Hey evvverybody.....so my project has taken hold of my life, so much so that I've had dreams about it. Last Monday was my first meeting with all my actors (about twenty of them) and it went swimmingly. I've had two mishaps: 1. the space I was going to use for my scene, a wedding chapel, totally fell through. After leaving about 20 messages on their machine and getting absolutely no answer, I gave up. Also, one of the writers got super stressed out about her scene and didn't feel she could write it, or what she had was usable. A big bummer, as 'Five on the Town' had to become 'Four on the Town', which really doesn't have that nice ring to it. HOWEVER, the good news is I am now using her space for my own scene, and it's a whole lot less stress for me, as far as casting and directing goes. My actors are great, many of them have no experience but are thrilled. One guy, Fannypack Dan--the grumpiest homeless man I've ever crossed--is so excited about his part he shouts his lines to me from across the street. People have been coming up outta the blue and asking for parts. It's pretty magical. One of the writers schedualed a music show of old time rag blues to happen after the performances...As far as the books go, I found enough vinyl to cover a family of four at this great recycling store in Portland called Scrap. I'll use these for the cover, and I'm using my typewriter for the innards. I'd like to take pictures of the night of the performance for the books, so I'm really grateful for this extra time because the show isn't until January 3rd. I'll definitely have them out by the 15th.
In preparation for this falling through, and for my own sense of mystery and fun, I've been working on another project. Basically, it's an anonymous art show at The Boiler Room consisting of about ten mailboxes I've been collecting. I'm going to fill them with letters, poems, bits of stories, paint them real pretty and in the middle of the night on New Years Eve, break into the Room and hang them on the walls. Only the manager and my dad know about this, so don't tell anybody! They've all got their own themes like..."Varitiations on 'I Love You'", "Ten Things I Think I Know" and "Dear My Friend". My psuedonym is Pee Jay. If there's room at the Goddard show, perhaps I could haul one of these along? I'm not sure how to document it so thank the lord this theatre extravaganza has panned out (so far.....).
Well, that's about it for now. I'm damn excited for everyone's books/bubba boxes/psuedo-standardized tests....
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Answers to Nancy’s Questions and Plans for the Near Future
Hi there:
Here is a to-do list for the rest of our group study:
1. Send me your mailing address, to my regular email (jenhofer@gmail.com); I will compile a list and send it out to everyone via FirstClass (or if you prefer I reach you using a different email, feel free to let me know).
2. Finish your chapbook or project, and document the project. It would be great to post documentation (images, text, reflections, etc) to the blog, so future students in this group study can access it.
3. Send your work to everyone in the class via snail mail, and bring or send two copies to the residency. One of those will be given to the BFA Writing Program, and the other to the Goddard Library. The BFA copies should be given to Lucinda; they will live on a special shelf in her office. The Library copies can be given to Dustin Byerly.
4. Write a brief reflection on how the experience of this Group Study project informed your thinking and practice this semester. Please include information about what you found especially useful and/or ways this Group Study might be improved. I think it would be great if we post these to the blog, so we can read each other’s, but if you’d prefer to send your reflection only to me, that’s fine too (either via gmail or via FirstClass).
Due dates: Technically all work for this group study is “due” on December 31. I myself will not be able to finish my book before that date, though I expect to have it done shortly thereafter. If you need a little more time, take a little more time. What do I mean by “a little more time”? Specifically, I mean up to two weeks, but no longer! I will respond to each of your projects individually, but I will not have time to do that after mid-January. Simply put, if you send your project after January 15, I will not be able to write you a response. Likewise, I should receive your reflections about the low-fi publishing experience no later than January 15; I will not accept them after that date.
Showing our work: We pretty much agreed that we’d like to share our work with the larger Goddard community during the spring semester residency. Dee Windsome is the coordinator of the student art show, and I imagine she’d be willing to work with one or more of you to create a space to exhibit our projects as part of the show. I will be on leave during the spring semester, so someone (or someones) from our group should volunteer to be the coordinator or coordinatrix of our exhibition. Any takers? I’m happy to help with legwork in advance (via email), but I won’t be at the residency.
Any further questions? Please ask!
As Robert Creeley used to say, onward!
Jen
Here is a to-do list for the rest of our group study:
1. Send me your mailing address, to my regular email (jenhofer@gmail.com); I will compile a list and send it out to everyone via FirstClass (or if you prefer I reach you using a different email, feel free to let me know).
2. Finish your chapbook or project, and document the project. It would be great to post documentation (images, text, reflections, etc) to the blog, so future students in this group study can access it.
3. Send your work to everyone in the class via snail mail, and bring or send two copies to the residency. One of those will be given to the BFA Writing Program, and the other to the Goddard Library. The BFA copies should be given to Lucinda; they will live on a special shelf in her office. The Library copies can be given to Dustin Byerly.
4. Write a brief reflection on how the experience of this Group Study project informed your thinking and practice this semester. Please include information about what you found especially useful and/or ways this Group Study might be improved. I think it would be great if we post these to the blog, so we can read each other’s, but if you’d prefer to send your reflection only to me, that’s fine too (either via gmail or via FirstClass).
Due dates: Technically all work for this group study is “due” on December 31. I myself will not be able to finish my book before that date, though I expect to have it done shortly thereafter. If you need a little more time, take a little more time. What do I mean by “a little more time”? Specifically, I mean up to two weeks, but no longer! I will respond to each of your projects individually, but I will not have time to do that after mid-January. Simply put, if you send your project after January 15, I will not be able to write you a response. Likewise, I should receive your reflections about the low-fi publishing experience no later than January 15; I will not accept them after that date.
Showing our work: We pretty much agreed that we’d like to share our work with the larger Goddard community during the spring semester residency. Dee Windsome is the coordinator of the student art show, and I imagine she’d be willing to work with one or more of you to create a space to exhibit our projects as part of the show. I will be on leave during the spring semester, so someone (or someones) from our group should volunteer to be the coordinator or coordinatrix of our exhibition. Any takers? I’m happy to help with legwork in advance (via email), but I won’t be at the residency.
Any further questions? Please ask!
As Robert Creeley used to say, onward!
Jen
lessons learned
hey there all you,
so my book has had many trials and tribulations. after making the whole thing on in design, i ended up having to print it page by page rather than in a booklet form, because i don't have the right kind of cord on my external harddrive to take it to a printer's. i think this turned out to be a blessing because it brings me back to the initial low-fi-ness of the low-fi workshop. i wanted to learn the computer layout software and also learn to make a book with my own two hands. now i have learned many valuable lessons about both, and my book is a sort of hybrid little beast. yesterday i spent many hours at kinkos using their paper cutter and copy machine, only to realize, many dollars and hours later, that i had completely screwed up on the mock-up of my book, and had to redo everything i'd done. this was incredibly disheartening. i went home huffy and teary and generally down on myself. i just moved to philadelphia, and am super overwhelmed by being in a new city where i don't know yet how to do anything or get anywhere. so the little blunders of my little book became the manifestation of my big-city woes, and i had a temper tantrum about my own incompetence. then i calmed down. my roommate is a book-binder, and a lovely patient generous person. she sat with me and explained my error to me, walked me through the proper method, and made a new mock-up booklet with me. now i am ready to make the photocopies. then i just need to find cover materials, and stitch up the books this weekend (a process im sure will include its own blunders). i love holding it in my hands, figuring out the proportions, calculating where to slice pages and where to fold them, etc.
so, i have learned that when making a book, first make a little mock-up book and label everything, including the title page, the table of contents, and all the numbered pages. then it will be so much easier to arrange the pages in the right order for photocopies. i also learned that making things with our hands can become small physical manifestations of larger fears or worries that we have. these are little treasures. i'm regaining my perspective.
here's to candles and holiday lights,
monica
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Hot cocoa and gingerbread cookies anyone?
