FOBA 2021 Juried Exhibition
Completed 2021
Editions: 40
Dimensions closed: 11” x 6.5” x 1.5”
Materials: colorplan 300 gsm paper, letterpress ink, tyvek, book cloth, metal brads and grommets
Artist resides in Gainesville, Florida
Rule of Thumb is a moveable book about the historical human obsession with ourselves and with approval from others. In the last 10 years, we have become obsessed with living online instead of actual living. We seem to only care about how many thumbs up, likes, or hearts we can accumulate on social media platforms. We practice a psychological social separation. We live virtual lives. Now, with the proliferation of the COVID-19 virus, we are living with the physical reality of social-distancing. How will we make it back? Can we make it back? Rule of Thumb considers the ways in which humans have used our thumbs to, at best, twist reality, and at worst, ruin ourselves. Rule of Thumb was printed on and constructed from Colorplan paper, and letterpress printed from linoleum reduction blocks and photopolymer plates.
Ellen Knudson (Gainesville, Florida)
Ellen Knudson is a book artist producing books under the imprint Crooked Letter Press. She is currently Associate in Book Arts at The University of Florida. Ellen has been a book artist and designer for over 30 years. She holds an MFA in Book Arts from The University of Alabama. She has taught book arts and letterpress at University of Florida, University of Alabama, graphic design at Mississippi State University, Wayne State University, and workshops across the U.S. Her work is in Library of Congress, SF-MOMA, Yale University, and many other national and international collections.