Owen Williams | Codex: Canon

Feb. 1

Owen Williams
Codex: Canon

Edge Gallery, February 1 - 23, 2019

Multiple elements contribute to the aesthetic impact of a book. These include, but are not limited to: it's height, width, proportion, materials, method of manufacture, form, binding, and content.

In Codex : Canon I systematically explore the proportion of the double opening of the book as an aesthetic unit using the modest material of a rectangular sheet of drafting vellum folded in half. The formal elements Codex : Canon considers are the height and width of the page in relation to geometry and human scale. The motif of the page folded in half subtly retains the three dimensional nature of the book.

Within these constraints, multiple taxonomies exist. I propose to install a selection of these taxonomies. Overt appeals to other aesthetic values of the book such as the tactile nature of the codex are suppressed to emphasize these aesthetic values.

Codex : Canon forms part of a series of works which explore, refine, and amplify the elements that inform a contemporary calligraphic practice.