Hi. Just checking in...I'm making gingerbread men and just waiting for a reply from Jen to my last post. The piece I used for the chapbooks I made is about my plants in my garden. I was outside checking in with them all this morning. I'm concerned about the possibility of some of them freezing to death tonight. Year before last, when it got this cold, I actually dragged most of them into the house to stay for several weeks and I kept them all alive. But the next year, I re-potted a bunch of them into giant pots and now they're all too big and too heavy to move. So I hope they're going to be able to manage in this cold. Otherwise, my chapbooks are going to wind up being a eulogy. --Nancy.
Monday, December 15, 2008
It's All Happening Wednesday
Sorry I've disappeared. Update:
Could not find the master key that I so crucially needed, so I had to adjust my plans a bit. What I've decided to do is format a few of my pieces to look like the standardized test that all Texas students have to take (T.A.K.S.) and distribute copies of them at my former high school as classes let out. Along with the pieces I'll attach a little manifesto of sorts on the many, oh so many, flaws of our current education system and how to begin to possibly fix it. The whole point to this little project is to hopefully open these students minds a bit and allow them to actually think by inviting them to respond to the pieces any which way they see fit (no multiple choice here) on a blog I'll be creating for this purpose. Even though this isn't what I initially envisioned for my publishing project I'm quite happy with how it's turning out.
There are however a few concerns I have:
1. One of the key aspects to my original project idea was the "sneak attack" style of distribution, by leaving copies randomly throughout the school for the students to find. Unfortunately, this simply doesn't seem possible anymore without the master key. I wonder if me just distributing the copies all normal-like still fulfills the purpose of this publishing group. Thoughts?
2. I haven't decided exactly which pieces I'll be using (tomorrow I'm gonna print everything up), but it's quite possible that some of the pieces will contain obscene language/scenes (ranging from mere swearing to not-so-graphic-but-not-exactly-pg-rated-either depictions of sexuality.) Could I get in trouble for distributing this type of writing on a high school campus?
3. My biggest worry is: no one will care. The students will glance at it, if I'm lucky, then discard of it. I'm thinking it's a long shot that anybody will get all the way to the point of responding to it online. I suppose that is part of the experiment though; the results will be telling.
Good luck to everyone in their endeavors, school-wise, or otherwise
- alexander
Could not find the master key that I so crucially needed, so I had to adjust my plans a bit. What I've decided to do is format a few of my pieces to look like the standardized test that all Texas students have to take (T.A.K.S.) and distribute copies of them at my former high school as classes let out. Along with the pieces I'll attach a little manifesto of sorts on the many, oh so many, flaws of our current education system and how to begin to possibly fix it. The whole point to this little project is to hopefully open these students minds a bit and allow them to actually think by inviting them to respond to the pieces any which way they see fit (no multiple choice here) on a blog I'll be creating for this purpose. Even though this isn't what I initially envisioned for my publishing project I'm quite happy with how it's turning out.
There are however a few concerns I have:
1. One of the key aspects to my original project idea was the "sneak attack" style of distribution, by leaving copies randomly throughout the school for the students to find. Unfortunately, this simply doesn't seem possible anymore without the master key. I wonder if me just distributing the copies all normal-like still fulfills the purpose of this publishing group. Thoughts?
2. I haven't decided exactly which pieces I'll be using (tomorrow I'm gonna print everything up), but it's quite possible that some of the pieces will contain obscene language/scenes (ranging from mere swearing to not-so-graphic-but-not-exactly-pg-rated-either depictions of sexuality.) Could I get in trouble for distributing this type of writing on a high school campus?
3. My biggest worry is: no one will care. The students will glance at it, if I'm lucky, then discard of it. I'm thinking it's a long shot that anybody will get all the way to the point of responding to it online. I suppose that is part of the experiment though; the results will be telling.
Good luck to everyone in their endeavors, school-wise, or otherwise
- alexander
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Hey Everyone
So, yeah, I spoke too soon. I definitely got the wrong kind of paper for my project.
A few weeks ago, I looked online for awhile, but became discouraged by the pricing of all plantable seed paper I could find. I gave up at that point, frustrated. A couple of days later, my girlfriend surprised me by telling me that she had ordered me 100 sheets online while at her parents' house. When they arrived, I found that the reason she had found some cheap paper was because it wasn't plantable. There were some petals and floral fragments embedded in the paper, but burying it would not result in any kind of growth; they were intended for use as invitations or elegant stationary, not plantable poems.
So I have a couple of options. I can use household materials for the inner-pages as well as the covers, as I originally intended. Or, I can order enough plantable seed paper to make a couple copies rather than a dozen, but I don't know that I will be able to receive them in time to meet the deadline, nor do I necessarily want to spend much money on this project.
Argh. It wasn't the greatest week; this fiasco coupled with a death in the family. It was a great-aunt, not my immediate family, but it still puts a damper on an already dreary atmosphere.
I'm at a loss, so somebody give me a suggestion.
R
A few weeks ago, I looked online for awhile, but became discouraged by the pricing of all plantable seed paper I could find. I gave up at that point, frustrated. A couple of days later, my girlfriend surprised me by telling me that she had ordered me 100 sheets online while at her parents' house. When they arrived, I found that the reason she had found some cheap paper was because it wasn't plantable. There were some petals and floral fragments embedded in the paper, but burying it would not result in any kind of growth; they were intended for use as invitations or elegant stationary, not plantable poems.
So I have a couple of options. I can use household materials for the inner-pages as well as the covers, as I originally intended. Or, I can order enough plantable seed paper to make a couple copies rather than a dozen, but I don't know that I will be able to receive them in time to meet the deadline, nor do I necessarily want to spend much money on this project.
Argh. It wasn't the greatest week; this fiasco coupled with a death in the family. It was a great-aunt, not my immediate family, but it still puts a damper on an already dreary atmosphere.
I'm at a loss, so somebody give me a suggestion.
R
Checking in and questions for Jen
Hi everyone. It's the seventh Wednesday of our nine-week workshop and time again to check in. My chapbooks are virtually done. I wanted to know, Jen, what the plan is to send our projects to each other in this workshop and also to the BFA program. The end of our workshop is three weeks from today and, according to my schedule, we're supposed to be checking into our blog two more times, on December 17th and Dec. 31st, after today. I assume that's when the projects should be not only finished but distributed, as well. Will we be mailing them to each other, as I think we discussed at the residency? And, if so, we'll each need a list of addresses for all of those in our group. Also, when we met at the residency, you asked us to write a brief reflection on how the experience of this Group Study project informed our thinking and practice this semester. Where will that be sent to you and when is that due to complete this workshop? I don't want to be a pest, I'm just trying to schedule my time as I have lots of other work still to complete for this semester. Thanks a lot. Nancy
Monday, December 8, 2008
Locked Out
Hey everyone, I've been locked out of the blog. I could NOT get it up for ANYTHING (luckily a friend got me back in)
So. As far as I am on my project, I've been getting together what I want to put into the chap books. Also I've decided that, since I'm not sure paint would stick to cigarette boxes well, tape will!
