Intervention 'Red Thread Through the Book', Silvia Champion, 1st - 8th Dec. 2011

I was interested in using the book and its words as material rather than working with the content. My original idea before I had the book was to change the shape of it by cutting into it in such a way that I can knit/knot the paper together and let a new shape grow out of the inside of the book. The interactions the book had already received prevented this.

Once I looked through the book I decided to interact directly with somebody else's interaction; communicating with it. I felt that because of all the interruptions and cuts already made, the book needed something to reconnect it. So I put a red thread through the book, connecting all the pages together. I like the connotations I found regarding the word 'thread' and how they relate to what I did with the book. For example:


the thread of an argument/ideas - connection linking them together
threads of something - various parts of it
to thread through it - to move through it
life/survival/success can hang by a thread - a delicate situation


Starting at the beginning, I put the thread through Madeleine's punched holes always using the closest  one on the opposite page to the one the thread across the book and at other times it is a short straight line depending where the next punch hole was. I stuck the thread down so when you turn the page a few more pages automatically stand up ready to flip over. This determines the way you urn the page and gives movement to a normally static object. In addition I chose a red thread that would give the paleness of the book a splash of colour.