Tunnel & peep
Tunnel Books and a Forthcoming Fair
A paper theatre in the making, our very own tunnel book (also referred to as a peep show book, where a series of cut-paper panels are placed one behind the other to create the illusion of depth and perspective) is taking shape, and we are elated. Before beginning the construction phase, and making an initial mockup, it was enlightening to see two such books in the Baillieu Library with Susan Millard, Curator of Rare Books, at The University of Melbourne. Pictured here alongside an 1851 edition of Lane’s telescopic view of the interior of the Great Industrial Exhibition, illustrated by Thomas Rawlins, and Tim’s Telescopic Views 1977 reissue of a telescopic peep show to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s 1953 Coronation, our version, How will they know there’s no-one left, 2025, as it prepares to leap off the page.
If you are quick, you can press your eye to the glass and render yourself Alice in Wonderland small as you stroll through the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, as an edition of the Great Industrial Exhibition is still on display as part of the current hang of World of the Book at State Library Victoria, which also includes With Wings Outstretched and Quivering, and its hand-painted box, and Something Reverberated, and its hand-painted twin, until 6pm Sunday, 18th of May, 2025.
Comprised of 10 lithographic prints and eight internal sections, capable of expanding to 65 cm (when open), traversing through the scene with its linen sides folding concertina style, the joy we felt as we looked through the scene further enticed us to make our own version, our own miniature moonlit stage set.
“Paper peepshows are like miniature worlds unfolding before your eyes. In an instant, you are brought to a festival, a historical event, a faraway land, a play in a busy theatre, a battlefield, the inauguration of a great engineering feat, a biblical scene or an international exhibition. The scenes are colourful and action-packed, and as they recede into the distance, they create an illusion of depth.
Consisting of a front and back panel with cut-out prints in-between, linked by bellows on the sides or at the top and bottom, the peepshow looks like a stretched-out concertina when open but when closed, you would never guess the wonders it contains. It neatly collapses into a box, as does The Thames Tunnel from 1851, or into an unassuming bundle, which is often slid into a slipcase.”
This here peep at a peep-in-process, from being printed at Arten to in the dappled light of afternoon on the working table, has already changed its form as the pages lost their wings. Preparations are now being made for them to slot into place, and the back curtain to How will they know there’s no-one left is now affixed (after much holding of breath) to the blue-trimmed board. It is slow, fiddly, fun work, and the most recent mockup continues to prove more than its floppy weight in A4 paper.
You’ll be able to step the boards for your very good self, as it were, at the forthcoming eleventh NGV Melbourne Art Book Fair. In addition to our stall in the Great Hall once more, we’ll be reading from our A(rtists’ books) to Z(ines) beneath Kusama’s beguiling pumpkin on the Saturday morning (full details below).
Melbourne Art Book Fair
NGV Great Hall
NGV International
180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne
Friday 16th May 10am–5pm
Saturday 17th May 10am–5pm
Sunday 18th May 10am–5pm
The Stallholder Fair returns to the NGV Great Hall for three days of art publishing and design.
Stalls in the Great Hall will feature a curated selection of local and international independent art book makers, established publishing houses, and galleries who will be offering books, magazines, zines, art prints, and more for visitors to purchase and explore.
This year, the Melbourne Art Book Fair presents a host of free talks and activations including NEWSSTAND, where visitors can get their hands on limited-edition print editorials made exclusively for the Fair.
Kids Pumpkin Storytime
Presented by NGV
Saturday 17th May 10.30–11am
With Gracia & Louise
Free, no booking required
See the full list of participating publishers
Image credit: Detail from Lane’s Telescopic View of the Great Exhibition, 1851, printed by C.A. Lane, 46 Stanhope St, Hampstead Rd, London, entered at Stationer's Hall, 15th August 1851, a printed and hand coloured peep-show with nine sections and single view hole to cover, with canvas folding sides, in an outer cover, 19cm x 17cm (via Chiswick Auctions).
Also featured in the above, a Souvenir Copy, also illustrated by Thomas Rawlins and retaining its original sleeve, of Lane’s Telescopic View of the Opening of The Great Exhibition of 1851 (via Gerald Mathias), and daily moments that just fit.