I'm going to use black industrial tape to wrap the boxes up, and then light colored markers to put a title on the boxes or "Take me, read me" I'm not too sure yet.
I hope everyone is doing well on their projects.
-Megan.
So. As far as I am on my project, I've been getting together what I want to put into the chap books. Also I've decided that, since I'm not sure paint would stick to cigarette boxes well, tape will!
I'm going to use black industrial tape to wrap the boxes up, and then light colored markers to put a title on the boxes or "Take me, read me" I'm not too sure yet.
I hope everyone is doing well on their projects.
-Megan.
Friday, December 5, 2008
A Message From Your Friendly Neighborhood Schoolmarm
Ahoy there!
I can't help noticing that some of you have posted to this blog only once or twice, and by now you should each have posted or commented at least three times, if not four or five.
Aside from the fact that part of the learning process of this group study includes participating in collective conversation via blog, I'm simply curious about how your projects are progressing, and want to hear from you! If you are having troubles, it is entirely possible that I or someone else in the group will be able to make suggestions that could actually help. And there's nothing wrong with being slightly stuck -- in my experience, that's part of the process of any worthwhile project.
So if you are lurking in the ethereal virtual shadows covered in xerox machine toner or tangled in bookbinding thread, please come out into the sunlight of our blog for a moment and say hello to your fellow bookworms.
Thanks,
Jen
I can't help noticing that some of you have posted to this blog only once or twice, and by now you should each have posted or commented at least three times, if not four or five.
Aside from the fact that part of the learning process of this group study includes participating in collective conversation via blog, I'm simply curious about how your projects are progressing, and want to hear from you! If you are having troubles, it is entirely possible that I or someone else in the group will be able to make suggestions that could actually help. And there's nothing wrong with being slightly stuck -- in my experience, that's part of the process of any worthwhile project.
So if you are lurking in the ethereal virtual shadows covered in xerox machine toner or tangled in bookbinding thread, please come out into the sunlight of our blog for a moment and say hello to your fellow bookworms.
Thanks,
Jen
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
hey all,
i love hearing about your projects. its nice to think of everyone tinkering away like little mad scientists in their respective homes. my own project is progressing nicely... i decided to go for it and learn In Design which turned out to be completely addictive. i have spent many many hours in front of a big computer screen (i am posing as a student on Brown's campus, where my friend monitors their multimedia lab, which is the only way i've had access to such great software), arranging and rearranging some fabulous art and writing. it has been great to work with other people's stuff, but i also feel a little sad and jealous thinking of rick and nancy and megan all working so intimately with their own writing. i think this is an important aspect of writing, and i am glad you are all involved with your work on this level.
anyways i am finishing up the layout part of my project today, and will hopefully be able to print it next week. after that, my tasks are figuring out what to do for the cover (i'd like to use original/found material) and then binding the books!
since a number of us are self-binding, can we get a conversation going about this? i have started looking up some techniques online. maybe we could compile a little resource library on the blog? i'll post some of what i've found so far below. what other resources have you all tapped into?
like jordan said, i look forward to turning on some music, making some tea, maybe inviting a few friends over, and having a stitching party.
happy tinkering,
monica
i love hearing about your projects. its nice to think of everyone tinkering away like little mad scientists in their respective homes. my own project is progressing nicely... i decided to go for it and learn In Design which turned out to be completely addictive. i have spent many many hours in front of a big computer screen (i am posing as a student on Brown's campus, where my friend monitors their multimedia lab, which is the only way i've had access to such great software), arranging and rearranging some fabulous art and writing. it has been great to work with other people's stuff, but i also feel a little sad and jealous thinking of rick and nancy and megan all working so intimately with their own writing. i think this is an important aspect of writing, and i am glad you are all involved with your work on this level.
anyways i am finishing up the layout part of my project today, and will hopefully be able to print it next week. after that, my tasks are figuring out what to do for the cover (i'd like to use original/found material) and then binding the books!
since a number of us are self-binding, can we get a conversation going about this? i have started looking up some techniques online. maybe we could compile a little resource library on the blog? i'll post some of what i've found so far below. what other resources have you all tapped into?
like jordan said, i look forward to turning on some music, making some tea, maybe inviting a few friends over, and having a stitching party.
happy tinkering,
monica
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Saturday, November 29, 2008
Incentives to read each other's posts and comments carefully...
Dear Low-Fi Friends:
I'm so excited to hear about all your projects as they progress. I especially identify with Megan's comment that her project is suddenly taking off with an unexpected influx of cigarette boxes and her own focus on creative writing for her packet work. I often find that a project feels distant or daunting for a while after my initial acceleration, and then (seemingly miraculously) something will jolt me into energetic enthusiasm once again, just as I'm beginning to wonder if my project is even possible in the first place...
So whatever those jolts of energy might be for each of you -- whether they are revelations about seeds (yay for radishes and other growing things!) or about basement jails (yay for small-town telepathy!) -- I hope each of you experiences some very zingy and electrifying progress in the next couple of weeks.
I'm also thrilled to see that you're really starting to respond to one another in posts and comments. Please make sure to read all the way through everyone's posts/comments, because there just might be a personal message directed at *you* in there... and keep up the superb work in terms of being in conversation with one another. I'm so happy to be involved in this process.
As for my own process, I'm nearing completion of the poem and the short "essay" (modified version of essay?) I'm writing with my collaborator and friend, Patrick. Once my semester at CalArts is over (December 11 and counting...) I'll have time to sit down at my kitchen table (my favorite place to make books), turn on some music, make a pot of tea, and figure out how I want to construct the books. Ah, and this reminds me that I had a suggestion in response to Nancy's comment that she's making 15 books. It's great to make at least a few more books than you need to cover all 9 people in our group as well as two copies for Goddard (one for the BFA program and one for the library) -- but you might want to consider making even more "extras" if possible -- you'd be surprised how many people are enchanted by small books, and would love to get one as a gift or purchase one at a reading or performance. I've found that it's a lot easier to make more copies when I'm in the thick of the process than it is to go back and make a new bunch of books from scratch. And there's no expiration date on writing and art!
Fondly,
Jen
I'm so excited to hear about all your projects as they progress. I especially identify with Megan's comment that her project is suddenly taking off with an unexpected influx of cigarette boxes and her own focus on creative writing for her packet work. I often find that a project feels distant or daunting for a while after my initial acceleration, and then (seemingly miraculously) something will jolt me into energetic enthusiasm once again, just as I'm beginning to wonder if my project is even possible in the first place...
So whatever those jolts of energy might be for each of you -- whether they are revelations about seeds (yay for radishes and other growing things!) or about basement jails (yay for small-town telepathy!) -- I hope each of you experiences some very zingy and electrifying progress in the next couple of weeks.
