The Art of Reading

Although it may be uncomfortable, change is good

What many of you may not know is that my arts practice originated in creative writing. I tell you this because another thing not many in my visual arts world know is that I am a voracious reader and that reading and books are subjects near and dear to me.

So, with technology changing faster than political positions and with the act of reading changing with technology, many folks have been researching the act and process of reading.

As you know from having visited the link above, some people say the computer has led to the demise of reading books. The question we must ask before we panic is: what kinds of books? Because the materiality of the book is changing, is morphing into electronic formats that are not books as we have known them since Gutenberg.

Don't misunderstand me. I am a bibliophile. I collect books. I read books. I rescue books. I talk about books. I love the materiality of the book, and it was in experimenting with the book as an object that I learned how to read and make art in new ways.

Reading and writing are changing because writers and readers are evolving and I believe this evolution increases opportunities for students, writers, visual artists, readers, librarians, teachers, etc ...