books

ARTISTS BOOKS & ZINES

Moving To Mars: Arrive & Explore
2nd Edition, 2023

Mars: Arrive & Explore is a handmade pocket-sized accordion-folded miniature book featuring new illustration and design by artist Lee Shearman and poetry by writer Pip Rowson. This first book (one of three titles available in Micro Library Books' Martian Series) encounters Mars as a sea-less sphere, presenting an imagined map inspired by the artwork of Emmy Ingeborg Brun (1872 - 1929), a Danish socialist and amateur astronomer.

“The texture of the plains changes from place to place: in some places they are phenomenally smooth, in others hummocky; some areas are cut into polygons by cracks like those in dried mud, but far, far larger; some of the surface is covered in dark dunes of volcanic sand, some is strangely mottled.” - from Oliver Morton’s Mapping Mars, p.91

Before setting out on a journey and having our intended destination in our sights, we humans are likely, sensibly, to reach for a map. But the landscape of Mars throws up many tensions: it is known and unknown, it is homogenous - the red planet - and incredibly, beautifully, varied. The challenge of mapping the surface of Mars, gives a legacy of imperfect assertions of the planet’s landscape. This is evident in the evolution of the maps of Mars’s canals, for example, which move from Schiaparelli’s 1877 maps to Perrotin and Thollon’s re-rendering in 1886 to Lowell’s 1895 canal map featured in his book Mars, all before today’s state of the art photography and use of robots helped us more accurately understand the planet’s terrain.

In the same way, our earthly language stops short of being able to succinctly describe the discoveries of the Martian terrain. “The names we’ll give to the canals and mountains and cities will fall like so much water on the back of a mallard. No matter how we touch Mars, we’ll never touch it.” (From History of the Future by Christophe Canto and Odile Faliu). The words we use for planet Earth’s geography: valleys, canals, plains, deserts, lakes are so intertwined with our own world’s identity that Mars demands a new coinage of terms and even that poses a challenge as over the years, the names given to its craters, for example, have had to be crudely recycled due to the sheer number of new discoveries.

Micro Library Books Moving to Mars Series explores how our earthly ideas of design, language and imagination are not yet fit for purpose for a planet at once familiar and distinct from our own. This book was originally created in 2019 to coincide with the ‘Moving to Mars’ multi-sensory exhibition at The Design Museum, London originally available from the museum shop during the exhibition.

Moving To Mars: Survive & Expand
2nd Edition, 2023

Survive & Expand is a handmade pocket-sized accordion-folded miniature book featuring new illustration and design by artist Lee Shearman and poetry by writer Pip Rowson. This second in the trilogy, puts forward a blueprint of visuals for terraforming, overcoming initial survival challenges and a plan in case of failure.

The essential elements needed for human survival are the same on Mars as on Earth: water, food and shelter must be found or made if we are to exist in a new world. The need to make Mars habitable in order to evolve an initial ‘Mars colony’ presents a new realm of architectural possibility. The architecture of Mars may be formed of different approaches: buildings imported from Earth and set down on Mars; re-design and re-engineering of our current houses to make them suitable for the red planet; and wholly new creations. Melding the approaches together, we can speculatively conjure artists’ impressions of the individual buildings that will harbour us initially (and eventually become homes)

Micro Library Books Moving to Mars Series explores how our earthly ideas of design, language and imagination are not yet fit for purpose for a planet at once familiar and distinct from our own. This book was originally created in 2019 to coincide with the ‘Moving to Mars’ multi-sensory exhibition at The Design Museum, London originally available from the museum shop during the exhibition.

Moving To Mars: Thrive & Exploit
2nd Edition, 2023

Thrive & Exploit is a handmade pocket-sized accordion-folded miniature book featuring new illustration and design by artist Lee Shearman and poetry by writer Pip Rowson. This third book in the trilogy, visually presents speculative Martian architecture including buildings imported from Earth and set down on Mars, re-designed and re-engineering of our terrestrial way of living, and wholly new creations.

“The expectation was that by the dawn of the twenty-first century the solar system would already be conquered and mapped and the galaxy as a whole would be preparing to welcome its discoverers.” - from ‘Stellar epilogue’ in The History of the Future, p.120.