I'm also thrilled to see that you're really starting to respond to one another in posts and comments. Please make sure to read all the way through everyone's posts/comments, because there just might be a personal message directed at *you* in there... and keep up the superb work in terms of being in conversation with one another. I'm so happy to be involved in this process.
As for my own process, I'm nearing completion of the poem and the short "essay" (modified version of essay?) I'm writing with my collaborator and friend, Patrick. Once my semester at CalArts is over (December 11 and counting...) I'll have time to sit down at my kitchen table (my favorite place to make books), turn on some music, make a pot of tea, and figure out how I want to construct the books. Ah, and this reminds me that I had a suggestion in response to Nancy's comment that she's making 15 books. It's great to make at least a few more books than you need to cover all 9 people in our group as well as two copies for Goddard (one for the BFA program and one for the library) -- but you might want to consider making even more "extras" if possible -- you'd be surprised how many people are enchanted by small books, and would love to get one as a gift or purchase one at a reading or performance. I've found that it's a lot easier to make more copies when I'm in the thick of the process than it is to go back and make a new bunch of books from scratch. And there's no expiration date on writing and art!
Fondly,
Jen
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving and checking in post
Hi everyone. Just wanted to check in and wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! I haven't had more time to address my project this week, as I had to go to Seattle to help out my family, but I'm back in L.A. now (and it's pouring here) and will get into my little books again after Thanksgiving weekend. And with Monday's packet 3 due date coming up, I'll have to wait to get back to my sewing after that. I decided it would be perfect to use this little metal pin kind of utensil that you stick through the turkey (you know, to lace it up after you stuff it?) and twist that metal pin to form perfect little holes in the spine of my chapbooks to facilitate the crochet needle going through my books with more ease. It worked well. I'd hammer the metal pin through the book and into a cutting board (I know, it's archaic, but it worked really well) and then I twisted one of those little plastic poker pins (that I found in my pumpkin carving kit) threw the holes to make them a little bit bigger. So, I applied a little ingenuity and some household tools to help me create how to work out my book binding step. Then, I tried several ways of putting the thread through to lace it. When I came up with a pattern that worked well, I wrote down which holes to go through in which order so I can replicate it for all my other books I'll be sewing in the weeks to come. That's it for me. Hope you're all doing well. - Nancy
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Breaking the Ice...
Well, to hell with it: I'll post.
Collaborating never ceases to be both hugely frustrating and incredibly serindipitous. My meeting on Sunday night went well, though one of the writer's didn't show up and hasn't yet called to say...anything, which is fine. Better to drop out now than later. I had a funny coincidence with Steve Arbuckle, the writer who had his secret spot: I'd been thinking of alternative places for him, when it struck me that the jail in the basement of the museum downtown would be ideal. The jail was used in the early 20th century, but now is tourist fodder. When I proposed this to him, he replied with, "How did you know?!" Maybe this speaks more for the town's size then a possible artist-telepathy. But still. As far a fifth writer goes, I've asked a woman named Erin Fristad, who is actually the program director for Goddard's creative writing extension site here in PT. I'm waiting for her reply. She's busy as hell but has been taking a playwrighting class, so I'm thinking maybe, just maybe...
I'm thinking a name for this project may be 'Five on the Town,' which is pretty self-explanatory but has a nice ring to it, yes? The writers are meeting every Sunday night for the next couple Sundays to workshop our scenes. I thought we'd meet at the coffee shop but everyone has opted for the pub. Fiesty group. Deadline for the scenes is December 7th, then the directing begins! I've got a lot of support from the community and a lot of interested actors, which is encouraging. Though I've had a tough time knowing how much to divulge to people with so many unknowns. A lot of this is relying on some sort of magic and alignment and inspiration. I just hope my cohorts stay as excited as I am.
I'm really looking forward to everyone else's projects. I love Richard's idea for the seed papers. It reminds me of Megan's project but, you know, the opposite. Megan: will you be rolling anything into your 'cigarettes'? I've been daydreaming about how you could roll a poem in a way to let it easily unroll, and what kind of goodies you could put into your poems. Confetti in one, wool in another? It'd make for some interesting metaphors, and if you use the right materials it might be easy to roll with one of those cheap cigarette-rolling gadgets. With everyone talking about the construction of their project, it's going to be great finally seeing the content, as well.
Hope your all staying warm and well-rested,
Madeline
Collaborating never ceases to be both hugely frustrating and incredibly serindipitous. My meeting on Sunday night went well, though one of the writer's didn't show up and hasn't yet called to say...anything, which is fine. Better to drop out now than later. I had a funny coincidence with Steve Arbuckle, the writer who had his secret spot: I'd been thinking of alternative places for him, when it struck me that the jail in the basement of the museum downtown would be ideal. The jail was used in the early 20th century, but now is tourist fodder. When I proposed this to him, he replied with, "How did you know?!" Maybe this speaks more for the town's size then a possible artist-telepathy. But still. As far a fifth writer goes, I've asked a woman named Erin Fristad, who is actually the program director for Goddard's creative writing extension site here in PT. I'm waiting for her reply. She's busy as hell but has been taking a playwrighting class, so I'm thinking maybe, just maybe...
I'm thinking a name for this project may be 'Five on the Town,' which is pretty self-explanatory but has a nice ring to it, yes? The writers are meeting every Sunday night for the next couple Sundays to workshop our scenes. I thought we'd meet at the coffee shop but everyone has opted for the pub. Fiesty group. Deadline for the scenes is December 7th, then the directing begins! I've got a lot of support from the community and a lot of interested actors, which is encouraging. Though I've had a tough time knowing how much to divulge to people with so many unknowns. A lot of this is relying on some sort of magic and alignment and inspiration. I just hope my cohorts stay as excited as I am.
I'm really looking forward to everyone else's projects. I love Richard's idea for the seed papers. It reminds me of Megan's project but, you know, the opposite. Megan: will you be rolling anything into your 'cigarettes'? I've been daydreaming about how you could roll a poem in a way to let it easily unroll, and what kind of goodies you could put into your poems. Confetti in one, wool in another? It'd make for some interesting metaphors, and if you use the right materials it might be easy to roll with one of those cheap cigarette-rolling gadgets. With everyone talking about the construction of their project, it's going to be great finally seeing the content, as well.
Hope your all staying warm and well-rested,
Madeline
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Comments for everyone who's posted recently
Hello!
As you know from my email (I hope), you can now all post to this blog. You need to sign in to be able to post, and I think you need a gmail account to do that—it’s free and takes about five seconds to set one up. Let me know (either via email or in a comment attached to this post) if you’re still having troubles.
Below are specific responses to each of your posts from the past week or two. I encourage you to read all these responses (some comments not directed to you might actually pertain to your work!), and even more so, I encourage you to respond directly to one another, even without the benefit of those pesky threaded comments I can’t seem to figure out how to add to our blog. Some of you are starting to ask for help with resources and ideas for problem-solving, so please read through each other’s posts and send responses if you have ideas that might be helpful.
Also, most of you are asking questions about bookbinding, so I’d suggest (now that everyone can post to the blog, supposedly) that someone begin a bookbinding post and people might start to leave comments with links, bibliographic notes, instructions on different binding styles, etc.
