“Breath Series: Anatomical Flap Book” by Marianne Petit

2015
Pop-up anatomical flap book
18” x 19” x 0.5”

Marianne R. Petit is an artist and educator whose work explores fairy tales, anatomical obsessions, graphic and narrative medicine, as well as collective storytelling practices through mechanical books that combine animation and paper craft. Her interests are in combining technology, traditional book arts, and sequential storytelling to create new forms of narrative for the 21st century. Petit’s artwork has appeared internationally in festivals and exhibitions, been featured in publications such as Hyperallergic, Make, and Wired, and broadcast on IFC and PBS. Her movable books can be found in numerous museum and library collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the British Library, the Berlin Public Library, Boston Library, as well as numerous university and private collections.

Breath: Anatomical Flap Book was created in response to several weeks of poor air quality while living in Shanghai, China. I began a series of studies on respiration.