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BOOKS FROM THE HEARTAN INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD H. HUTCHINS Ellen G.K. Rubin Scarsdale, New York Ed Hutchins does not have writer's block. In fact, it would probably take three life-times for him to realize all his ideas as books. I met with Hutchins in his sharedstudio in the basement of the Visual Arts Building of SUNY-Purchase, where he is working on his Master's Degree in Fine Arts. The dark. institutional. graffiticovered. cinder-block construction belies the luminous creativity going on inside. In an effort to describe the proposed dozen books which comprise his thesis, Ed opened his metal storage closet. and much like Fibber McGee's. books tumbled from inside. After spending an afternoon with Ed, I observed his mind to be like his closet, irrepressibly full of ideas. One of four children raised in Tucson, Arizona, the 48 year old Hutchins traces his artistic roots to his greatgrandfather. and grandfather who chronicled the settling of the West as photographers. Like Ed, they were prodigious artists producing a quarter of a million negatives which have taken 23 vears to catalogue. A 1973 graduate of the University
of Anzona with an M.S. degree in Government Service and a munor in the Arts. Ed credits d himself with a very "checkered business career." In the tradition of "tinker, tailor. soldier. spy." Ed has worked at a laundry list of jobs and professions, from clown and soda jerk, to tour guide and art director. All. he claims. have made an impression on his work as a book artist. Starting as a hobby in the early 1960s. Ed began making editioned books. He admits early efforts were "pretty rough." But it was not until the early "80's. after taking classes at the Center for Book Arts in New York, that he decided to create books full-time. Living on the proceeds from his house sale, in a rented garret without phone or doorbell. Ed just made books. "It was the most wonderful time!" ~Toymg With Books. The Use of Force and Motion in Delivering the Message in a Book Format. is the
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VOLUME Ss NUMBER 2
May
1997
BR
scholarly title of Hutchins' master's thesis. One of the several books in it will be Timed Autobiography. A timing mechanism will move wheels, which turn pages, and present Ed's life story at a set pace. Another, The Storyteller, is much like an arcade game. At the top of a wooden box, a marble is put in the "storyteller's" mouth. Making its way down a cascade of ramps. the marble sets off 'bells and whistles' and activates a series of wordwheels. With every play of the marble, new stories are created. Other books which may be included. (Ed was reluctant to give me a list. lest he change his plans) are Flying Fish, mcorporating mobiles hanging from cut-outs in several pages, and Zhe Original Revised Edition, where pull-tabs change words to become ones more "politically correct." Another model was for a rotating flexagon" whose colors and shapes change when properly-placed fingers move. Still another project he demonstrated is called, Twisted. Four sheets of paper create the movable pages and its own box. By twisting the covers, the pages advance. The text deals with the attempts of organizations to get individuals to conform to set norms. Besides these creations, Ed also showed me numerous "bonus" book projects he was working on. We were less than one hour into this mterview and I was already overwhelmed and agape! Who wouldn't be? Each model was more unique and complex than the next!
To Ed Hutchins. "Everyone is a maker of books because everyone has a story to tel. We explored at length what is and what is not a book. His broad definition, with the emphasis on broad. is "a structure for storing and sharing information. He recalled, "Someone said a refrigerator could then be called abook." To which he laughingly responded, "What a great idea!" In fact, one of Hutchins' favorite paper engineers is Ruth Tilden.
Marvline's Garden, 1996