Carol Barton (born 3 June 1954) is a book artist, paper engineer, curator, and educator. She is the proprietor of Popular Kinetics Press and has published several editions of artist books. She may be best known for her series of interactive workbooks, ''The Pocket Paper Engineer''.
Biography
Barton was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She earned her BFA in 1976 from
St. Louis School of Fine Arts
The St. Louis School of Fine Arts was founded as the Saint Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts in 1879 as part of Washington University in St. Louis, and has continuously offered visual arts and sculpture education since then. Its purpose-buil ...
at
Washington University
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
, and graduated as a painting major. While in college, she took a fundamentals class in three-dimensional design, during which she developed a fondness for how objects function from an engineering standpoint. This experience, in combination with her figurative work, seemed an early indicator of her interest in pop-up books.
After moving Washington, D.C. in 1977, Barton was hired as an arts administrator at the Glen Echo Park Arts Center. The Writers’ Center, a resident organization formed by graduates of
Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York, presented Barton's first exposure to the book arts. When The Writers’ Center received a grant from the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
to produce twenty artists’ books, Barton was invited as a participant in the project. She welcomed the opportunity to explore the book form as an artistic medium.
Barton's first book, ''Beyond the Page'' (1981), was produced with use of die cuts and she found it to be a trying experience. She was prepared to abandon her work in the book arts until two things happened: She experienced success when her edition of ''Beyond the Page'' sold out and she was exposed by a friend to an early Italian ''Sleeping Beauty'' carousel book. She became enthralled with the concept that a book could be both sculptural and mechanical.
Fueled by her renewed interest in the book arts, Barton embarked on a two-year study of movable and pop-up books, which began at the Smithsonian's Dibner Rare Book Library. She traveled to libraries and collections across the United States where she discovered a wide variety of books utilizing sculptural formats and uncommon engineering techniques. As she began to better understand the materials and methods used in the construction of these books, Barton began compiling ideas for the production of her own editions of artist books.
One result of her research was that Barton is credited with reestablishing the tunnel book as a book structure The tunnel format was used in tourist souvenirs and commemorative books as early as the mid-18th century.
[Wasserman, Krystyna (2007). ''The Book as Art: Artists' Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts'', p. 130. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. .]
Barton started teaching in 1983 at the
Pyramid Atlantic Art Center. Through many years of teaching, Barton found that the best way for students to learn paper engineering techniques was through direct, hands-on experience. It was this knowledge that inspired the creation of her workbook series on pop-up design and construction, ''The Pocket Paper Engineer''. Barton continues to teach as a faculty member of The
University of the Arts in Philadelphia and in classrooms around the world.
Barton's work has been published in many publications and exhibited internationally. Her work is in many collections, including The
Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and ...
,
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
,
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...
, The
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...
, and the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
in London.
Bibliography
*Barton, Carol (1981)
''Beyond the Page'' Popular Kinetics Press.
*Barton, Carol (1986), ''Small Gardens'', Popular Kinetics Press.
*Barton, Carol (1988)
Popular Kinetics Press.
*Barton, Carol (1988)
Popular Kinetics Press.
*Barton, Carol (1989)
Popular Kinetics Press.
*Barton, Carol (1990)
Popular Kinetics Press.
*Barton, Carol (1991)
Popular Kinetics Press.
*Barton, Carol (1993)
Popular Kinetics Press.
*Barton, Carol (1994), ''A Journal of One's Own: A Handcrafting Kit.'' Running Press, 1994.
*Barton, Carol (1997)
Popular Kinetics Press.
*Barton, Carol (1998)
Borowsky Center.
*Barton, Carol (2001)
Popular Kinetics Press.
*Barton, Carol (2003)
Popular Kinetics Press.
*Barton, Carol (2005), ''The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume I: Basic Forms: How to Make Pop-Ups Step-by-Step'', Popular Kinetics Press,
*Barton, Carol (2008), ''The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume 2: Platforms and Props: How to Make Pop-Ups Step-by-Step'', Popular Kinetics Press,
References
Further reading
*Barton, Carol (2005), ''The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume I: Basic Forms: How to Make Pop-Ups Step-by-Step''. Maryland: Popular Kinetics Press, .
*Barton, Carol (2008), ''The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume 2: Platforms and Props: How to Make Pop-Ups Step-by-Step''. Maryland: Popular Kinetics Press, .
*Barton, Carol (2012), ''The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume 3: V-Folds''. Maryland: Popular Kinetics Press, .
*Gunter, Veronika Alice; & LaFerla, Jane (Eds.) (2004). ''The Penland Book of Handmade Books: Master Classes in Bookbinding Techniques''. New York: Lark Books. pp. 68–89. .
External links
*
Beyond the Page: Carol Barton's Art and Influence: a podcast with Carol Barton and the Nashville Public LibraryInterview with Carol Barton
via Santa Fe Radio Cafe
* ttps://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99514911 Interview with Carol Barton and NPRbr>Podcast with Carol Barton and Book Artists and Poets Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Carol
1954 births
Living people
Women book artists
American art curators
American women curators
American women artists
Pop-up book artists
21st-century American women