Collage 542

"The city itself, meanwhile, was empty. There was almost no one in the streets. The gates and shops were all locked; here and there around the post-houses, solitary shouts or drunken singing could be heard. No one drove through the streets, and the footsteps of pedestrians were rarely heard."

Sometimes as I drive or bike around Boston, I notice the "evacuation route" signs and wonder why an evacuation would be called and that would be like. Probably the same chaos that is described in this scene. That is frightening to contemplate.

I used maps of Paris here. The black and red lines represent the frenzy of the inhabitants of Moscow, attempting to make their escape from their fallen city. -- Lola 

Lola Baltzell
from page 339-340, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 6/3/11
Pevear/Volokhonksy translation page 876-878

Collage 541

"And the weakened or dead bee slowly, lightly, like a bit of fluff, falls from above into the heap of corpses. The beekeeper opens two central frames so as to see into the next. Where formerly the entire space was covered by the black circles of thousands of bees sitting tightly back to back, guarding the lofty mysteries of generations, he now sees hundreds of dejected, half-alive and somnolent husks of bees. They are almost all dead, not knowing it themselves, sitting over the sacred thing they were guarding, which is no longer there...

So Moscow was empty when Napoleon, weary, restless, and scowling, paced back and forth by the Kamerkollezhsky rampart..." p 875 in P/V

Lynn Waskelis
from page 337-338, volume 2 of original text
collage, masking tape
made 6/3/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 875-876

Collage 540

So Moscow was empty when Napoleon, weary, restless, and scowling, paced back and forth by the Kamerkollezhsky rampart, awaiting what to his mind was a necessary, though external, observance of propriety--a deputation.
In various corners of Moscow a few people still stirred meaninglessly, keeping to old habits and not understanding what they were doing.

Lucy Arrington
from page 335-336, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink, dried flower
made 6/3/11
Pevear/Volokhonksy translation page 873-875

Collage 539

"Every Russian, looking at Moscow, feels that she is a mother; every foreigner, looking at her and not knowing her maternal significance, must feel the feminine character of this city, and Napoleon felt it." -p. 871 in Pevear/Volokhonsky

Emma Rhodes
from page 333-334, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink, graphite, copper leaf
made 6/3/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 871-873

Collage 538

"At the sight of the strange city with the never-seen forms of it's extraordinary architecture, Napoleon experienced that somewhat envious and restless curiosity which people experience at the sight of alien forms of life that know nothing of them... Napoleon saw from Poklonnaya Hill the quivering of life in the city and felt, as it were, the breathing of that big and beautiful body."

In this collage I used a chocolate wrapper I brought back from a trip in 2006 to Pskov, Russia. The wrapper featured an image of Moscow and I wanted to mirror the onion-domed towers with shapes cut from magazines and the inner foil from another chocolate bar. (Eating chocolate is one of the ways in which I have always sacrificed for my art...)
-- Trish

Trish Crapo
from page 331-332, volume 2 of original text
collage
made June 14, 2011
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 870-871

Collage 537

"On waking up the day after his return to Moscow and his meeting with Count Rastopchin, Pierre could not understand for a long time where he was and what was wanted of him."

Into this confusion, comes the butler, carrying word that the widow of I. A. Bazdeev has sent a message asking him to come to her estate and take away the books, since the family has had to flee the country. Suddenly "..of all the matters that faced Pierre that morning, to him the most important seemed to be sorting the books and papers of Josif Alexeevich."

This struck me as exactly true of human nature, the idea that having one task to focus on can be a blessing—or perhaps a delusion, or perhaps both—in times of difficulty and confusion.
-- Trish

Trish Crapo
from page 329-330. volume 2 of original text
collage, thread
made June 13, 2011
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 868-870

Collage 536

"He [Pierre] suddenly imagined that everything was over now, everything was mixed up, everything was destroyed, that no one was right or wrong, that there would be nothing left in the future and there was no way out of this situation."

