Still Life with Game Bird and Dice (Oil)

By Alisa Golden
Berkeley, California: never mind the press, 2014. Edition of 45.

Outer fishbone fold book measures 6"h x 3.5"w; inner folded booklet is 5.5"h x 3.75"w. Archival and acid free papers. Three-color reduction linoleum cut on the front cover and on the back cover. Printed by hand on Strathmore drawing paper. Letterpress printed. Lino cuts. Black book cloth spine. Modified fishbone fold has a pocket at the apex with the poem tucked into it. Bound by hand. Signed and numbered.

Alisa Golden: "This freestanding, sculptural, two-piece book is letterpress printed from wood type, handset metal type and original linoleum block illustrations. The poem contained within was inspired by the 'Fight for 15' campaign for a fair minimum wage for fast food workers and other service workers and originally published in the online literary magazine, Miracle Monocle, Spring 2015 issue.

"The illustrations were designed after studying the 1602 painting, 'Still Life with Game Bird, Fruit, and Vegetables' by Juan Sánchez Cotán and given a contemporary interpretation. Colors were chosen to evoke a fast food outlet."

Alisa Golden, Making Hand Made Books, blog: "The possibilities of printing on a single piece of paper and making a fishbone fold or a modified fishbone fold book continue to intrigue me.

"Here is the latest, just in time for National Poetry Month and for Poem in Your Pocket Day (April 30, 2015): a single poem on a folded and glued sheet in the pocket of a modified fishbone fold. The design came in a dream … I printed the yellow, carved out what I wanted to remain yellow, printed red, carved, then printed black on top of all. Conceptually, I was playing with borders and boundaries, having type and images spill over from page to page, and placing the poem tight against the inner fold.

"The finger cutout echoes the shaped opening of the french fry bag. The wood type words are from the poem."
$65