SELF PUBLISH, BE HAPPY!
Photobook workshop for students. The participants were asked to interpret different workshops topics – Wunderkammer, Self Publish, Be Happy! Art, Society and Political Correctness.
Space & time: University of Plymouth 13 – 15 March, 2018 / AFA Katowice 15 – 16 November, 2018 / HDK-Valand. Academy of Art and Design
, Gothenburg – 26 February – 2 March, 2019
Workshop leaders: Barbara Kubska & Katarzyna Wolny
Content: Provenby growing popularity of art book and photography fairs (London Book Fair, Miss Read Berlin, NY Book Fair), photobooks are recognized as one of the most important recent photography medium. They attract attention of both mainstream photography magazines (f.ex. British Journal of Photography, Lightbox Times’a, Lens Culture) as well as self publishing movements. Workshop participants were asked to interpret different workshops topics – Wunderkammer, Self Publish, Be Happy!, Art, Society and Political Correctness. We wanted them to interpret the topics as widely as possible – from various phenomenons connected with the idea to very direct interpretations. Students’ works could have refered to art/photography, both mainstream and alternative, although it was not mandatory. The workshops, depending on number of students and level of their experience in photography and book design, took from 2 to 4 full days. On each day students spent 6 hours on lectures, exercises and revisions. Students were obliged to prepare a set of approximately 20 to 30 photographs (of their own choosing, or on a given topic), prior to the workshops. They were using both digital and analogueversion of the pictures.
On the first day of each workshops students were presentedwith identical introductory lecture, and asked to present their interpretations of the given topic in front of the group. Following days were focused on individual work on the photobooks. The problems analyzed during the workshops included: photoedition, creating a linear/non-linear narration, building relations between the topic/photographs/typography means and bookbinding, designing book layout, creating a book mockup, combining the content of the book with it’s physical form – paper, type of binding, cover, endpapers etc., various bookbinding methods, pre-press: color management, exporting a printable pdf.
The aim of the workshops was presenting the students with an interdisciplinary approach to book design, and means to complete an art project in a way that could help themconvey their message to wider publicity.
Students/artists: Monika Balukeviciute, Anna Cichoń, Gloria López-Cleries, James Duffy, Jessica Ekström, Danny Everton, Camila Rojas Fritz, Adam Garratt, Magdalena Glodowska, Agata Gromada, Miina Javadzadeh, Vera Jörgensen, Aleksandra Kulus, Caitlin Littlewood, Jude Bryson-Meehan, Paulina Michalska, Reyhaneh Mirjahani Mohammadabadi, Alexandra Papademetriou, Tonie-Carol Patchett, Jess Plowright, Will Ruff, Katarzyna Sobczak, Bethany Thomas, Natalia Wielgus, Wioletta Wojciechowska, Chloe Amber Wright, Kirsten Wrig