Joachim Schmid's talk was fascinating to me. He explained that in the beginning of his artist book making, he did not know of them as artist books- as though it were a 'thing'. No one had introduced them to him in school.
He felt that they should be cheap and accessible- his books were made with simple means.
He had clippings from the daily paper. At that time, the paper was type set manually and it was interesting to him that a person could spot little mistakes- evidence of human error.
Schmid was not interested in his books being limited edition- the more his books could be seen or shared, the better.
Joachim: Low Budget Economy --> Independence
He collected pictures that he found in the street for over 30 years and compiled the photos into an artist book.
I found his presentation of the book very unusual. The pages were not bound but presented each page individually; no connection with one page to another page. His intention with this was to break up the linearity within the book form. The pages were housed in a box. Joachim did not want the organization of the pages to be duplicated. With each version of the book, the pages were in a different order.
Patrons at the museum, where the books were shown, could purchase pages, post card size, and create their own order of the pages- their very own book.
He noted his experience with museum curators and the process that is involved with documenting the condition of artwork upon it's arrival to the museum and before it is placed in an installation. This is for insurance purposes and policy, despite Joachim insisting they save their time with his materials (because they were found objects with plenty of distress and blemishes), the museum had to do so. Joachim noted that the scratches etc. added another layer of information to each photo. Also, he found the notations and evaluation of condition humorous and felt inclined to keep the report due to the amount of time that a person had spent on it.
Joachim shared that he believes Printed Matter (printedmatter.org) in NYC to be the best address for artist books. He talked about his experience with publishers and the speed bumps that one can encounter when looking to get published, get a project funded, or share their art.
The internet has been a game changer. This enables image or work sharing without cost of print and can reach a much wider audience.
There are tools and sites for book makers. An individual can have their own shop, share work easily, and distribution of materials is much different now than before the internet.
He mentioned ABC (Artist Book Cooperative), an informal organization that supports artists.
Also, that there are new avenues to printing that are not through a publisher. Self publishing can be through LuLu or Blurb.
Joachim walked us through his books--
Pictures Found in the Street
A conceptual issue, not print quality in Joachim's opinion.
He saved articles and clippings from the period of his photograph collections- creating an 'alternate history'.
Other People's Photograph's 2008-2011
A shift from found objects, literally from the street, to 'found' photographs and trends on internet photo storage websites. These are public and anyone can view the uploaded images.
By perusing online photo hosting sites, such as Flickr, he observed trends in photos that people were sharing. He began to catalog those trends and new patterns in image making that were occurring.
In my opinion, this is a fascinating catalog of human behavior.
Also, it is interesting, again, how the internet plays a large role. Schmid could see what individuals in Japan were having for lunch as he checked the sites in the morning- the time difference and relation to rate that you could instantly view these images as they were posted online.
Groupings/Book Themes:
Self: "selfies", self taken photos of oneself
Flashing: pictures with flashes in selfie- characteristically the same
Another Self: pictures of one's feet
Shadow: selfies of indivisual's own shadow
Buddies: selfies with another indivudal(s) included
Hotel rooms,
Airports,
You are Here: people have to assure themselves of where they are
Art: he observed and collected multiples of the same shot of the Mona Lisa. A trend in how individuals are documenting their experience- a "proving I was there" purpose. It was also noted, observation of individuals and their interaction with art. Silliness next to a sculpture or standing next to a famous artwork.
Schmid believed he discovered that photography culture has been redefined by siting these trends.
There were so many photographs shared of a cup of coffee. We all know what a cup of coffee is and what is the significance of sharing this? Letting everyone know that you are drinking coffee. It's this notion that humanity wants to share itself. People want a connection and to not feel alone.
The series of selfies and the popularity, raises a question: Are we living in Narcissism Culture?
In another series, "Black Books", Schmid included the captions as titles for photo collections.
"I was bored."- he noted the most popular shots with that caption was of shoes; converse sneakers being the most popular.
"I thought it looked cool."
"Awesome Errors, Dreadful Glitches": people upload errored photographs just the same.
"But is this Art?": people comparing their own photographs to the likes of Ansel Adams, for example.
"I don't know why I did this.": but the individual shared the photo anyway!
Schmid discussed people's relationship to their photographs and the documenting of EVERYTHING to their memory. He shared many postings of heart wrenching advertisements of lost cameras. Individuals confuse pictures with memories. There is a fear that if the photographs are lost, so too will be the memories of their experiences.
He also shared how the Flickr project was rather exhausting. Schmid spent 10+ hours a day looking through strangers' photographs.
In 20011/20112, he finished a collection, "Bilderbuch" (picture book). The first books we are given as children are picture books. Before learning to read text, we follow a story through imagery.
Photographs without a caption or text creates a different context- or lack of context, for the observer to formulate their own. Prompting the question, "What am I looking at?"
He showed an example of this: a snap shot of a barber's chair. The particular shot of the chair was not of an obvious context. The characteristics were dark and ominous. It looked as though it could have been an electric chair, based on the presentation. This prompts a different emotional response from the observer- to believe that this is an electric chair, carries different associations than a barber's chair.
Schmid discussed the presentation of his books, breaking the linear mold of traditional book structure. As I mentioned before, some books were contained in boxes and their pages kept loose. When his books were shown, Schmid did not want them displayed behind glass. They were to be touched, engaged in, and experienced in an interactive way. Soiling of pages etc. was par for the course. The various arrangement of photographs in his presentation allowed for the photos themselves to interact and talk to each other in a different way.
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