By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Yoku Haar's "Forbidden Word," consists of the ashes of
a dictionary the author used to learn English. On the wall is
Duncan Dempster's "Euro Hits '99," made of
printed and found objects.

By Suzanne Tswei
Special to the Star-Bulletin

A book is thought of, usually, as sheets of paper printed with words and bound between two covers. But at Salon5, a 4-month-old art gallery on the edge of Chinatown, a book is anything but that.

A waterproof book for bath-time contemplation. Pages of white cotton towels printed with drawings in a three-ring binder fashioned from shower curtain rings and a cover of pink rubber bath mat.

A red velvet Valentine candy box book, pierced with fish hooks and filled with heart-shaped sheets of handwriting.

An art history book with its own miniature rock garden. A book of affirmation with messages held in delicate test tubes. A wall of the word "desire" written in Japanese 108 times on handmade wooden boxes.

"You won't find these books at Borders, or Barnes and Noble, or Amazon.com, or anywhere else for that matter," says gallery owner Rich Richardson, host of the second leg of "Vestigial Tales," a traveling exhibit of 15 books by 15 Hawaii artists. The exhibit began at the East Hawaii Cultural Center in Hilo and will go to Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center on Maui in December.

By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Violet Murakami's piece comprises tubes, each filled with
quotations of affirmation. Most of the art pieces
in the show are touchable.

"These are one-of-a-kind books. We've got a vinyl book, burnt book, book that dances, book that lights up. Not your average, everyday books. Just come with an open mind and you won't be disappointed," Richardson says. Visitors are welcome to touch the books, too. Vinyl gloves will be provided.

The original idea for the exhibit was simple and straightforward: let's do handmade books, artistic projects that have been popular on the mainland. No one was expected to create books in the conventional sense, but the artists themselves were surprised -- pleasantly -- by the many unorthodox and painstaking interpretations of the task.

Artist Keiko Hatano, who once owned an art gallery in Kakaako and instigated this project, spent four months on her 108 wooden boxes all containing the same Japanese character. She wrote the character on white paper 108 times with white ink, cut them out and pasted them onto the 3-inch-by-4-inch boxes that she built. The front and the sides of the boxes were plastered with white mud, then the mud was sanded down to allow a faint image of the writing to show through. The back of each box was painted with a vibrant color -- red, yellow, green or blue -- to symbolize various emotions identified in Tibetan philosophy.

VESTIGIAL TALES Handmade books by 15 Hawaii artists: Place: Salon5, 1160-A Nuuanu St. House: noon to 8 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays, through Nov. 20 Admission: free Call: 550-2855

The meticulousness and size of the work aren't the only aspects that make Hatano's "Book of Desires" a standout. It's also the way she's installed the boxes. They are hung slightly away from the wall, allowing the strong colors on the back to cast subtle but colorful shadows from floor to ceiling.

For another floor-to-ceiling book, artist and radio personality Noe Tanigawa did 88 charcoal drawings of various facets of a lotus, from seeds to leaves to flower. The drawings, on sheets of synthetic fabric that resemble silken handmade paper, are charred along the edges and seem to float on the wall.

The other pieces in the show are smaller in scope but no less imaginative:

A book of cotton towels by Cade Roster, created with the help of printmaker Allyn Bromley. He made the book originally as a gift for his mother, Laila Twigg-Smith -- artist, collector, socialite and a founder of The Contemporary Museum -- who died unexpectedly last year.

The white ashes of a Japanese-English dictionary and a ceramic container by Yoko Haar. The Japan-born artist burned her treasured dictionary that she used to learn English, and made a ceramic coffin to house the ashes.

An invisible book by Tom Haar, who photographed his mother's hand and his daughter's hand as if they were bookends facing each other.

A book of affirmations by Violet Murakami, with test tubes holding quotes by notable women.

By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Artist Rich Richardson and his piece "Hysterical World Atlas", on the wall,
mixed media; and Cade Roster's "Tome of Cloth", mixed media.

A reference book by Buck Silva, made of frosty white glass with bits of blue and green. The word "volume" is imbedded in the center, and the whole thing lights up.

A red velvet Valentine box book by Adella Islas, documenting her thoughts toward "The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa," an Italian sculpture depicting an angel stabbing the saint in the heart.

A rock garden in a book by Wilma Nakamura. The book is hollowed out in the center to house the rocks.

A book of watercolor paintings and collages by Gloria Staackman. The 60-year-old artist drew pretty pictures of birds and flowers in the Asian style in effort to confront growing older.

A book of vinyl records by Duncan Dempster Jr. to document his travels through Europe.

A diary written on the gallery's window and bathroom mirror, by Shereen Kanehisa.

An autobiography by Rich Richardson, who wrote on transparent plastic sheets and layered the sheets onto five wooden panels, rendering them unreadable.

A charred-looking book filled with paintings and indecipherable writing by Chris Churchill.

Ten miniature books of poems and drawings inspired during Lori Ohtani's dance studies in Japan. Her Butoh dance, performed on opening night, is available for viewing on videotape at the gallery.

Click for online
calendars and events.