As much as I enjoy having a blog to document the progress and processes of my work, there is nothing like having a physical archive of the real thing. And since my project revolves around the making of a book, I think it's fitting to create an archive - or at least part of one - that contains a record of the page-making process.
Not everything I have made or used will be 'bookable' - the copper plates will likely be archived in a solander box, if I ever get around to making one. The other materials, experiments and pages I have omitted, however, could all possibly be stored as pages in a book. However, because this will be an archive I'm making, I don't want to permanently bind them, but rather envelope them, label them and perhaps write a few words about them (or draw on the words I'm currently writing) to elaborate on their contribution towards to the final work.
Something about books gets me excited - I suppose because they behave like containers of some secret stuff. So, naturally, I got excited about making yet another book for my archive of works. I decided that I wanted to use acid-free sheet-protectors The environmentalist in me screams a little bit, but the truth is, plastic is used to protect many things - such as mylar covering for books. And as it was initially invented to last forever, I do hope my endeavours to ensure the archive can do this aren't all gone to waste.
I started by measuring the largest pages I have in my current archive - which is in an A4 binder. This helped me decide on the dimensions of the sleeves and the covers. I then had to decide how I was going to bind this book - and subsequent books - so that it would be easy to remove the pages if necessary.
After a bit of searching on the internet, I discovered what I was looking for: Chicago screws. They come in different metals and sizes, but they are the easiest thing to use by far if I want a book that can later be deconstructed. Here are a few photos and a short video of how the process went.
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