This micro-edition is inspired by blow books, magic books whose content changes depending on how they are handled. It takes up that principle to create an object that sits somewhere between a book, a sleight of hand and a hidden image.
The book borrows its format from the “wig” (perruque), the paper offcut left over after trimming.… Standing 14.5 cm tall and just 1 cm wide, it fits in the palm of the hand and is handled like a secret.
The images are printed on the edges of the pages using a technique called jaspage (edge printing). At first glance, nothing is visible. The reader has to twist the book, turn it over and play with its pages to see the images form, then vanish. Four appearances follow one another and, as in a magic trick, the manipulation reveals a hand counting from 1 to 4.
The object is not read but handled: it is the reader’s gesture that brings the image into being.
Book made with the Jaspager tool, created as part of my diploma project. Links are available in the “Tools” tab of this site.