Shortly before making this collage, I attended a poetry workshop at which we blacked out pages of text to expose hidden poems within the words given to us. I had this one scrap that read "confusion, of course/our lives" that ended up fitting perfectly with this passage from War and Peace. Other elements include the blurred backgrounds of magazine photos, scribbled drawings, musical scores, tissue papers and thread. -- Trish

Trish Crapo
from page 327-328, volume 2 of original text
collage, thread, twine, graphite
made 6/13/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 866-868

Collage 535

One cold winter day in the early 1990, a friend of mine – a successful and productive artist and photographer - got a good fire going in the woodstove that provided all the heat in his rented 200-year old log cabin. Then he buttoned up the stove and took his pickup into town 10 miles away to run errands and go shopping. His house was a few hundred yards from the Potomac River at the end of a difficult to follow dirt road far from any neighbors. While he was away, the accumulated soot and tar in the chimney ignited, causing a roaring chimney fire. Sparks shot out the top of the chimney, settled on the wood shingle roof and set the house on fire. He lost literally everything. Later he said, yes, it hurt and he regretted losing a lot of that stuff, but it was also liberating and reminded him of what’s important.

I am reminded of my friend by Natasha’s efforts to pack the family’s belongings – and her decision in the end to abandon those belongings and use the carts and wagons to help with the transport of wounded Russian soldiers trying to get out of Moscow ahead of Napoleon’s army. -- Otto

Otto Mayr
from page 325-326, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 6/30/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 864-866

Collage 534

When Napoleon occupied Moscow in the fall of 1812, he was arguably at the pinnacle of his power. It also marked the beginning of a decline that ultimately ended with his defeat at Waterloo. By happy chance, when I sat down to tackle this collage, my Berlin newspaper had recently run an article about Napoleon. -- Otto

Otto Mayr
from page 323-324, volume 2 of original text
collage, watercolor
made 6/29/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 863-864

Collage 533

A few days after Borodino, the Russian army has arrived in Moscow with the French close behind. The Rostovs have waited too long and now must pack their belongings and get out of the city as quickly as possible. Natasha takes charge of organizing the packing while outside the house confusion and panic spread through the city.

This collage attempts to evoke a window. The viewer is inside, while outside the city descends into chaos. The protection afforded by the Rostov’s home on Povarskaya Street is under threat too, of course, and the family must flee the city. But at this moment it is still their home, a trusted shelter in the storm around them. (See also Collage 137, August 1, 2010 on the role of homes in War and Peace.) -- Otto

Otto Mayr
from page 321-322, volume 2 of original text
collage, watercolor
made 6/28/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 861-863

Collage 532

It is my pleasure to introduce Howard. One of our contributors, Joan Ryan (mentioned yesterday, see more of her work here), spent the summer of 2011 in Berlin at an artist residency at Dada Post. We are so happy to be able to include a collage made by Howard McCalebb, founder of Dada Post. We hope that Howard (and all our artists) can attend the opening reception at Yasnaya Polyana next summer. -- Lola

Dada Post was founded in 2008 on the initiative of Howard McCalebb, a sculptor and active figure on the international art scene. It is located in the in the Berlin-Reinickendorf district, in the former König Smoked Fish Factory complex. The one hundred year-old business was transformed into exhibition, performance, and studio spaces for artists.

I have a general fascination with Saint Petersburg and the Russian writers.Saint Petersburg, and the homes of the Russian writers, has been for a long time among the places I want to visit in my lifetime.

I admire the way the Russian people and the solders coped with the harsh winters, especially during the fighting of WWII. The Russian winters also come to my mind when I think about Tolstoy sitting and writing those very long novels during those very cold and long winters. -- Howard

Howard McCalebb, Berlin
from page 319-320, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink, watercolor
made 6/13/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 859-861

Collage 531

The Rostovs are finally arranging to leave Moscow. In the chaos of packing there is discord about what paintings to take or leave, whether the ladies' summer dresses could be taken along, the trunks are being taken off the carts which are being turned over to the wounded. Natasha had comprehended the gravity of the situation, but her mother can't grasp why they have to sacrifice anything.

Lucy Arrington
from page 317-318, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 6/3/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 858-859

Collage 530

Joan Ryan, one of our contributors, spent the summer in Berlin. She met this wonderful artist, Lars Hoeg, over lunch one day. She told him about this project, and he was very eager to participate, as he is a huge Tolstoy fan. I love his work! So we invited him to make a collage. The old-fashioned way. Through the mail! And here it is! You can see more of his work here. -- Lola

I wanted to do a collage that kept close to the specific text.

