CAN PAPER SURVIVE THE DIGITAL AGE?

We've discussed this topic repeatedly in our class, right? However, it is a hot topic and articles continue to be published about it.

Here's another one published recently in The Guardian.

I love the idea that "paper is our second skin" (it is for me despite all these new technological gadgets) and also the strong link between paper and art:

"For better and for worse, paper remains our absolute all-time favourite self-extending prosthetic technology and device. It enables and represents the best of us, and the worst. Take art, for example. Of course, not all art takes place on paper. And not all art on paper is paper art. And some paper art may not be everyone's idea of art at all. Anyone for Lucio Fontana's paper-piercings? Or Gordon Matta Clark's paper slits and cuts? Joe Good's pellet-peppered paper? Martin Creed's Work No 88, A Sheet of A4 Paper, Crumpled Up Into a Ball (1994)? Or – my favourite, a masterpiece of its kind – Tom Friedman's 1000 Hours of Staring (1992-1997), stare on paper, 32½ins x 32½ ins, which is simply a plain white piece of paper that has been stared at. For a long time. But these are only the more obvious examples of the role of paper in art. It's possible to argue that the development of all modern art derives from what the critic Clement Greenberg called the "pasted-paper revolution". The use of paper collage in the early 20th century, according to Greenberg, liberated art from being merely decorative, an illustration of reality."

WRITING - Connections

YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS:
http://www.metmuseum.org/connections/writing#/Complete/

Researcher of Medieval manuscripts Wendy Stein discusses her fascination with writing and its history.

"If somebody hands me something that I need to sign and hands me a ballpoint pen, I will reject it."

Over 400 Xmas card every year!! OMG.

But I do like pens with a continuous flow too and FONTS!

I've kept a journal since I was 9, I keep writing letters and postcards and I love anything that's handwritten (with only ONE exception to this rule). I can see how my handwriting has evolved in so many ways, ant it's actually kind of funny to see the e-/in-volution.

The idea she mentions about "Your personhood conveyed through handwriting", I personally think it's BEAUTIFUL.

What do you think about writing? Handwriting? What about your writing experience?

ART & READING - Sculpture

What about sculptures related to reading and books?

Take a look at this one in Ocean County Library (NJ?). They also have a reading garden!

What do you say about this one? It's part of the the Ganesh (Vinayaka) sculptures in black granite ranging in size from 5 ft 6 inches to 9 ft and weighing between 2 and 5 tonnes,exhibited at Victoria’s Way, Roundwood, Country Wicklow, Ireland. Victoria’s Way is the largest and the most magnificent sculpture park. They were designed by DV Murugan and carved by one of India’s remarkable sculptors T Bhaskar in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India.

And another one in Coe College (Cedar Rapids).

Art and Reading

Woman with a Book - Picasso

The Reader - Renoir