Okey dokey. I’m looking forward to hearing more about your various processes as they progress (or digress, as the case may be). All the projects sound totally magnificent. I feel lucky to be working with each of you.
Most best,
Jen
Here are my specific comments:
Martin: I’m sorry you can’t do your city-wide adventure in low-fi publishing (not least because I’m sorry you’re in pain and/or encumbered), but I’m excited that you’ve come up with a totally viable alternative that will extend beyond the bounds of this group study, and will also connect up with some of the other work you’re doing this semester. I can’t wait to read your story! One question that immediately leaps to mind is the age group you have in mind for your audience, and how this might affect your process in making the books. Some handmade books can be very delicate—not so great for little kids—while others are super sturdy. It’ll be wonderful to see how this project unfolds, and how the various constraints and possibilities guide your work.
Rick: I love the title RADISH!! Even without knowing a thing about any of the poems, I can tell you that it would absolutely catch my eye if I came across such a book in the world. Your comments about structure, and about how sharing your work (in spoken form or in written/bound form) affect your process, are very apt, as Nancy noted too—and are one of the main reasons I think it’s so important for us to put our work out into the world. I’m very fond of the idea of repurposing everyday objects to use as book covers, and also of the combination of uniqueness (i.e. a different cover for each book) and multiples (books with all the same insides).
Nancy: It sounds like you’re moving along excellently well, putting all the pieces in place. Michael’s is one of my favorite stores (despite a strong preference, usually, for mom ’n pop shops above large chains)—they have wonderful knitting supplies at half the price of specialty knitting stores. Have you looked online or in the library for resources on bookbinding? I’m curious to know your specific plans, which binding or bindings you’ll explore. And as you discover resources, perhaps you’ll share them with Mónica and Rick (and others, of course), who are also beginning to think about fastening techniques.
Mónica: The flip side of being overwhelmed (and this goes for all of us, regardless of the specific circumstances!) is acknowledging that you’ve set out to do an ambitious, extraordinary project that asks a lot of you. That’s not a “silver lining”—it’s literally the other side of the coin. The difficult thing, I find, is figuring out how to flip that coin, to see the work from a different perspective. Aside from finding ways around our own resistances and fears, it seems that one lesson of your experience (and you seem well aware of this) is to think through a project as far as you possibly can before you start out, sort of like reading the recipe all the way through to make sure you’re starting out with a big enough bowl. Having opened your project up to artwork that isn’t readily reproducible on a photocopy machine (which I assume is the case, since you’re thinking about InDesign and offset printing), you’ve set up certain constraints or requirements for yourself, right? One option, if you want to keep this low-fi and in your own hands (which I think is a really good goal for now), is to learn InDesign—a skill I imagine will open up all kinds of possibilities far beyond this particular book. Another option is to contact the visual artists and ask them for a photocopy-reproducible version of their work, and/or let them know that you’re doing a photocopy-only project right now, but will use their artwork in a future publication. (I can see that both of these suggestions have pitfalls, but wanted to mention them regardless.) If you’re not doing layout by hand (i.e. on the glass of a photocopy machine or in individually-produced original books) then the only DIY option I know of is to use a computer for layout—unless the artwork can all be silkscreened or printed on a letterpress machine, if you have access to either of those. But that opens up a whole other can of potentially really fun worms! I’ll let others chime in about bookbinding techniques since I know many of you are working on that, but if you’re still wondering about it in a couple of weeks, ask again and I’ll send along some resources.
Madeline: Can’t wait to hear how your meeting went!! Your project sounds incredibly well-organized, with enough structure to make sure people keep on track but enough flexibility and openness to make space for unusual, unexpected and gorgeous events to unfold. And your project is an especially interesting model for collaboration, performance and documentation. It will be fascinating to see how you decide to use the book (such a different form from live performance) as a tool for documenting or extending some of the explorations the group enacts as they prepare for the performances.
Megan: Maybe put a little reminder alarm for every Wednesday at a certain time in your cell phone, if you have a cell phone? Or perhaps just a good old-fashioned note to self on the door of the fridge or the bathroom mirror? This goes for other of you lurkers, not just Megan, by the way! As for your project, it poses an interesting conundrum that you chose the form before having any specific content in mind. But I have no doubt that you’ll fill those cigarette boxes with all kinds of treasures; my guess is that as you continue working, you’ll start to see potential “book” material everywhere. And the craft store is always a great place to get inspired, I think.
Jordan: One of the most important aspects of working as an artist, it seems to me, is the capacity to shift gears (sometimes very radically) when you know you need to be doing something different than what you’d planned. So brava to you for recognizing that! Of course it’s ok for you to switch your project. And your new plan sounds absolutely incredible—what an amazing space, and what a generous gift to your community to explore this rich musical history more deeply. I can’t even remember what level you’re in at the moment, but I could envision an amazing senior study or book involving oral histories, photographs, local community history, documentation of concerts, etc. Hmm... In the short term, however, it seems to me that you’ve developed an excellent sense of how to begin, how to narrow your work so it’s a project you can get done in the next four or five weeks. I’ll be very interested to hear about the families’ reactions to your project. And I think the idea to include some personal reflection about your connection to this place is an excellent one. (P.S. I too am looking forward to learning more about my own process by writing about collaboration with Patrick—thanks for taking a look at the book!)
And finally, Alexander: where are you?! Please send news of your adventures.
As you know from my email (I hope), you can now all post to this blog. You need to sign in to be able to post, and I think you need a gmail account to do that—it’s free and takes about five seconds to set one up. Let me know (either via email or in a comment attached to this post) if you’re still having troubles.
Below are specific responses to each of your posts from the past week or two. I encourage you to read all these responses (some comments not directed to you might actually pertain to your work!), and even more so, I encourage you to respond directly to one another, even without the benefit of those pesky threaded comments I can’t seem to figure out how to add to our blog. Some of you are starting to ask for help with resources and ideas for problem-solving, so please read through each other’s posts and send responses if you have ideas that might be helpful.
Also, most of you are asking questions about bookbinding, so I’d suggest (now that everyone can post to the blog, supposedly) that someone begin a bookbinding post and people might start to leave comments with links, bibliographic notes, instructions on different binding styles, etc.
Okey dokey. I’m looking forward to hearing more about your various processes as they progress (or digress, as the case may be). All the projects sound totally magnificent. I feel lucky to be working with each of you.
Most best,
Jen
Here are my specific comments:
Martin: I’m sorry you can’t do your city-wide adventure in low-fi publishing (not least because I’m sorry you’re in pain and/or encumbered), but I’m excited that you’ve come up with a totally viable alternative that will extend beyond the bounds of this group study, and will also connect up with some of the other work you’re doing this semester. I can’t wait to read your story! One question that immediately leaps to mind is the age group you have in mind for your audience, and how this might affect your process in making the books. Some handmade books can be very delicate—not so great for little kids—while others are super sturdy. It’ll be wonderful to see how this project unfolds, and how the various constraints and possibilities guide your work.
