'Treasure' an artists' book by Penelope Thompson

I recently finished an 'artists' book' for an exhibition in Australia - the annual BOOKS.07 'works of imagination' invitation exhibition held at the Noosa Regional Gallery, Queensland, Australia. The theme for this year's exhibition was "the search for the impossible".

I chose to explore the universal human search for treasure and I created a small treasure chest with many compartments. Inside the compartments I placed different objects such as coins, maps, pearls inscribed with text and these became the "pages" of my book.


My artwork may not resemble a book at first glance, but when we consider the dictionary definition of a book is "a collection of pages, bound or unbound, contained within a cover so as to form a material whole" it is most certainly an artists' book (which may sometimes be called a bookwork).
The title of the work is simply treasure 'Treasure' and it is intended to be handled as an interactive artwork that progressively reveals its meaning to the viewer.
The first level consists of an antique world map with the "X" marking the spot of treasure - on a mirror, so the viewer will see a self-reflection within the treasure map.

The second level contains gold coins, each inscribed with a word. Together these coins spell out the proverb "all that glitters is not gold".


There is also a small folded parchment - which includes the words "seek and ye shall find".






Then, upon opening the third level - the viewer will discover a string of pearls each bearing a subtly marked word; "Be", "here", and "now" repeating in order over and over again - like prayer beads.




You can see a short video of the "Treasure" chest being opened and closed below.
Treasure - an artists' book by Penelope Thompson

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"Lake of Dreams" performance - 'Right time' Performance Art Festival, Goryeong, Korea

On June 16 I was invited to Goryeong in central Korea to do an outdoor performance. This new performance was entitled 'Lake of Dreams'.

I commenced by walking across the grassy space dragging a black box tied to me with a hemp rope. Jangling temple bells hung from my shoulder and I played a single breathy note on a flute.




With ritual-like movements I set up a traditional Korean table and placed various small, symbolic objects on the table top.
I folded a Korean 1000 won note into an origami paper boat and then poured water until the table top became like a miniature lake, with the objects submerged and the money boat floating.

Three rounded stones were stacked in the center of the 'lake' like an island or a traditional Korean Buddhist stone cairn.







I played a single note on the flute, making the wind from the instrument cause the boat to sail around the lake.




Finally, I walked away playing a melody -
leaving the box and the objects in the lake behind me.