Theia Mania

includes 3 books, a CD and an herb pouch
This project is the result of an intermingling of stories told by those who have been struck by a sensation of instant connection with another. In the classical world such pricks from a dart of Eros were called
Theia Mania (madness from the Gods).

Heidi Zednik and I began by collecting audio versions of stories told by those willing to participate in the project. We recorded 12 such stories and these are the basis for both the text and audio portions of this piece. Two of the stories I wished to include could not be told by their subjects, so I wrote my own versions, presented as oral presentations on the CD.

This piece includes a woven binding structure based on a Claire van Vliet design, a small recipe book made with a piano hinge, a sachet of herbs with a love potion recipe, an accordian book in a round aluminum tin and an audio compact disk & wrapper. All are contained in a rectangular aluminum hinged tin that is held closed with a handprinted sleeve. Page imaging includes laseretching, color laser prints, color inkjet prints, black and white laser prints, pastepapers, laserprinted metal foil and relief printing. The main text is woven with tinted tyvek.