I went through many books in a second hand bookshop in Copenhagen looking for material and found three books that I thought would do : A traveler's city guide of Moscow and St. Petersburg, a book about the war between England and Denmark during the warfares and campaigns of Napoleon, and a
fifty year old book on antiques.

So the map was cut out from the traveler's guide, the persons in black and white were cut out from the book about the war between England and Denmark, and the clock and the cup derived from the book on antiques. -- Lars

Lars Hoeg
from page 15-316, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 6/1/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 856-858

Collage 529

The countess kept glancing with timid horror at her son's merry, flushed face...She knew that if she said a word about it, if she asked Petya not to go to this battle...he would say something about men, honor, the fatherland--something senseless, masculine, obstinate, against which it would be impossible to object--and the matter would be spoiled, and therefore, hoping to arrange everything so as to leave before then and take Petya along as a defender and protector, she said nothing to Petya, but summoned the count after dinner and tearfully implored him to take her away quickly, that same night if possible. With the involuntary feminine cunning of love, she, who so far had shown perfect fearlessness, said that she would die of fear unless they left that night. She was afraid of everything now, without feigning. --p. 855 in P/V

Lynn Waskelis
from page 313-14, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/20/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 854-856

Collage 528

The beginning of a change in Natasha:

"May the wounded stay in our house?" she asked...

Natasha calmly repeated her question, and her face and her whole manner, even though she went on holding her kerchief by the corners, were so serious that the major stopped smiling and, reflecting at first, as if asking himself to what extent it was possible, replied in the affirmative...

In the reception room she met her father, who had come home with bad news.

"We've sat ourselves out!" the count said with involuntary vexation. "The club's closed, the police are leaving."

"Papa, is it all right that I've invited the wounded into the house?" Natasha said to him. --p. 854 in P/V

Lynn Waskelis

from page 31-312, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/20/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 853-854

Collage 527

"On Saturday, the thirty-first of August, everything in the Rostovs' house seemed turned upside down. All the doors were open, all the furniture had been taken out or moved around, the mirrors and paintings had been taken down. There were trunks in the rooms; straw, wrapping paper, and string lay about. Muzhiks and servants, carrying things out, tramped heavily over the parquet floors." -p. 852 in Pevear/Volokhonsky

Emma Rhodes
from page 309-310, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/20/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 851-853

Collage 526

"Nikolai was somewhere with the army and, after his last letter, in which he had described in detail his meeting with Princess Marya, had not been heard from again. The countess did not sleep at night or, when she did, saw her sons killed in her dreams." -p. 849 in Pevear/Volokhonsky

Emma Rhodes
from page 307-308, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/20/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 849-851

Collage 525

I like when the bits of paper create something unexpected. While I intended this to be something of a landscape, the chopped sentences on the page add the season:

    laced on the snow, end
    first, and so on,
    the joints, as
    bricks of snow

I know this doesn't actually mean anything, but somehow the words feel right here. - Adrienne


Adrienne Wetmore
from page 305-306, volume 2 of original text
collage, India ink
made 5/20/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 848-849

Collage 524

Here is #522's companion. This was the first time that I made two collages at once. First I placed the text, applied ink, and pressed the two pages together. Voilà!

Emma Rhodes
from page 303-304, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/20/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 846-847

Collage 523

This was the studio day when we first talked about being invited to exhibit this project at Yasnaya Polyana- Greetings from Russia!

Kat plucks and cleans the goose. We put the feathers carefully to one side. We intend to make two cushions out of them with the inscription: "Sleep soft under shell-fire." The sound of the gun-fire from the front penetrates into our refuge. The glow of the fire lights up our faces, shadows dance on the wall. Sometimes a heavy crash and the lean-to shivers. Aeroplane bombs. Once we hear a stifled cry. A hut must have been hit...

