There were many interesting stops along the path to publishing the worldB次元官网网址檚 smallest book B次元官网网址� a title its creator didnB次元官网网址檛 initially set out to claim, but one he embraced once he knew it was within reach.

When contemporary visual artist Robert Chaplin, graduate of the University of Victoria and member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, taught himself how to carve, he didnB次元官网网址檛 practice on microchips, but the experience would come soon enough in 2007 when he used a focused gallium-ion beam to carve Teeny Ted From Turnip Town. The fable of Teeny Ted and his victory in a turnip contest, written by ChaplinB次元官网网址檚 brother Malcolm Douglas Chaplin, is all of 69 x 97 microns square, or 11 x 15 microns for each tablet.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 the worldB次元官网网址檚 smallest book about Teeny Ted with the largest turnip,B次元官网网址� says Chaplin from his Vancouver home. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 something about that that feels appropriate.B次元官网网址�

Before attending the nano imaging lab at Simon Fraser University, Chaplin drew each tablet in Microsoft Paint in order to create bitmap files that could be used to program the ion beam and control the scatter of ions, otherwise referred to as tuning the beam. The classically low-tech MS Paint program made for a more-than-tedious process, Chaplin says.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a bit like a monk having to sit in a cloister, drawing a bible on goat skin. It was an act of really, really concentrated effort. B次元官网网址� You have to give yourself over to the process. B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚t took a long time,B次元官网网址� Chaplin says before he lets out a raucous laugh.

Until recently, electron microscope or enlarged images were the only viewing options for Teeny Ted, but a successful kickstarter campaign this fall ensured the worldB次元官网网址檚 tiniest book is now available in large print.

B次元官网网址淒oesnB次元官网网址檛 that sound like the worldB次元官网网址檚 tallest (little person)? Or the worldB次元官网网址檚 smallest giant?B次元官网网址� Chaplin says. B次元官网网址淭he large print edition of the worldB次元官网网址檚 smallest book? ThatB次元官网网址檚 just funny to me.B次元官网网址�

ChaplinB次元官网网址檚 interest with publishing began as a child, when, he says his attention deficit disorder saw him spend long hours alone in the library, fascinated by the copyright information found on the back of a bookB次元官网网址檚 title page. To become a publisher, he learned, all he needed was an International Standard Book Number, but it didnB次元官网网址檛 necessarily have to be applied to a book in the traditional sense. His non-traditional published works include a matchbook, followed by a toilet plunger, because B次元官网网址淚f (Marcel) Duchamp can put a toilet in (the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and call it a fountain, then I can put a plunger in an art gallery and call it a book,B次元官网网址� Chaplin says.

Chaplin also published Genuine original Canadian fun tickets: Legal tender have some fun, a book of 10 brand-new, sequentially-numbered five-dollar bills, perforated and bound into a book, to be torn out and used for fun, he says. The books are priced at $65 for $50 worth of fun. The Canadian national library refused to publish the book in what Chaplin describes as B次元官网网址渙ne of the only cases of true censorship in Canada.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭hey refused to file the fun tickets because they said it wasnB次元官网网址檛 fun,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淭hey said they didnB次元官网网址檛 think it was fun and also it was illegal.B次元官网网址�

The British National Library published the book of B次元官网网址渇un tickets,B次元官网网址� which remains for sale through Amazon.co.uk.

B次元官网网址淐ertain individuals find it fun. I treat it very seriously, but I get it. ThereB次元官网网址檚 a certain kind of amusement that comes along with it. ItB次元官网网址檚 a unique position to be in, treating publication as a form of contemporary art is a unique position to be in.B次元官网网址�

Chaplin will speak about his Guinness Book of World Records-recognized book, among other things, on Feb. 9  from 9:30 a.m. until 12 p.m. in UVicB次元官网网址檚 David Lam Auditorium as a part of Alumni Week.

The talk is free and open to the public.

Teeny Ted From Turnip Town is available online through robertchaplin.ca