On Tuesday, April 1, art students and friends gathered in the Olin Faculty Lounge to participate in an edible-book tea party, an annual tradition hosted by art professor Mare Blocker.
The celebration takes place yearly on April 1 and is observed by book arts communities around the world.
“The tea party is a way for arts communities around the world to participate in a global activity, in their own little neighborhoods,” Blocker said.
This is the third year that Blocker has organized the event at Whitman, although she has participated since the ’80s. Blocker also participated in this year’s exhibit at the Center for Book Arts in New York.
Blocker encourages guests to bring books they have made out of edible materials to enter into an informal competition. The books, after being displayed and awarded prizes, are then eaten.
This year’s books ranged from cream cheese and tortilla “scrolls,” to cookies with fortunes baked in the center, to Fruit Rollups with cut out text, to Blocker’s traditional brain and heart Jell-O molds.
“I like to see the creative things people come up with using food,” Blocker said. “And what I really like is stretching people’s definitions of what a book is.”
First-years Jea Alford and Linnea Rudeen won a prize for their book, made from pieces of cinnamon toast tied together with licorice, and stamped with chocolate to spell the word “April.”
“It was a really fun and tasty tea party,” Alford said.
Sophomore Mallory Powers also attended and enjoyed the event.
“I thought it was a great way to celebrate April Fools’ Day,” Powers said. “It was a really unconventional way to have people express their creativity.”
Blocker, who is a printmaker and book artist by specialty, sent everyone home with a prize: either a book or a magnet that she personally made. She encouraged all students to think about ways to broaden their conception of the word “book”, and to think about what they can make for coming years’ parties.
“It’s a great event,” Blocker said. “The only downside is I eat way too much sugar on April Fools’ Day.”
