I decided to do my project about my grandfather Gafur Dudaj. He is the most determined person I know and the best example of: “with hard work, you can achieve everything.” In class, my mood board had very cool tones but when I was doing more research when I got home I understood that communism in Albania was a big part of my grandfather’s life and it has affected him a lot. So I added a color which represents communism, red. I also added a picture of Enver Hoxha (dictator during communism), a protest where people wanted democracy, and an old truck. I think that my mood board looks complete now.
My first idea was to create a simple “normal” very minimal book. After we went to The Centre for Book Arts I got inspired to do something more. In my last Studio Class, I made book art without knowing that was a thing, so I got inspiration from that project. I would like to make my book out of clear vinyl and create a clear pocket in which I will fill it in with fabric or photos that I got the inspiration from. I will try making a prototype as soon as I can to see if it works. I am still not sure how many pages it will have I think this will depend on how fast I can make one page and if it looks good (and if I can have a double-sided page since it will be clear vinyl). The pages I want them to be squares because I like that aesthetic for this project.
A page from a book I made. Made out of 2 clear PVC sheets and soap mixed with acrylic paint inside the PVC “pocket”.
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- My book is made out of clear vinyl.
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- The pages aren’t attached together. They are stored in a clear “pouch”
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- The clear “pouch” is created by waving together different pieces of vinyl. I really like the texture it creates and it also shows a metaphor for my grandfather’s life. That life isn’t always as smooth as we think.
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- The first page is my grandfather in the military. I think this is a very important period in his life, by joining the military and working hard he was able to move from his small village to better places around Albania.
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- I also put a little detail there because I thought it adds to the texture.
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- This page I left it blank because I like how it looks and the mood that it gives the lookbook. Also it represents that the road we follow in life we never know where it is going to take us.
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- This page is filled wit Albania money (Lek). I really like the colors that they have.
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- This are more pictures of my grandfather. Since he was young, the time he was the secretary for the communist party and when he and my father bought one of the biggest hotels that the communist built after communism fell in Albania.
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- This are some of the fabrics that I would like to work with.
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- This is a type of food that poor people would eat during communism in Albania. You would mix this with water and left over bread and boil it. Now people put other things in, such as feta cheese, sausage, olive oil, etc. But at the time it was just this, water and old bread. I like the texture that it has.
I added some quotes but I didn’t like the way they looked since I was working with clear vinyl.
