The following is one of the attempts to clarify our purpose in making a book based on collaboration... this artist book, studio text/workbook is being proposed for a Creative Capital grant.
The deadline is this coming Wednesday, the 8th. Please, if you've got any ideas pertaining to this, post some comments. Thanks.
1 As a professor, what would I like this book to do?
Firstly, make art interesting and show that art can come from places that everyone is familiar with. Allow students to relate their lives and interests to this thing called art-making which in my definition is about translating one’s experience into a form that others can consider. Thus, everyone has a valid place in the studio class- from advanced students to freshman, undecided in their majors. In light of Ordinary Aura, this ties into the believer/nonbeliever aspect of reaching audience.
Secondly, encourage students to be active in their work and give them a place to explore their interests and talents. As a sketchbook, it would be understood as a tool that is integral to the thought process. Work being done visually, in writing, in terms of collecting like a scrapbook, or a journal would all be contained and, most importantly, exist in the same place so that connections among these approaches might be made. As a textbook, it would contain (and be continually updated) relevant factual information about art historical periods and figures, movements that would tie into study as well as contemporary theory to encourage debate. A link would be formed between the old and new in a way that is open to the students’ input and editing. (Remember, this is more a STUDIO resource than an ART HISTORICAL one. This means that rules can be bent.)
Thirdly, I would hope that the book as a form, as an object, would be significant to students in this digital age. Aspects of bookbinding, structuring of image and text, ordering of thought, pacing… all these things are inherent in the printed form of a book and would definitely form a component of any curriculum stemming from Ordinary Aura. Not everyone has access to a computer and the needed software to do web design or layout. On the other hand, most everyone can find scraps of paper, pencils, collage bits, etc. that can be used to learn the same visual language for personal expression.
2 What makes this book different and indispensable?
Instantly, the look of the thing separates it from the normal, dry “Design I Foundations” text. Right now, the book may be bound with inserts, perforated, various kinds of sheets, transparencies, stencils, envelopes… it may not even be bound, coming instead in a case with many loose sheets waiting to be reorganized, substituted by the student, etc. Shouldn’t creativity be exercised in the product if that is what your product is trying to inspire and teach?
Ordinary Aura is in no way an end point where, if purchased, it will serve a class for a couple of semesters and then be retired for the next edition which is, more r less, the same thing only in a different package. Ordinary Aura is a flexible tool for studio professors and students. Its main functions are to inspire conversation and the sharing of ideas by promoting collaborative working, an exploration of materials and the forms of visual communication (especially in book form) and will be constantly supplemented by both the work the students do and also annual, gust edited, theme-based magazines. These annual supplements will be able to address in depth particular, timely themes allowing professors to engage their students in issues of politics, religion, contemporary art and theory, film… anything! Which makes Ordinary Aura an endlessly useful text. In fact, it is the students and people who use the text who actually become its authors.
(Down the line, say in five years, I suggest a contest or something where artists and users submit their most intriguing work to be included in a “2nd edition”. Also, the WIKI or website could be an ongoing version of this publicly written book for artists and art students)
3 Who is the target market?
College level art students in art, writing, and film. Also, professors who wish to bridge relevant contemporary theory, teaching and their personal artistic practices to create a studio environment for students that is energized, rigorous and self-fulfilling.
4 How does this book attract this market?
Well, the aesthetic of the book will be a major, “make or break” aspect. It will seem very unusual to some and extremely dynamic and exciting to others. I don’t necessarily care about the former. The aesthetic of the book which is at times raw, refined, sophisticated, grungy, eclectic, et al. Seeks to inspire by being from the outset a VISUAL and TACTILE experience. The way it is made and what it is comprised of will illustrate to students that their own worlds, the things around them are filled with potential. As John Cage said, “Anything can be art, all you need to do is change your mind.” The book, Ordinary Aura has connections to artists like Martin Kippenberger and Dieter Roth in that it seeks all-inclusiveness, expansiveness of thought and material exploration while deconstructing its very form as a book. Other artists such as Gabriel Orozco and Rirkrit Tiravanija come to mind.
Ordinary Aura is timely since the way it is made mirrors in a physical sense, what websites and blogs do virtually (And as a matter of fact, there will be a Web component of Ordinary Aura). Our text will be constantly rewritten by those that use it. This sense of authorship and exploration seems to me a very attractive element for those with artistic minds.
5 You say there will be a web component?
Certainly. A WIKI seems like a likely way for a constantly growing, publicly written “encyclopedia” of thought to be formed. Through this, classes and individual artists from around the world could meet, work together on ideas, search information, share their artwork, notify others of relevant links and information, exhibitions, etc. The possibilities are, as with the textbook, as endless as the imagination of the artists using it.
With the Web, elements such as sound and moving images can be utilized which expands the potential to other media and also more people.