Unconventional materials used in a dynamic way to create both the environment and subtext to storytelling are especially engaging. Maryann Riker uses vellum and acetate to create a narrative in her piece Dreams.
Riker uses blue and white mottled vellum as end paper, forming a backdrop for the four clear acetate leaves of her book. One can guess that she wishes to mimic sky and clouds. Perhaps she is referencing adages of dreamers having their head in the clouds, or an evolving, dynamic space that seems finite in cliché, but infinite in practice. On clear acetate she has printed partial compositions which, when layered upon one another, become a collected image of snapshots, an outline of a house, and the phrase “Dreams/ Forever Omnipotent/ Always Elusive.”
Riker’s composition relies on the reader to open the book, and through the turning of each page, subtract an image, constantly transforming the overall image into a new message to take away. The images suggest a wandering mind seeking stability. The house is rendered as an outline, showing the frame only. Other images appear within this structure. The snapshots show people, who do not connect intimately with us as readers, and who appear to struggle against the restraints imposed by the architectural structure. Riker’s quote “Dreams/ Forever Omnipotent/ Always Elusive” refers to the notion of a full fledged fantasy within the constant confines of reality. The images are printed on clear material, drawing parallels to the negative space our dreams inhabit.
What does it mean to use acetate and vellum in lieu of paper in a book? The flipping of a page is fluid against the fingers, yet the motion is stiffer because the acetate is less flexible. The pages are less likely to suffer creases at the hands of readers. Vellum is traditionally made with mammal skin, but in modern use, and in this case, it is plasticized cotton. Plastic, when stored properly, is less vulnerable to rogue elements than paper, and using plastic instead of paper also defines a choice of permanence on Riker’s part. She manipulates a material that exists indefinitely. Paper, on the other hand, can be broken down and re-purposed pretty swiftly by any paper-maker. The turnover rate in commercial paper recycling is also much faster than that of plastics, with less loss of material, and less energy used during conversion. This whole concept seems to reflect on the “omnipotent”--and enduring--nature of dreams. The evolution of a dream is sometimes more about steam than realization.
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-Rebecca Kish