Books You Can Live Without? I Don't Think So!

The New York Times article suggests one can weed out ones' library. I don't think so. I have a difficult time loaning books. I cannot imagine bequeathing them to any other place for life.

By the way, I am promised that the physical re-construction (shelving and so forth) of my library will be completed by January 31st. Perhaps then, I will be able to unpack the more than 30 boxes of books that are stacked in our storage room, pending completion of said library.

The Art of Reading II

Back in grad school, I had started a project titled "Art of Reading," and it featured photographs of individuals engaged in reading as well as photographs of libraries, books, etc ... I think I am going to resurrect it because it keeps coming back to me, whispering, even taunting ...

I think I'll make it more like a commonplace book with drawings, photos, etc ... perhaps it will have a hyperart component.

Meanwhile, check out this cool project.

Speaking of books ...

I don't only read and collect them. I like to make art about books and reading, too. The mixed-media collage here in made on board and features a story about censorship, original drawings and calligraphy ("Knowledge is power"), burnt paper and acrylic paints.

(close-up view of upper quadrant)

Open Thoughts about Books

I have had a Kindle in my Amazon shopping cart at least a half a dozen times. As a matter of fact, I think it is on my wishlist and in the "save for later" collection I have stored online. So, why, tech geek that I am, have I not made the purchase?

First, the Kindle and similar e-reading machines -- or as the industry calls them "wireless reading devices" -- are EXPENSIVE. What is more, I am outright telling lies to myself when I argue that I can justify the expense by the amount of money I will save buying books. The truth is that it is likely the nation will be out of debt before I stop buying books. I know my bibliophilic habit is one that will not be kicked. Not all the intervention in the world will fixthis addiction I suffer.

So, if the Kindle or the Sony Reader were within reasonable price, I would likely buy one or the other and give electronic reading machines a try. Right now, I just cannot bring myself to do it.

Secondly, I love the tactile materiality of the book. I love the smell of books. I love the art on the covers of paperbacks. I love to make marginalia and to dogear pages. I interact with the physical object. I love to re-open books - some times years later - and see my response to an author's words, sentences, paragraphs, stories. So, in addition to the unaffordability of Kindle and Sony Reader, I guess I am a neo-Luddite when it comes to e-reading machines.

Still though, the fact that one year ago there were 38 million e-book titles and today there are 70 million is cause for pause. What does the gravitation toward electronic reading mean for the print book as an industry? What does it mean for libraries? For readers who cannot afford to buy books- print or electronic? For the artists who design books and book covers?

Remediation is a phenomenon I like and I dislike. Why not keep the old and adopt the new? Reading as we know it and as it is becoming can co-exist.

For now, perhaps, it is a good thing that e-reading machines are pricey?

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 ...