery on the adjerning page to compliment what is being written. Again, I adore the simplicity. The collection of carefully sketched vertical lines representing the replacement of a single letter with 'a single stroke'. She writes about documenting journeys and changes in her life, and as the short story progresses, we see the 'change'- when 'sadness came'- revealed not only in the text but in the composition of the lines as well. A haunting representation of how we use our art- our words and our drawings- to express ourselves, and how we are always connected to our work on a personal level, channeling all the pain we experience in the form of creativity as a form of process, or rather, healing. 

http://annerook.net/books/