We sit opposite one another, Kat and I, two soldiers in shabby coats, cooking a goose in the middle of the night. We don't talk much, but I believe we have a more complete communion with one another than lovers have. -p. 96-97 of All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque, Ballantine 1982 edition

Lynn Waskelis

from page 301-302, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/20/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation pages 844-846

Collage 522

"'Day is breaking,' thought Pierre." -p. 843 in Pevear/Volokhonsky

Emma Rhodes
from page 299-300, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/20/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 843-844

Collage 521

Pierre struggles to make sense of the suffering, blood, and sacrifice he has witnessed. He is almost hallucinatory, believing he is close to understanding the meaning of life as the answer tries to reveal itself in his interrupted dreams.- Adrienne


Adrienne Wetmore
from page 297-298, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/20/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 841-843

Collage 520

 It has been proposed that we post all collages made during the same session at the same time. If we did that, you could see that I was in a certain kind of mood on May 13 as all 4 were strong contrast with red and green and lots of black. Numbers 512, 513 and 516 and this one as well. Some studio sessions we are heavily influenced by each other, other times we each seem to be on our own track and yet there is always an echo in our work.

This page of our original text spans 2 different chapters. At the end of chapter VII (volume III, Part Three), Helene is trying to convince her parents that the church would allow for her divorce from Pierre so that she could marry the suitor of her choice. She has 2 candidates lined up and is trying to decide which is the best offer. (Don't you see the themes of Anna Karenina starting here?) Chapter VIII finds us at the end of the day of the battle of Borodino with Pierre.

"There was the same suffering, tormented, and sometimes strangely indifferent faces, the same blood, the same soldiers' greatcoats, the same sounds of gunfire, distant now, but arousing terror all the same; besides, it was stifling and dusty." Feel it, smell it. -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 295-296, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/13/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 839-841

Collage 519

Helene- what a master of manipulation. She is strong and willful, looking for the best opportunity in one of the only ways women were allowed- through an advantageous marriage. The fact that she is already married is merely an obstacle to be overcome.

This piece looks like a spider heading for her web. Helene?


Adrienne Wetmore
from page 293-294, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/13/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 838-839

Collage 518

This is one of those pieces that I couldn't quite control. I was trying to do something three-dimensional with that black blob, but it just looks like an octopus & doesn't really relate to the moral/social quandary that Hélène is facing.

Lucy Arrington
from page 291-292, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/13/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 836-838

Collage 517

Tolstoy is using Hélène's marriage quandary to give us a long treatise on social mores, the Catholic Church and the meaning of marriage. I'm always impressed with how he shapes characters to further his arguments in such a skillful way.

Lucy Arrington
from page 289-290, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/13/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 834-835

Collage 516

This is one of my personal favorite collages, as I used a piece of ephemera that I'd been saving for 30 years! I used the label of a Russian champagne bottle that had been slipped between the pages of a book I'd had since my first trip to Russia in 1981. That summer I slept very little, as I was in  (formerly) Leningrad and stayed out late, enjoying the legendary "white nights". It really never got dark. The bridges were pulled up, so even if you wanted to get back, it was impossible, depending on where you were at what time. It was a decadent, fun summer.

We are in volume III, Part Three, Chapter VI. Helene is in a quandary, caught between two love interests. Decadent, beautiful Helene. "What would have seemed difficult and even impossible for another woman, never once made Countess Bezukhov stop and think __ clearly it was not in vain that she enjoyed the reputation of a most intelligent woman. If she had begun to conceal her actions, to extricate herself by cunning from an awkward situation, she would thereby have spoiled things for herself, acknowledging herself guilty; but Helene, on the contrary, like a truly great person who can do whatever she likes, at once placed herself in the position of being right, in which she sincerely believed, and all the others in the position of being wrong." -- Lola

Lola Baltzell
from page 287-288, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/13/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 833-834

Collage 515

Here is another instance of Tolstoy giving us his view of "real" history. He sees forces of war (or any momentous human event) with some sense of outcomes being determined not by the leaders celebrated in the history books and studies of military campaigns, but as almost predetermined by the culture of the time. On the abandoning and burning of Moscow:

"Every Russian, not on the basis of reasoning, but on the basis of the feeling that is inside us and was inside our fathers, could have predicted what was to take place."