Rick: I love the title RADISH!! Even without knowing a thing about any of the poems, I can tell you that it would absolutely catch my eye if I came across such a book in the world. Your comments about structure, and about how sharing your work (in spoken form or in written/bound form) affect your process, are very apt, as Nancy noted too—and are one of the main reasons I think it’s so important for us to put our work out into the world. I’m very fond of the idea of repurposing everyday objects to use as book covers, and also of the combination of uniqueness (i.e. a different cover for each book) and multiples (books with all the same insides).
Nancy: It sounds like you’re moving along excellently well, putting all the pieces in place. Michael’s is one of my favorite stores (despite a strong preference, usually, for mom ’n pop shops above large chains)—they have wonderful knitting supplies at half the price of specialty knitting stores. Have you looked online or in the library for resources on bookbinding? I’m curious to know your specific plans, which binding or bindings you’ll explore. And as you discover resources, perhaps you’ll share them with Mónica and Rick (and others, of course), who are also beginning to think about fastening techniques.
Mónica: The flip side of being overwhelmed (and this goes for all of us, regardless of the specific circumstances!) is acknowledging that you’ve set out to do an ambitious, extraordinary project that asks a lot of you. That’s not a “silver lining”—it’s literally the other side of the coin. The difficult thing, I find, is figuring out how to flip that coin, to see the work from a different perspective. Aside from finding ways around our own resistances and fears, it seems that one lesson of your experience (and you seem well aware of this) is to think through a project as far as you possibly can before you start out, sort of like reading the recipe all the way through to make sure you’re starting out with a big enough bowl. Having opened your project up to artwork that isn’t readily reproducible on a photocopy machine (which I assume is the case, since you’re thinking about InDesign and offset printing), you’ve set up certain constraints or requirements for yourself, right? One option, if you want to keep this low-fi and in your own hands (which I think is a really good goal for now), is to learn InDesign—a skill I imagine will open up all kinds of possibilities far beyond this particular book. Another option is to contact the visual artists and ask them for a photocopy-reproducible version of their work, and/or let them know that you’re doing a photocopy-only project right now, but will use their artwork in a future publication. (I can see that both of these suggestions have pitfalls, but wanted to mention them regardless.) If you’re not doing layout by hand (i.e. on the glass of a photocopy machine or in individually-produced original books) then the only DIY option I know of is to use a computer for layout—unless the artwork can all be silkscreened or printed on a letterpress machine, if you have access to either of those. But that opens up a whole other can of potentially really fun worms! I’ll let others chime in about bookbinding techniques since I know many of you are working on that, but if you’re still wondering about it in a couple of weeks, ask again and I’ll send along some resources.
Madeline: Can’t wait to hear how your meeting went!! Your project sounds incredibly well-organized, with enough structure to make sure people keep on track but enough flexibility and openness to make space for unusual, unexpected and gorgeous events to unfold. And your project is an especially interesting model for collaboration, performance and documentation. It will be fascinating to see how you decide to use the book (such a different form from live performance) as a tool for documenting or extending some of the explorations the group enacts as they prepare for the performances.
Megan: Maybe put a little reminder alarm for every Wednesday at a certain time in your cell phone, if you have a cell phone? Or perhaps just a good old-fashioned note to self on the door of the fridge or the bathroom mirror? This goes for other of you lurkers, not just Megan, by the way! As for your project, it poses an interesting conundrum that you chose the form before having any specific content in mind. But I have no doubt that you’ll fill those cigarette boxes with all kinds of treasures; my guess is that as you continue working, you’ll start to see potential “book” material everywhere. And the craft store is always a great place to get inspired, I think.
Jordan: One of the most important aspects of working as an artist, it seems to me, is the capacity to shift gears (sometimes very radically) when you know you need to be doing something different than what you’d planned. So brava to you for recognizing that! Of course it’s ok for you to switch your project. And your new plan sounds absolutely incredible—what an amazing space, and what a generous gift to your community to explore this rich musical history more deeply. I can’t even remember what level you’re in at the moment, but I could envision an amazing senior study or book involving oral histories, photographs, local community history, documentation of concerts, etc. Hmm... In the short term, however, it seems to me that you’ve developed an excellent sense of how to begin, how to narrow your work so it’s a project you can get done in the next four or five weeks. I’ll be very interested to hear about the families’ reactions to your project. And I think the idea to include some personal reflection about your connection to this place is an excellent one. (P.S. I too am looking forward to learning more about my own process by writing about collaboration with Patrick—thanks for taking a look at the book!)
And finally, Alexander: where are you?! Please send news of your adventures.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
please post AND comment! and progress...
Hi there --
I've just sent out an invitation to each of you (to your Goddard email addresses) to join this blog as authors. That way, everyone can post, and comment on each other's posts.
Mónica, this should resolve the difficulty you were having with posting to the blog.
The one feature I cannot seem to locate on blogger.com is threaded comments -- that is, the capacity for us to comment on each other's comments. I think this would be a great feature and I'm looking into switching to wordpress.com, where I think I'll be able to enable threaded comments. That way, for instance, Rick's comment to Mónica would appear directly below her comment (and indented, to signal that it is a comment on her comment), rather than as its own independent comment at the end of all the comments. Even if we don't switch, we can start specific conversational threads (about, for instance, book binding, or about ways to remove glue stains from clothing, or whatever) as new posts and then comment on those topics within those posts, but still I think it would be preferable to have threaded comments.
I'll keep you posted (no pun intended -- ha!), and let you know, of course, if we're going to switch blog "locations."
Meanwhile, I'm totally thrilled to hear about the progress of your projects! I've begun my collaboration, which consists of a poem and a prose text about collaboration, both of which are being bounced back and forth via email. Having just published a book of collaborations, I'm excited to take a bit of time to contemplate the experience of collaboration with my friend Patrick (the co-author of the book). Later on, once I have a sense of the forms our texts are taking, I'll figure out an appropriate format for the book, using (as I mentioned before) repurposed office supplies.
Excited to see how things continue to develop with your projects -- and feel free to bring up any specific technical or logistical issues that are coming up, so we can put our virtual heads together and try to help each other out.
Fondly,
Jen
I've just sent out an invitation to each of you (to your Goddard email addresses) to join this blog as authors. That way, everyone can post, and comment on each other's posts.
Mónica, this should resolve the difficulty you were having with posting to the blog.
The one feature I cannot seem to locate on blogger.com is threaded comments -- that is, the capacity for us to comment on each other's comments. I think this would be a great feature and I'm looking into switching to wordpress.com, where I think I'll be able to enable threaded comments. That way, for instance, Rick's comment to Mónica would appear directly below her comment (and indented, to signal that it is a comment on her comment), rather than as its own independent comment at the end of all the comments. Even if we don't switch, we can start specific conversational threads (about, for instance, book binding, or about ways to remove glue stains from clothing, or whatever) as new posts and then comment on those topics within those posts, but still I think it would be preferable to have threaded comments.
I'll keep you posted (no pun intended -- ha!), and let you know, of course, if we're going to switch blog "locations."
Meanwhile, I'm totally thrilled to hear about the progress of your projects! I've begun my collaboration, which consists of a poem and a prose text about collaboration, both of which are being bounced back and forth via email. Having just published a book of collaborations, I'm excited to take a bit of time to contemplate the experience of collaboration with my friend Patrick (the co-author of the book). Later on, once I have a sense of the forms our texts are taking, I'll figure out an appropriate format for the book, using (as I mentioned before) repurposed office supplies.
