Maria G. Pisano

Artist Books, Prints, and Workshops

Tunnel Vision

Tunnel Vision is based on the story of Holland Tunnel, alongside a child’s imaginary view of the tunnel. The books structure is a tunnel book, 200 cm long when fully opened. The inside of the book depicts the imaginary vision of a colorful underwater world, where vintage and modern cars travel through its space accompanied by colorful fish in coral reefs. The outside of the book represents the reality: close to 6 million tiles were used for the tunnel, reflected in the pattern used to create the outer walls of the book. It is here that some of the more significant historical facts of the tunnel and my story are written. The book is dedicated to my father, a manual laborer, whose hard work and contributions remained anonymous. Similarly, the workers of the tunnel, who worked under extreme conditions, were never recognized. This book seemed an ideal venue to mesh the child’s fantasy and the historical background.

Colophon: The book incorporates letterpress – for the poem and images in front and back covers, collagraphs- the interior and exterior walls of the accordion supports, intaglio, relief, chine colle, lithography and digital printing for the internal supports of the book. There are 8 inside supports, and each is cut to expose the depth of the tunnel. The font for the poem and other text is Frutiger. Printed on Rives BFK and Sekishu. It is enclosed in a plexiglass clamshell case. The book was designed, written and bound by the artist in an edition of 25. The printing was a joint effort between the artist, MaryAnn Miller and Valerie Linhart. Pat Masters printed the digital pages. The book was editioned at EPI, The University of the Arts, and at the artist’s studio. Dimensions: 16″ W x 8″ H x 80″ L. Created as part of a residency at the Experimental Printmaking Institute at Lafayette College (EPI). Copyright © 2004 Memory Press – ISBN 0-9761941-0-4.