We have a history of imagining what life would be like in the future and this includes living off-world on Mars. Books, documentaries, journals and magazines provide a historical archive of reflections and contemplations about the future of life on Mars. People have written about why, how and when we will get there. Accounts focus on setting a date for our arrival - giving greater weight to this than the subsequent stages of what Martian life may be like for us. Yet our success as a species would depend not just on getting to Mars, but on creating a stable and sustainable existence there. It’s this next chapter of our human story that is the playground for science fiction. Novels, films and comics revel in the Martian dream of how we could flourish on the red planet.

Micro Library Books Moving to Mars Series explores how our earthly ideas of design, language and imagination are not yet fit for purpose for a planet at once familiar and distinct from our own. This book was originally created in 2019 to coincide with the ‘Moving to Mars’ multi-sensory exhibition at The Design Museum, London originally available from the museum shop during the exhibition.

Engineerium Micro Library (Volume 1)
2nd Edition, 2023

The Engineerium Micro Library is a handmade pocket-sized accordion-folded miniature book that collects 28 speculative silhouette illustrations of machines digitally rendered by artist Lee Shearman.

The artwork and typography for this book has been created digitally which has been lazer-printed onto 160gsm caramel-coloured A4 sheets. Once the pages have been printed each book is made by hand; carefully scored cut, cropped, folded, and glued into covers and wraps. The finished books are pressed using a vintage tie press.

This is the 2nd edition paperback of the 1st volume in the series, and collects 28 illustration (nos. 1 to 28) limited to 30 numbered copies. When unfurled, this book is 670mm in length.

Engineerium Micro Library (Volume 2)
2nd Edition, 2023

The Engineerium Micro Library is a handmade pocket-sized accordion-folded miniature book that collects 28 speculative silhouette illustrations of machines digitally rendered by artist Lee Shearman.

The artwork and typography for this book has been created digitally which has been lazer-printed onto 160gsm caramel-coloured A4 sheets. Once the pages have been printed each book is made by hand; carefully scored cut, cropped, folded, and glued into covers and wraps. The finished books are pressed using a vintage tie press.

This is the 2nd edition paperback of the 2nd volume in the series, and collects 28 illustration (nos. 29 to 56) limited to 30 numbered copies. When unfurled, this book is 670mm in length.

Engineerium Micro Library (Volume 3)
2nd Edition, 2023

The Engineerium Micro Library is a handmade pocket-sized accordion-folded miniature book that collects 28 speculative silhouette illustrations of machines digitally rendered by artist Lee Shearman.

The artwork and typography for this book has been created digitally which has been lazer-printed onto 160gsm caramel-coloured A4 sheets. Once the pages have been printed each book is made by hand; carefully scored cut, cropped, folded, and glued into covers and wraps. The finished books are pressed using a vintage tie press.

This is the 2nd edition paperback of the 3rd volume in the series, and collects 28 illustration (nos. 57 to 84) limited to 30 numbered copies. When unfurled, this book is 670mm in length.

Nooscopics I - XVI
2nd Edition

Nooscopics I - XVI is a handmade pocket-sized accordion-folded miniature book containing
16 printed photographs of abstract collages made by artist Lee Shearman. These photographs document the original multi-layered collages assembled used coloured paper offcuts and were framed in handmade card and acetate frames the originals of which have been sold.

The photographs have been lazer-printed onto 160gsm white A4 sheets after which each book was made by hand; carefully scored, cut, cropped, folded, the page edges have been trimmed with a rounder punch and glued into covers and wraps. The finished books are then pressed using a vintage tie press.

Square Grid / Stationery
2nd Edition

Micro Library Books Square Grid is a handmade accordion-folded miniature book containing 28 pages of gridded paper. These stationery miniatures are ideal for quick note taking, bullet-points, idea recording and jotting. The closed books measure 35 x 50mm so is an ideal pocket-sized paper-based portable companion. We designed and made these small-scale sundries to use ourselves, so we were never without a place to jot down quick thoughts, observations, and inspirations.

The books are handmade from a single sheet of printed A4 ivory-coloured paper, which is scored, cropped, cut, folded, and glued into sunflower yellow-coloured card covers, and wrapped in a printed intensive pink-coloured belly-band.

Lined Journal / Stationery
2nd Edition

Micro Library Books Lined Journal is a handmade accordion-folded miniature book containing 28 pages of dotted lines. These stationery miniatures are ideal for quick note taking, bullet-points, idea recording and jotting. The closed books measure 35 x 50mm so is an ideal pocket-sized paper-based portable companion. We designed and made these small-scale sundries to use ourselves, so we were never without a place to jot down quick thoughts, observations, and inspirations.