Excited to see how things continue to develop with your projects -- and feel free to bring up any specific technical or logistical issues that are coming up, so we can put our virtual heads together and try to help each other out.
Fondly,
Jen
Friday, November 7, 2008
keeping on...
Halloo my low-fi friends:
At this point, in the second week of our nine-week adventure, you should have a clear idea of what your project will entail, and you should have begun laying the initial foundations for the work (the details of these foundations will of course be different for each student). Please post a report of your activities to the blog by Wednesday of next week, especially if you haven’t yet checked in with the group. And please share any concerns or technical difficulties you’re having with the rest of us. One person’s challenge is another person’s no-brainer, and you should all feel free to use each other’s knowledge and experiences as resources.
I wanted to remind you of the commitments we made to each other initially. This is a repeat of information you already have—just as reminder of what we’ve agreed to do.
First, some very basic specifications of what this group study entails:
1. Check in with the blog (that means both reading other students’ posts and adding a post or comment of your own) at least once every week.
2. Make a low-fi book or book-ish project.
3. Write a brief reflective text about your experiences and process.
Any questions? Let me know.
Here are the broader guidelines:
+ The dates of our group study are from October 29 to December 31—that is, right now, this very instant!
+ We will “meet” once a week online to discuss progress, concerns, questions. We will check the blog at least a couple of times at different points on Wednesdays, possibly spilling into Thursday or Friday as needed, so that we can all participate in the conversations happening there, and continue to respond to one another (hence the need to check in more than once).
+ Open sharing of resources. Please feel free to ask for technical or researching help. It’s very likely that if you have a question, someone else in the group either shares the same question or has a possible solution.
+ Commit to sending a copy of what we create to everyone else in the Group Study.
+ Commit to donate a copy of what we create to the Goddard Library and BFA Program.
+ Write a brief reflection on how the experience of this Group Study project informed our thinking and practice this semester. Please include information about what you found especially useful and/or ways this Group Study might be improved.
On the topic of documentation: from the responses that have been posted to the blog, it seems that most people are interested in exhibiting our book projects at the art show during the Spring Residency. Dee Talentino is the curator of the show. Would someone please volunteer to contact Dee to ask about making a space for our work in the show? My sense is that a table or other flat surface (rather than, say, mounting on the wall) might make the most sense as a display space. That way our work can be held and actively read by folks who visit the show.
People seem lukewarm about the idea of setting up a website. I think the idea of using our blog as a space for archiving projects makes sense. Can we all commit to scanning images of our work and posting our reflection notes on the blog at the end of this process? I think it would be great for our work to be easily accessible to any future students who participate in this group study, and it makes sense to me that this blog could function as a sort of clearing-house, a record of our work this semester. Is everyone cool with that?
As for my own project, I’m planning to continue to repurpose office supplies for artistic use as I’ve done in the past, and make a small hand-made book using familiar materials in unfamiliar ways. I think I’d like to write a manifesto about collaboration, which is a crucial aspect of my practice; my most recent book is an epistolary and poetic collaboration with my dear friend Patrick Durgin. He and I will be reading together at a festival in Chicago in mid-January, so I’m thinking that I can make books about collaboration for our group study, with a number of extras to give away at the festival. Now I just have to clear my mind enough to think some smart thoughts in small book form!
Hope all’s well for all of you, and I look forward to hearing more from each of you.
Sending warm thoughts through the windy weather,
Jen
P.S. A resounding HOORAY!! for the election results (the presidential election, anyway) -- and now the real everyday work of creating change begins... peace to you all...
At this point, in the second week of our nine-week adventure, you should have a clear idea of what your project will entail, and you should have begun laying the initial foundations for the work (the details of these foundations will of course be different for each student). Please post a report of your activities to the blog by Wednesday of next week, especially if you haven’t yet checked in with the group. And please share any concerns or technical difficulties you’re having with the rest of us. One person’s challenge is another person’s no-brainer, and you should all feel free to use each other’s knowledge and experiences as resources.
I wanted to remind you of the commitments we made to each other initially. This is a repeat of information you already have—just as reminder of what we’ve agreed to do.
First, some very basic specifications of what this group study entails:
1. Check in with the blog (that means both reading other students’ posts and adding a post or comment of your own) at least once every week.
2. Make a low-fi book or book-ish project.
3. Write a brief reflective text about your experiences and process.
Any questions? Let me know.
Here are the broader guidelines:
+ The dates of our group study are from October 29 to December 31—that is, right now, this very instant!
+ We will “meet” once a week online to discuss progress, concerns, questions. We will check the blog at least a couple of times at different points on Wednesdays, possibly spilling into Thursday or Friday as needed, so that we can all participate in the conversations happening there, and continue to respond to one another (hence the need to check in more than once).
+ Open sharing of resources. Please feel free to ask for technical or researching help. It’s very likely that if you have a question, someone else in the group either shares the same question or has a possible solution.
+ Commit to sending a copy of what we create to everyone else in the Group Study.
+ Commit to donate a copy of what we create to the Goddard Library and BFA Program.
+ Write a brief reflection on how the experience of this Group Study project informed our thinking and practice this semester. Please include information about what you found especially useful and/or ways this Group Study might be improved.
On the topic of documentation: from the responses that have been posted to the blog, it seems that most people are interested in exhibiting our book projects at the art show during the Spring Residency. Dee Talentino is the curator of the show. Would someone please volunteer to contact Dee to ask about making a space for our work in the show? My sense is that a table or other flat surface (rather than, say, mounting on the wall) might make the most sense as a display space. That way our work can be held and actively read by folks who visit the show.
People seem lukewarm about the idea of setting up a website. I think the idea of using our blog as a space for archiving projects makes sense. Can we all commit to scanning images of our work and posting our reflection notes on the blog at the end of this process? I think it would be great for our work to be easily accessible to any future students who participate in this group study, and it makes sense to me that this blog could function as a sort of clearing-house, a record of our work this semester. Is everyone cool with that?
As for my own project, I’m planning to continue to repurpose office supplies for artistic use as I’ve done in the past, and make a small hand-made book using familiar materials in unfamiliar ways. I think I’d like to write a manifesto about collaboration, which is a crucial aspect of my practice; my most recent book is an epistolary and poetic collaboration with my dear friend Patrick Durgin. He and I will be reading together at a festival in Chicago in mid-January, so I’m thinking that I can make books about collaboration for our group study, with a number of extras to give away at the festival. Now I just have to clear my mind enough to think some smart thoughts in small book form!
Hope all’s well for all of you, and I look forward to hearing more from each of you.
Sending warm thoughts through the windy weather,
Jen
P.S. A resounding HOORAY!! for the election results (the presidential election, anyway) -- and now the real everyday work of creating change begins... peace to you all...
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Ahoy There On Our Official First Day!!
Hiya --
I just wanted to say hello again, since it's the 29th -- our official first day of virtual group class.
As I put clean sheets on my bed this morning -- sheets that are vastly ink-stained, principally due to The 3:15 Experiment, info on which you can find at http://www.315experiment.com/ if you're interested) -- I thought with amusement of Nancy's comment about spilling Miskit on her comforter and pants. Perhaps we should start a thread titled "Spilled Substances and Other Lo-Fi Publishing Disasters"!!
