SPQR

This is a project I've been working on as part of a print exchange between the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Edinburgh College of Art.

The concept was for 50 select students and faculty on each side of the Atlantic to construct a pair of boxes with the dimensions of 5x8x1" The material, medium, and contents were completely open, but under the general title of Transatlantic Fun-o-Pack. One box will remain in the permanent collection of each school.

After a couple of false starts, I was still at a loss for what I wanted to make for this show. I've been thinking about Rome lately and after finishing the edition of Roman Faces, I decided to make the box about Rome (which was my last Transatlantic journey...)

The box is a drop lid structure made out of bookboard and covered in fine weave linen bookcloth. The color reminded me of the buildings in Rome. The cover and interior tray are lined with vintage architectural drawings of the Pantheon. 

Each box contains an edition of the small book Roman Faces, a plaster hand (one of several I bought as "relics" in a shop near the Vatican), and a panoramic accordion book of Rome.

The panorama was created by combining half a dozen sketches from my sketchbook. I created a litho plate of the final composition and printed the image in red. The covers are bound in a hand marbled paper purchased in Rome. The overall dimensions of the book are 17 x 5.25" (opened).

SPQR is from the Latin phrase Senātus Populusque Rōmānus or "the Senate and People of Rome", an ancient abbreviation used as the modern emblem for the city of Rome.

 
copyright Kate Castelli 2012