Lucy Arrington
from page 285-286, volume 2 of original text
collage
made 5/13/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 831-832

Collage 514

My son's passion for comics of all types must be affecting me. This looks more like something from one of his graphic novels- definitely not my favorite type of artwork or reading material, but I applaud anything that brings words to life for him. Wonder if the publishing world has adapted War and Peace into an Illustrated Classic..?

On these pages, a grave council occupies a pine table in a cottage, arguing whether or not to fight in Moscow. A sole peasant - a 6 year old girl- stays on in the room to observe. The young girl sees only the smaller battle: the disagreement between Kutuzov, whom she affectionately identifies as "Grandpa", and Bennigsen ("Longskirts"). When Kutuzov decides on retreat "Malasha, who had long been expected at supper, carefully climbed down backwards from her stove shelf, resting her bare little feet on the ledges of the stove, and, getting tangled between the legs of the generals, darted through the door."

In this scene of military debate, laced with anger and sadness, there is still sweetness with the presence of the child.- Adrienne

Adrienne Wetmore
from page 283-284, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/13/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 829-831

Collage 513

I used more of the crossword puzzle here that I used in a previous piece. At the Moscow airport on the trip home, I bought a Russian crossword puzzle for kids, which had little visual clues. That will one day make it's way into future collages -- if I can figure out how to solve the questions!

Here are 2 translations of TV interviews that we found on the internet today. When we gave the first "master class" at Yasnaya Polyana, I was interviewed by 3 TV cameras and one newspaper.  We used Google translator which gives a funny interpretation but given that my Russian is rudimentary, it will have to stand! -- Lola

From TulaTV

http://www.tnews.tula.net/rubric/culture/3650

Translated by Google translator

Grab a book and pulls out her page - instructs participants an unusual master-class on making a collage, held yesterday at the rest house "Clear Glade", American Christian Carney Johnson. - Carefully read and choose the most expressive sentences. They will form the basis for future work.

Nearly a half years ago Boston artist Lola Baltzell began to implement a large-scale and perhaps even unprecedented project - to create a unique illustration of emotions that arise when reading "War and Peace."

- Probably, the love of Tolstoy's works - something genetic - she jokes now. - Because my grandfather - from Russia. After the first acquaintance with the novel, I realized that this is the greatest work of all time ...

According to the concept of Lola, "War and Peace" has become a series of collages. Most of them are already ready: Six hundred of the 750 planned activities. - At first we felt a bit barbaric, merciless when one pulled out sheets of the book - says Christian. - But then are used to. After all, art requires sacrifice.

... Gradually, the project began to join Lola-minded people, and eventually emerged a small organization - "Team Tolstoy." They meet weekly to work together in the studio. - Each member of the group goes to the page - says Lola. - And you can tell by reading the text, all we live a small life. Kollazhist determines what kind of emotions makes it printed. Then selects the most impressed with its passage, cut it, take colored paper, watercolors, ink, pencil - and begins to create ...The result is a bright color or black and white pictures, when you look at that, it is clear that he felt a particular author by reading the immortal creature Yasnaya Polyana genius. - At the end of last year we organized the exhibition in his native Boston says Lola. - It was interesting to make such an impression on the audience creativity. The success was enormous. It turned out that we do, people need and interest.

First arrived at the home a classic, members of "Team Tolstoy" have decided that we should share with the Tula acquired skills by making collages, and everyone was invited to a free master classes. - Tear the books of Tolstoy in this almost sacred place in my hand does not rise - smiles Christian Carney Johnson. - That is why we have specially brought a few books by American authors. In the Clear Glade sacrifice for the art works assembled by Jerome Salinger decided. - That I have, for example, read the text created a romantic mood -  recognized tulyachka Tatiana Rebrov, carefully okleivaya pink paper, "Scrapbook" from "The Catcher in the Rye", which tells of the scope of the protagonist confused. - Actually I'm doing fine art, but the experience of making this kind of collage in my first one. Are rather entertaining pieces. I feel that after such a master-class home library will suffer significant damage. A 750 professional collages on "Howl, and not the world," Tula will not see until next year: to bring the fruits of their labor to their homeland genius "Team Tolstoy's" promised in the summer of 2012. Pauline Krymova Photo by Yelena Kuznetsova
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author: Irina Skibinski. Photo: Michael Ignatieff.

http://mk.tula.ru/articles/a/11061/

Translated by Google translator

"Kids, do not rip, please book!" - Refers Boston artist Lola Baltzell to the participants of the master class, held recently at Yasana Polyana.

