About

what is the traveling book show?

You. Friends & strangers. Collaborating through the Postal Service.

How? Make a book (a foldable, mailable book out of recycled cardboard, folded paper, and a needle and thread). You decide what it centers around–an idea, an image, a question, a set of instructions–and you mail it to someone, who works on it and mails it to someone else, who works on it and mails it to someone else–

Thus, The Traveling Book Show is born. Interested? Join our facebook group, or check our our Flickr pool, or best of all: make a book.

2010

The Traveling Book Show took place between (roughly) January and March 2010. Many collaborators across the world had a hand in the books that followed, which will be displayed and then made a part of the permanent collection in Crossett Library at Bennington College, Bennington, VT. Collaborators, friends and curious community members are invited to an opening celebration of this year’s cycle on Wednesday, April 21, 6:30-7:30 pm in Crossett Library.

2009

On April 29, 2009 The Traveling Book Show exhibit opened at Crossett Library, Bennington College, a collaborative artist book project conceived by Dorothy Allen ’09.

Dorothy explains, ” In late December 2008, I sat on my family’s living room floor with a box of donated paper, a box cutter, a needle and thread, and all the cardboard boxes my dad had stored over the recent months, and set out to make eighteen foldable, mailable blank books. I had sent out a call to as many people as I could think of from Bennington who might be interested in doing an exchange project over the winter, and made a book for every person who responded to my email. From there, each person got a blank book with an instructional letter. From then on, the rest is in the books. “

The following students participated in the creation of the books: Dorothy Allen, Ian Dolton-Thornton, Faith Griffiths, Nate Luce, Amelia Meath, Russell Melia, Arielle Middleman, Emmet Penney, Katherine Perkins, Marisa Prefer, Alex Sauser-Monning, Emily Tareila, Niko Tsocanos, Trevor Wilson, Annika Wisswaesser, Dana Wolfson