The books are handmade from a single sheet of printed A4 ivory-coloured paper, which is scored, cropped, cut, folded, and glued into sunflower yellow-coloured card covers, and wrapped in a printed pearl grey-colouredbelly-band.

Fathoms
2nd Edition

Fathoms is a handmade pocket-sized accordion-folded miniature book containing collaged illustration and poetry. The poem within the pages of Fathoms incorporates thirteen captions from fathom charts in ‘Symbols and Abbreviations used on Admiralty Charts’, Hydrographic Department, MoD, Taunton, Nov. 1973. The imagery is taken from key/swatches from the same book rebuilt into a speculative collaged landscape of coastal.

The collaged artwork and typography for this book has been created digitally which has been lazer-printed onto 160gsm white A4 sheets. Once the pages have been printed each book is made by hand; carefully scored cut, cropped, folded, and glued into covers and wraps. The finished books are pressed using a vintage tie press.

Neap Tide
2nd Edition

Neap Tide is a handmade pocket-sized accordion-folded miniature book containing collaged illustration and poetry. The poem within the pages of Neap Tide incorporates fifteen captions from fathom charts in ‘‘Symbols and Abbreviations used on Admiralty Charts’, Hydrographic Department, MoD, Taunton, Nov. 1973. The imagery taken from the same book uses the key/symbols and swatches rebuilt into a speculative collaged landscape of coastal abstraction.

The collaged artwork and typography for this book has been created digitally which has been lazer-printed onto 160gsm white A4 sheets. Once the pages have been printed each book is made by hand; carefully scored cut, cropped, folded, and glued into covers and wraps. The finished books are pressed using a vintage tie press.

The Murk of Illusion
2nd Edition

The Murk of Illusion is a handmade pocket-sized accordion-folded miniature book containing collaged illustration and poetry. The imagery has been collaged from vintage books on engineering and meticulously built into a new linear collaged landscape of cogs, paddles and wheels.

The proem ‘Murk of Illusion’ was originally appeared in the Emitron Occasional Micropaper published by Borbonesa in 2005. It was intended as a polite poetic encapsulation of the thematic content of The Emitron Micropaper.

The Livery of Lusk
2nd Edition

The Livery of Lusk is a handmade pocket-sized accordion-folded miniature book containing collaged illustration and poetry. The imagery has been collaged from The Complete Price Guide to Watches by Cooksey Shugart, Tom Engle and Richard Gilbert published by Cooksey Shugart Publications meticulously built into a new linear collaged landscape of cogs, paddles, wheels.

The proem ‘The Livery of Lusk’ was originally appeared in the Emitron Occasional Micropaper published by Borbonesa in 2005. It was intended as a polite poetic encapsulation of the thematic content of The Emitron Micropaper.

Diary 2025

This handmade diary package is for the year 2025 and contains two miniature concertina-folded books, each covering 6-months of the year, with a week-to-view page layout. (January to June, July to December.) Each diary is made up of four sheets of A4 that have been printed, folded, cropped, scored, and glued into accordion-folded miniature books encased in lemon-yellow card covers, wrapped in belly-band and sleeved in magenta/grey wraps.

Smithereen Zine
1st Edition, 2023

Smithereen zine is a pocket-sized concertina folded sequential illustration exploring mark-making and texture, through architecture, flora and fauna.

Tapestry (Sound Scroll)
2nd Edition, 2023

‘Tapestry Sound Scroll’ is a miniature handmade artist’s book made from a strip of canteloupe-coloured paper scroll. The scroll contains 626 hand-punched holes that mark the positions of the human figures as depicted on The Bayeux Tapestry. The scroll can used as a melody strip that sounds notes when wound through a 15-note mechanical music box.

Tapestry (Sound Book)
1st edition, 2022

‘Tapestry’ is a miniature handmade artist’s book made from a strip of canteloupe-coloured paper, accordion-folded into a 120-page hardbound book. The pages contain 626 hand-punched holes that mark the positions of the human figures as depicted on The Bayeux Tapestry. When the pages are removed from the hardcovers they can be used as a melody strip that sounds notes when wound through a 15-note mechanical music box. A sound recording of the book can be heard by accessing Augmented Reality content through the Artivive App.

This box comes complete with a book, mechanical music box, and booklet about the project.