In the SFCB Gallery
Jan 25-Apr 25, 2008
Curators: Mary Austin & Kathleen Burch
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 Burn Down the Zendo
Michael Hannon, poet Each text page, from the opening fly to the last poem, is inhabited by an enso or empty circle. The enso, an iconic image in Zen Buddhist Art, can mean many things: everything, nothing, unity, the moon or even a rice cake. In this text, the enso grows in size on each subsequent page, giving the reader the impression of passing through the center of the enso to the other side. This element of transcendence is reflected in the book's content, as the poet juggles the nature of being and not being while simultaneously traversing the shaky quicksand that defines the landscape between the conscious mind and the human heart. The book structure is modeled after ledger books or chomen, in common use throughout Japan particularly during the Edo period (1603-1868). These long, slender account books were sewn in the stab binding style at one short end and kept handy by hanging the book on the wall from its sewn end. Burn Down the Zendo comes with its own nail so that it can be hung on the wall. Carolee Campbell is an Emmy Award-winning actress whose extensive theatre training and work on stage was followed by a nine-year career starring in a television soap opera ("The Doctors") in New York. Paralleling her theatrical career was a deep involvement in photography and the darkroom process. Work in nineteenth-century photographic techniques brought her into bookbinding for use as a hand-held container. This, in turn, led to the discovery of printing letterpress. Carolee designs, hand-sets, prints, and hand-binds each edition. Founded in 1984, Ninja Press has evolved from an idea into an important and respected private press. | |||
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