Bookshelf: Pop-up books and a seriously cute dog in the fun-filled bookshelf of Jen Stark

Date
6 April 2013

Lover of all things rainbow miss Jen Stark is here to brighten up your Saturday morning with her exuberant, super-visual book collection. A self-confessed pop-up book lover, Jen’s books tend to be the type you can move and play with, which is fitting considering the fun-filled colour explosions of her of her artwork that we’ve been admiring for many years now. She’s also got a pretty cute dog to boot. Here we go…

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600 Black Spots by David A. Carter

David A. Carter: 600 Black Spots

This book is the sequel to One Red Dot by the same author, and is a journey to discover and count the black dots on each page. The paper sculptures these pop-up artists can create are just mind-blowing to me. How can something so flat pop into existence and sometimes even move or make noise, then flatten neatly back down as the page turns? So amazing!

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How Many by Ron Van Der Meer

Ron Van Der Meer: How Many

This book is filled with beautifully intricate paper sculptures. I have a collection of around 20 pop-up books. Whenever I see a unique one, I snatch it up. I love interactive quality and being able to make something flat pop to life. None of the books I chose for this project have many words in them. They’re all interactive picture books and each has a mind-bending and trippy aspect to it. I love altering my sense of reality.

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Poemotion" by Takahiro Kurashima

Takahiro Kurashima: Poemotion

I recently got this book at an LA art fair in Printed Matter’s booth. I’m not a huge book collector, but anything that inspired or influences my art I purchase in a heart beat. This is a very psychedelic book that comes with a transparency that seems to make the designs move, vibrate, pulse, and spin as you glide it across the page. I love it and want to collect more trippy optical illusion art books!

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Art Forms in Nature by Ernst Haeckel

Ernst Haeckel: Art Forms in Nature

I love old nature prints and illustrations and this guy, Ernst Haeckel is a genius. These color prints were all created in the late 1800’s. He advocated Darwin’s theory of Evolution and was a biologist trying to discover a new way to classify the form of living things. The pages in this book are filled with fantastic drawings of forms based on designs in nature. It is a great book to have at my fingertips since my artwork is greatly influenced by organic designs and evolution.

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Phantograms From Nature by Barry Rothstein

Barry Rothstein: Phantograms From Nature

3-D images have always intrigued me. This book is a great example of huge, lovely images that pop off the page that you can almost touch. Putting 3-D glasses on is always fun and I love being transported to another dimension. The idea of creating a 3-dimensional image out of a flat photo is so facinating to me, and I love studying how these people can create such magical images.

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About the Author

Liv Siddall

Liv joined It’s Nice That as an intern in 2011 and worked across online, print and events, and was latterly Features Editor before leaving in May 2015.

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