Overview of book components

Detail of paper techniques

Overview of spatial writing components

Detail of spatial writing

Detail of scale

 
Christine Bjerke (Copenhagen, Denmark)
christinebjerke.com

On the Floating World of the FX Beauties
2013
Japanese paper marbling, lacquered card, colored card, glossy and matt paper
Unique work
Variable dimensions open
9.6 in x 7.5 in x 2 in closed

On the Floating World of the FX Beauties explores the role of contemporary Japanese female traders, The FX Beauties, within the non-place of the international currency (FOREX) market. The book aims to discuss feminine economies through the notion of the woman as a historical currency and the use of the reflective surface – the black mirror as a mechanism to materialize the metaphysical networks.

The individual components within the black box, each represent elements of the overall project. To express the different layers of information, the book is constructed with the use of designed paper techniques and presented by organizing all components within a specific chronological structure. Color is used as a conceptual tool to represent the two main sites as well as their associated genders. Blue is used to describe London and the masculine, while red represents Tokyo and the feminine. In addition the use of textured marble paper is employed to represent the overlaps which take place between these two sites and their genders.

To reflect on the research presented in the colored components, the project explores the method of spatial writing to visualize the transition of being in the ‘floating world’ between the two sites, London and Tokyo.
These three additional books, structured from lacquered card, suggest a 3-dimensional reading, which explores the idea of the book being in-between the written and the built. By rotating, the books are read as an imaginary narrative and architectural response to the body of research.