Through a series of impulse decisions and happy accidents (few lines to draw between), I have been exposed to a lot of interesting examples of 'book' based art. I use the term book loosely - more thinking printed on paper. I also feel terminology like this may suggest graphic design - but I'm also referring to the medium of the written word and of language as an art form.
I attended a lecture by Ami Clarke, who sees herself as a facilitator and a self confessed fanatic of all things published (she pointed out her favourite examples of kinds of paper). Graphic style zines are a form of communication, and also a curation. They are very attractive objects - though I found it interesting to think about what Clarke does. She sees the potential in the immediate appeal and also the content, and she uses her skill to communicate this through to the consumer (via Hackney Downs railway station.)
During the lecture Clarke showed us a range of other works, her own and of contemporaries. I loved her knowledge and her passion, and everything she showed fuelled my interest in words with image.
So, to Edinburgh, very much a literary city. I step off the train to find an 'Artists Book Fair' at the FruitMarket Gallery. I was a bit confused initially, but I realised that it was a celebration of written work, graphic print, paper craft and related illustration.
Image and text will always go hand in hand in my work, a story or symbolism to give the image a deeper meaning. This is what interests me in cartography (see previous post), so I absolutely fell in love with the 'Write around Town' map series by Shaun Levin.
Image, text, map, instructions, illustration. I think it's a really fun and practical idea. At £3 each they're a good gift, and make a profit, demonstrating how print is a no-brainer (once you've got a good design.)
After this, I went via the library (great drawing venues - providing they don't mind you using pens and scissors) and spotted upon some beautifully illustrated travel writing books. That is essentially what my sketchbook is - providing I can recount my experiences more in prose than poem.
Though I don't intend on writing instruction manuals, there's a good idea in here. The 'Draw around town' series? Maybe not. Though I definitely intend on using these maps - and really thinking about how I write. That's one thing I can do to push me out of the highly saturated graphic design market - I make art. I just know how to communicate it too.
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