Both children and adults - and only the second master-class art group Team Tolstoy (United States) have about 40 people - smiling. Smiles and Lola herself - in fact the essence of a creative project War and Peace Project - creating a collage of torn out of an old edition of "War and Peace" Leo Tolstoy Un. Lola stresses that tear the book just like that - this is, of course, vandalism. However, what does she and her colleagues from the "Team Tolstoy" - a creative act. And art, as is known, requires sacrifice.

The ancestors of Lola - Russian roots and love of Tolstoy in her blood. In 1981, during a visit to Moscow, the artist bought in Russia, "War and Peace" in Russian. Over the years, carefully kept this book - and more recently he began to realize why she has a special place in her library. The old edition of Tolstoy's novel inspired by Lola to their own creative project. She began to make collages of pages of the book, then it joined her friends - the artists. Today, the "Team Tolstoy" - 8 people.

- There should be created 750 collages, number of pages in the book: one page - a collage says Lola. 

- We already have over 600 copies ... The work we adhere to several rules. The first is before you pull the next page, read the text- and we take it one that emotionally "hooked" at the moment. Second, all collages are doing on vellum format 7 × 5 inches. Third: work with the same set of materials. Finally, it is very important - always worked together to make creative energy was multiplied ... The last, 750th collage "Team Tolstoy's" plans to finish by the end of 2011, and the next is going to show an exhibition of his work in Yasnaya. But before the Boston artists decided to come to Tolstoy's country estate for yourself - to get acquainted with his future audience. But at the same time to teach all who want to work in collage technique. 

Together with Lola conduct a master class, Christian, Trish and Mark. Ladies explain in detail and show what to do. Mark - pictures of what the result was a beginner kollazhistov. Editorial images after every training session and laid out in the blog on a page on Facebook, dedicated to the project (respectively - blogspot.com and warpeaceprodject). On the tables are placed a jar with a glue and water - for breeding colors. Laid out on a window sill material that Boston artists brought with them: thin, soft and easily draped paper of different shades and colors. 

And also: old magazines, music, newspapers, and other patterns. If necessary, the author can use crayons, markers, ink or paint. But all of this - more money. The main, original material - a page from an old book. Participants at the mercy of the master-class "Command Tolstoy's" brought a couple of little volumes of works of genius Yasnaya Polyana, an anthology of Russian poetry in English translation, as well as a collection of American poetry and a book of his classics - Salinger. The main condition - the first read, and then choose. Your correspondent, thumbing through a volume of Tolstoy's story shows, "Love one another" - a request from Leo Tolstoy to the circle of young people. Highly instructive text, which causes sudden contradictory emotional responses. Just touches - that meant we had to take. To pull a page from the book a normal person, it appears very difficult - if in breach of taboo, as if to hurt a certain living thing ... But then begins a sort of religious rite. Here the main thing - to act intuitively. Choosing materials with patriarchal patriarchal colors. All this, including the pages torn out, his hands tearing into pieces, spread on a piece of cardboard - and begin to stick together. What emerged, of course, is hardly a work of art, however, a good Lola nods approvingly: "Oh! Beautiful!

My neighbor on the left, Mary, chose the chapter on "Maria" from Tolstoy's "Adolescence." At its piece of cardboard it, using the finest paper pastel tones, creates an image of its namesake - the work is obtained by air, lace, all in "ryushah" and "frills."

Machine girlfriend Daria found in the collection of American poetry poetry about the moon at night. Her materials - paper in matte black anthracite sequins, scraps of rich blue and gold foil.

Right-hand man, Cyril, inspired by the bleak English- language poem about death. In his collage he inserts a fragment torn from a magazine photo: chef knife, cut a hefty piece of meat.

They do it all: adults, children and professional artists and people who can not draw. What is surprising, the faces of all - absolutely happy. Observing this process, you begin to understand why the cardinal rule of the project War and Peace Project - always work together. 

This is what Lola calls the "multiplication of energy."

Lola Baltzell
from page 281-282, volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 5/13/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 828-829