Curiosity Journal #4: Book "Defacing"

Seeing as deviated from the routine with the last curiosity journal and focused on something a little different, I thought we would continue that theme today and talk about book defacing. Not in the traditional sense of someone disagreeing with a book and deciding that its okay to burn or rip it, but something else. Book defacing is the kind of sarcastic name for what is really book decorating.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love books with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. I average about ten books read a month and as of the 4th of May, I have read exactly eighty two books since the beginning of 2017. Normally I read about one hundred books a year; this year, according to statistics, I'm set to double that. (So long as university doesn't get in the way, which we all know it will.) I love recommending new books to people. I love talking about my favourite books. Reading is my crack.

So when I found a whole online reading community, made up mostly of kids my age, all talking about the same kind of books I loved while still introducing me to new ones, I knew I had found my people. 

Across every social media platform they were there: making book reviews on Youtube, recommending books on Twitter, and posting pics of books on Instagram. And while there is no doubt in my mind that this community is one of the most open, welcoming, kind, and free of drama spaces that exists on the internet, there was a certain... worshipping of aesthetic. I know, its ironic that my last post was literally all about aesthetics and now I'm about to drag them, but I do think there is a difference. 

Within the community, hardcovers were more prized than paperbacks, bookish swag and merch was sold, and there was this kind of unspoken idea that your books had to look perfect. No one wrote in their books, no one dog-eared pages. It bugged me. And that's were book defacing comes in.

Some people within the bookish community, got tired of keeping their books perfect and decided to show that a book doesn't have to be in store bought condition to be beautiful. They decided to show that "defacing" could be just as beautiful as a brand new book; and that owning a defacing book meant that it was one of a kind, uniquely yours. And boy, did they ever.

I like the idea of making a book uniquely yours, of having the ultimate collectors edition of something, and of incorporating your art into something you already love. I also like that book "defacing" has opened more people up within the community to marking up their books and seeing the beauty in imperfection and difference. 

I've seen people draw their favourite characters within the book, annotated the pages with calligraphy and notes, create beautiful designs on the end pages, and even include lyrics to songs that they thought fit the story. Its really just another form of fan art and I love it. I really want to try this out for myself, but I'm still debating over which book I should choose. Normally people read them while they're decorating, that way they aren't just decorating the outside, but the inside as well. I have a few books in mind, but I still have to narrow it down a bit. I'll make a new post on the topic once I've decided and started making my own.

Curiosity Journal #3: Tumblr Edits

This week I'm taking a break from the zine stuff, cause I want to talk about something new I've been curious about: Tumblr edits.

Tumblr edits are when you take a whole bunch of seemingly unrelated pictures to create a kind of collage of images that, when put together, give the viewer a small glimpse into the story they are trying to tell. Tumblr edits are usually based around a story or character, whether from a tv show, a book, or anything else, and essentially tries to show the viewer the feel or tone of that story or character. It's trying to summarize and represent a story with only pictures.

I'm not entirely sure if this "counts" as art, and whether or not I'd be allowed to do it for class, but this is technically a curiosity journal and this is something I'm curious about, so buckle up folks, cause I'm going to talk about this anyway.

The whole idea around Tumblr edits has to do with *aesthetic*. Finding the perfect pictures, that go together perfectly, arranged in the perfect order, to create the perfect image. I like the idea around Tumblr edits for a lot of reasons, but partly because images are usually only seen as powerful when they're on their own; but with edits its the exact opposite. With edits, the overall final product, of multiple images together, is what carries the impact. I'm also a fan of the idea of being able to potentially summarize and capture an entire mood or story or character with only images. The idea of someone being able to infer what a story is about, albeit vaguely, really appeals to me.

Plus, I just like the way they tend to look, alright? I'm kinda shallow, sue me.

This originally came about because a girl I follow on Twitter created a series of edits for her friends, each showing what she thought their aesthetic looked like. I really liked the idea, so I did a little bit of research and started doing them for my friends; basing their edits on the colours I thought represented them, their personalities, as well as their hobbies, interests, and passions.

Here's the one I made for my friend Ebba. I included her passions:
her family and indigenous rights. As well as some things I know she loves:
like graphic novels, pink, the beach, and being kind.

I'm not the best at them yet, I've definitely still have a way to go, but I'm still really happy with how it came out. I've learned quite a bit while exploring, and now I've expanded into doing character and story mood boards on Pinterest. I'm currently working on one for a novel idea I have, which I will eventually make into multiple edits (as well as, you know, an actual novel).

This whole aesthetic thing, whether in an edit or a Pinterest board, really does help you envision a narrative or a story; hell, I'm basically plotting my book through the pics I find on Pinterest. Here is my novel board if you're interested:

Anyway, this is something that I was curious about and wanted to explore, which seems to be the whole point of these curiousity journals, so... yeah. I was interested. I wanted to learn more. I did. Now I've got a new hobby and an idea for a future New York Times bestseller. I'll probably do an update to this in the future, showing what kind of aesthetics I've made, how I've progressed, and the things I've learned. But until then, see ya.