G/ Tutorial 03

Tutorial with Virginia

Date: Wednesday 24 October 2007
Time: 4pm
Venue: Postgraduate Seminar Room

This is quite an unexpected tutorial with Virginia Nimarkoh. She was a guest speaker who talking about the artists publications in that morning. She talked a lot about the relationship between the commercial field and the artists. It is quite an important and practical thing for our Book Arts student. Always, as students who are learning art, we are so ideal in making our own art but we always totally ignore the fact that we have to survive in the commercial field.

I have brought two books I made recently for her to have a look and commented on them. I have brought the “Structure Testing Dummy” of combining the East and West and “Loneliness in the West”. I explained a lot about the concept and the story behind these two books. I thought that this is quite a habit of the “designer” who always wants to explain everything to the audience and justify the linkage between concept and the execution. I don’t know I should change this habit or not. But I agree that, I should let the audience/ reader to feel the works first, and then I can explain the whole thing.

She was good at observation of the works and she gave a very different opinion on the book “Loneliness in the West”. She asked me “There are two parts combining together to form this book. Which part do you think is more successful? ” Of course, I got what she means, I also agree that the first part of the tracing paper is more successful than the second part. Now, the later part of this book is a little bit fail to present the concept visually. It is the weakness of this. Before, I wanted to print a article about “loneliness” on the black cloth but I failed to do so at that time. So, it is not that finished. Virginia also pointed out that the first part is more presentable and the later part is rather like the literate explanation of the book.

I really take her opinions as reference. I will try to improve our other works and avoid this kind of “concept larger than the art itself”.

I also showed to her our plan of doing the basic research on the East and West books. She really appreciated that and she like the nerdy feeling of the illustration of presenting the books in different cultures. This is just like a student handbook for teaching books. She thought I should continue to make a book of this research.

It seems her comment is totally different with Helen. But I like this kind of difference of opinions. So, that is why we need different tutors and guest speakers’ tutorial with us. We can learn and be inspired with different experienced people.