Seriously, though, it would be lovely for each of us to share a bit about where our thinking is now, a few weeks after our initial meetings. Have you begun your project? If so, send a little report to the group, as Mónica and Nancy did (either in response to this post or in response to my other post). If not, let us know what your plans are (it's fine, by the way, if you have not yet begun -- now's as good a time as any!). Do you have questions at this juncture? Ask away!
My own project is still in the thinking/gestating stage. I know I want to make a small hand-sewn book using one of my typewriters. But I haven't yet decided what the contents will be. Hm...
I have a question. I'm wondering if we want to devise a schedule for development and production of our projects (other than our deadline, which is New Year's Eve). It's likely not going to be possible for all of us to work from the same template, since the tasks vary widely depending on the nature of the project. Perhaps it makes sense for each of us to devise her or his own schedule? And we can then post these on the blog, so we can learn from each other's different working styles? Alternately, we could try to come up with some shared guidelines we might all follow (however loosely). Opinions? Suggestions?
Hope everyone's doing excellently well. Here in Los Angeles it is the hottest October on record since the 18-somethings. I keep waiting for it to cool down -- and it does sometimes, to about 80 degrees!
Most best,
Jen
I just wanted to say hello again, since it's the 29th -- our official first day of virtual group class.
As I put clean sheets on my bed this morning -- sheets that are vastly ink-stained, principally due to The 3:15 Experiment, info on which you can find at http://www.315experiment.com/ if you're interested) -- I thought with amusement of Nancy's comment about spilling Miskit on her comforter and pants. Perhaps we should start a thread titled "Spilled Substances and Other Lo-Fi Publishing Disasters"!!
Seriously, though, it would be lovely for each of us to share a bit about where our thinking is now, a few weeks after our initial meetings. Have you begun your project? If so, send a little report to the group, as Mónica and Nancy did (either in response to this post or in response to my other post). If not, let us know what your plans are (it's fine, by the way, if you have not yet begun -- now's as good a time as any!). Do you have questions at this juncture? Ask away!
My own project is still in the thinking/gestating stage. I know I want to make a small hand-sewn book using one of my typewriters. But I haven't yet decided what the contents will be. Hm...
I have a question. I'm wondering if we want to devise a schedule for development and production of our projects (other than our deadline, which is New Year's Eve). It's likely not going to be possible for all of us to work from the same template, since the tasks vary widely depending on the nature of the project. Perhaps it makes sense for each of us to devise her or his own schedule? And we can then post these on the blog, so we can learn from each other's different working styles? Alternately, we could try to come up with some shared guidelines we might all follow (however loosely). Opinions? Suggestions?
Hope everyone's doing excellently well. Here in Los Angeles it is the hottest October on record since the 18-somethings. I keep waiting for it to cool down -- and it does sometimes, to about 80 degrees!
Most best,
Jen
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Welcome! and A Question Regarding Documentation: PLEASE RESPOND
Hi there!
Welcome to our Official First Post To The Blog—and (true confessions) my first blog post ever in all the world. I guess I had to join the 21st century at some point...
I wanted to start our conversation by raising the question of how we will document our low-fi publishing projects for ourselves and the larger Goddard community. Please respond to this post, even if it’s to say that you have no opinion about documentation—I want to use this as an experiment to make sure the blog is working and we all know how to work within it. Ok? Ok.
As for documentation: we are the first group doing these low-fi publishing projects through the BFA Writing Program, but there will be others—hopefully many others—and I think it would be a great idea for us to set some parameters for documenting and archiving our activities, so future BFA students can have access to the projects of those who have come before them.
Here are some ideas—please feel free to add to this list, or expand or revise these suggestions:
+ One or more of you might set up a webpage with archiving potential so future incarnations of this group study can consult our projects.
++ Images and text from the projects could be scanned onto the website.
++ We could potentially include some sentences or paragraphs from the texts we write about the process of doing these projects.
++ One or more of you might do this as part of your course of study—this work could be part of your packet work for the semester, as it certainly counts as “thoughtful action” and engages both critical and creative skills.
++ If no one in this group wants to create a web presence for the publishing group study and we think it’s a good idea to have one, we might come up with a proposal to share with everyone at the next residency and see if someone wants to take on the project of documenting the publishing group study.
+ A related idea: we might create a space for archiving on this blog (though a website may provide more flexibility—I’m not web-savvy enough to know which would be better).
+ We might set up an exhibition of our books/projects for the next residency, either as part of the student art show or separate from it.
+ We might propose to the editors of Guideword that they include images and/or texts from our projects in the magazine.
Obviously, these ideas are not mutually exclusive. We could decide we want to implement all of them! Or, on the other hand, we could do none of them: we could choose to consider other alternatives and do something completely different than what I’ve outlined above. What other ideas do you have about documenting our work for the larger Goddard community and for future BFA students? Please weigh in with your opinions, comments and suggestions.
I’ll post again soon with some guidelines for how to begin our activities for this group study. If any of you has already begun to work on your project, please post so we can all learn from your experiences!
Excitedly,
Jen
Welcome to our Official First Post To The Blog—and (true confessions) my first blog post ever in all the world. I guess I had to join the 21st century at some point...
I wanted to start our conversation by raising the question of how we will document our low-fi publishing projects for ourselves and the larger Goddard community. Please respond to this post, even if it’s to say that you have no opinion about documentation—I want to use this as an experiment to make sure the blog is working and we all know how to work within it. Ok? Ok.
As for documentation: we are the first group doing these low-fi publishing projects through the BFA Writing Program, but there will be others—hopefully many others—and I think it would be a great idea for us to set some parameters for documenting and archiving our activities, so future BFA students can have access to the projects of those who have come before them.
Here are some ideas—please feel free to add to this list, or expand or revise these suggestions:
+ One or more of you might set up a webpage with archiving potential so future incarnations of this group study can consult our projects.
++ Images and text from the projects could be scanned onto the website.
++ We could potentially include some sentences or paragraphs from the texts we write about the process of doing these projects.
++ One or more of you might do this as part of your course of study—this work could be part of your packet work for the semester, as it certainly counts as “thoughtful action” and engages both critical and creative skills.
++ If no one in this group wants to create a web presence for the publishing group study and we think it’s a good idea to have one, we might come up with a proposal to share with everyone at the next residency and see if someone wants to take on the project of documenting the publishing group study.
+ A related idea: we might create a space for archiving on this blog (though a website may provide more flexibility—I’m not web-savvy enough to know which would be better).
+ We might set up an exhibition of our books/projects for the next residency, either as part of the student art show or separate from it.
+ We might propose to the editors of Guideword that they include images and/or texts from our projects in the magazine.
Obviously, these ideas are not mutually exclusive. We could decide we want to implement all of them! Or, on the other hand, we could do none of them: we could choose to consider other alternatives and do something completely different than what I’ve outlined above. What other ideas do you have about documenting our work for the larger Goddard community and for future BFA students? Please weigh in with your opinions, comments and suggestions.
I’ll post again soon with some guidelines for how to begin our activities for this group study. If any of you has already begun to work on your project, please post so we can all learn from your experiences!
Excitedly,
Jen
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