Teresa Jaynes’s The Moon Reader

Created by Philadelphia artist Teresa Jaynes with generous support from the Independence Foundation Artist Fellowships in the Arts, The Moon Reader is modeled after 19th-century primers in the Michael Zinman Collection of Printing for the Blind at the Library Company. The multimedia installation invites participants to learn to read Moon, a raised-letter writing system for the blind invented by blind educator William Moon in 1845. The Reader includes two handmade books. One set in Moon type with embossed illustrations and a translation set in both Braille and large print. An audio recording accompanies the pair. The activity – deciphering, translating and finally comprehending – is intended as a serene act of discovery. The Moon Reader seeks to challenge participants’ ideas about perception, in ways that elicit curiosity, humor, and empathy and to expand their understandings of historical and contemporary connotations of sight.

Links to further learn about The Moon Reader:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRwIDCxVYmY

https://www.flickr.com/photos/library-company-of-philadelphia/sets/72157647506716891/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Moon-Reader/541876669251291

http://www.hatchfund.org/project/the_moon_reader

The images in the gallery on this page show the The Moon Reader
and views from the opening reception at the Library Company on September 23, 2014.

Teresa Jaynes, The Moon Reader, 2014. Picture depicts two large, open books displayed side by side on a wooden table. Above and behind the books, a black iPod is propped up in a small slot, and a black cord, connected to the iPod, extends down behind the table and out of view. The book closest to the viewer is a tactile book, opened to show, on the right page, a raised line map of a country or continent with divided sections. The left page shows a reverse imprint of Moon type symbols, embossed on the page before it. A page has been torn out of the book, leaving only a short, ragged edge of the page along the center fold. A purple or royal blue cloth binding with yellow endpaper is visible around the edge of the book’s pages. In the book farthest from the viewer, the right page displays a black non-tactile line drawing of the same map, while the left page is blank. Both books have white, clean paper and appear to be in excellent condition. [End of description]
Teresa Jaynes, The Moon Reader, 2014. Picture depicts two large, open books displayed side by side on a wooden table. Above and behind the books, a black iPod is propped up in a small slot, and a black cord, connected to the iPod, extends down behind the table and out of view. The book closest to the viewer is a tactile book, opened to show, on the right page, a raised line map of a country or continent with divided sections. The left page shows a reverse imprint of Moon type symbols, embossed on the page before it. A page has been torn out of the book, leaving only a short, ragged edge of the page along the center fold. A purple or royal blue cloth binding with yellow endpaper is visible around the edge of the book’s pages. In the book farthest from the viewer, the right page displays a black non-tactile line drawing of the same map, while the left page is blank. Both books have white, clean paper and appear to be in excellent condition. [End of description]
The Moon Reader advisors Suzanne Erb and Edery Herrera, Library Company opening, 2014. Picture shows Erb seated at a wooden-topped desk. An open bound volume of white pages, The Moon Reader, is on the right edge of the desk closest to the viewer. The Reader is below a tablet screen positioned upright in a stand. Another bound volume open to a page with printed text on white paper is to the left of The Moon Reader. Erb has her right hand on the page of the Reader and her left hand resting below the other bound volume. Herrera leans over the desk from Erb's left side and touches the Reader. A woman stands behind Erb, visible over her shoulder, and a man stands behind Hererra, visible over his shoulder. A display case of artifacts stands in the background. [End of description]
The Moon Reader advisors Suzanne Erb and Edery Herrera, Library Company opening, 2014. Picture shows Erb seated at a wooden-topped desk. An open bound volume of white pages, The Moon Reader, is on the right edge of the desk closest to the viewer. The Reader is below a tablet screen positioned upright in a stand. Another bound volume open to a page with printed text on white paper is to the left of The Moon Reader. Erb has her right hand on the page of the Reader and her left hand resting below the other bound volume. Herrera leans over the desk from Erb's left side and touches the Reader. A woman stands behind Erb, visible over her shoulder, and a man stands behind Hererra, visible over his shoulder. A display case of artifacts stands in the background. [End of description]
Crescent print and printing plate for Jaynes's The Moon Reader, 2014. Picture shows a translucent printing plate with the image of a crescent moon deeply etched into it. A white piece of paper with the crescent image embossed on it is being peeled away by the disembodied pair of hands of the printer. Her right hand, farthest from the viewer, holds the paper in the upper right corner. Her left hand, close to the viewer, is above the lower right edge of the bottom of the paper still attached to the plate. The reflection of the woman printer, who wears glasses, is seen in the lower edge of the printing plate, which is closest to the viewer. [End of description]
Crescent print and printing plate for Jaynes's The Moon Reader, 2014. Picture shows a translucent printing plate with the image of a crescent moon deeply etched into it. A white piece of paper with the crescent image embossed on it is being peeled away by the disembodied pair of hands of the printer. Her right hand, farthest from the viewer, holds the paper in the upper right corner. Her left hand, close to the viewer, is above the lower right edge of the bottom of the paper still attached to the plate. The reflection of the woman printer, who wears glasses, is seen in the lower edge of the printing plate, which is closest to the viewer. [End of description]