MOVAB LE STAI
VOLUME 6 NUMBER 2
MAY 1998
Convention Roundup
Ellen G.K. Rubin
Scarsdale, NY
Like children who have long awaited the return of the carnival, the participants of the second biennial Movable Book Society Conference celebrated ebulliently at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton, April 30-May 3. From the first evening, the line between strangers and old friends was quickly blurred with handshakes, kisses, and introductions. No sooner were packets with name tags, program, and rolling pin bookmark for Cookie count, signed by Robert Sabuda, put aside, were popups whisked out of pockets and handbags. The "Show and Tell" sideshow had begun. "Have you ever seen this book?" "I made these. What do you think?" "I found this on the Internet!" And the question most often asked on Thursday and still heatedly debated on Saturday, "Where will the next Convention be?" Adding to the carnival atmosphere was the concurrent convention of ballroom dancers who filled the corridors and elevators with bespangled women, heavily made-up, elaborately dressed and coifed, squired by pomaded men in either cutaways or tight pants and shirts open to the navel. We appeared schoolmarmish in comparison, especially with our ever-present children's books in tow.
a.
Ed Hutchins showing River of Stars professorial vest and beard, gave an overview of his work from The rabbit report with scrolling text to Moving the obstinate with panoramic text housed in an obelisk to intricate tunnel and unfolding books. Like a magician giving away his secrets, Ed showed how a complicated book, such as The shape of things, was made from a single sheet of paper. There were "'Oohs" and "Ahs" from the appreciative audience. In Twisted, the rotating covers keep changing the message much as the moving tiles change the message in Mosaic. Asked if these books can take the rough handling, Ed responded, "Yes, but dog-eared is a good quality for a book."
Wally Hunt graced our first evening, dropping pearls of pop-up trivia everywhere he went. When shown a copy of My friend the dragon for Random House's "Magic-Motion" books, he explained why there are bibliographical pages at the back, as there are in several other early books.* Some of us fought offjet-lag while intimately sitting around a small table examining the pop-ups of the "wunderkind," Andrew Baron, a selftaught paper engineer. While deservedly proud of himself, Andrew acknowledged, "Wally is the taproot."
Friday morning opened with the sunny presence of Ed Hutchins giving his lecture, "Toying With Books: Playing with Conventions," the same title as his UCLA show. Eschewing self-promotion, Ed gave an overview ofhis work with movable books beginning in 1974 with an annual report for his Dad. While admitting all his books start with a conventional book format, they almost never end up that way. My "books have so much more than is immediately apparent." Ed, in
Chuck Murphy holding Jack and the Beanstalk
Chuck Murphy, our next lecturer, echoed this thought. When I gave him his Smiley's super station to sign, he told me some of the punch-out figures were missing.* But, he added, since his books are intended for children, "Ifa book doesn't show signs of handling, I haven't done my job." Chuck gave us an A-to-Z