Sunday, August 31, 2008

1001 Journals

The place I live at and the place I would like to be
My mom just recently gave me this journal. As I don´t keep a diary and the pages are a bit thin for drawing I thought I could use it for 1001 journals, a project which evolved out of 1000 journals. 1000 journals had been the attempt by Someguy, a San Francisco based artist, to follow 1000 journals throughout their travels, to see where they go, and what people do with them. From all the 1000 books he sent off summer 2000 1 came back in 2003. What happened to the other 999? A documentary (telling the story about these 999 journals) has been just released this month at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco.
New journal
Basically you sign up to add to a journal or you start one yourself and let it out into the wild. I sent this one (registered as Journal 2898) off to the States and after the next participant has added some art to it, the book will be left in some public place (airport, subway, bus, pedestrian zone, McDonald´s, etc.). This way it will hopefully travel a lot and maybe one day it will be returned to me.
The place I live at ...

... and the place I would like to be
I do hope that I will one day get this journal back.

13 comments:

steve said...

Yeah, cool! This looks like a great project to get involved in. I've purchased the book, which is sold as an exact replica of the original 1,000 books Some Guys sent out, only it's full of excerpts from work that was returned to him--just like owning a real journal. I can't wait to go and buy the dvd of the documentary, when it's out too. Very exciting and inspiring stuff!

Kerstin Klein said...

Books/Journals with personal art or writings always feel very special to me. SO I´m really hoping that I´ll get it back one day.
Getting it back would be easier if I would have had a fixed list of participants, but I prefered to let it out in the wild. Though the chances of it getting lost are greater, I think it is more exciting to see the results of a "free" book.

mARTa said...

What a fun idea! I hope it returns to you someday also...and maybe one day before that I'll spot it and add my contribution too!

robin ann mcintosh said...

that's so awesome! you make sure to post about it right away if it does come back... how fascinating : )

Anonymous social worker said...

wow, actually my highschool art class got to experience 1001 journlas, we passed it on.

Moni Martini said...

das ist ja echt der hammer. menschh, da drück ich doch mal die daumen, dass ich vielleicht auch mal so ein buch unter die fitiche bekomme und natürlich, dass es wieder zurück kommt.

Kerstin Klein said...

@mARTa: now that would be fantastic, if someone gets it who knows me. but that would be a huuuuge surprise.

@a little bird: of course i will post about it immediately when it comes back. the chances aren´t high though. in the last project by someguy 1 returned out of 1000 journals. and after three years!!! i wrote a notice that someone should send the journal back in february and then i´ll pass it on again.

@RiverMist: wow. that´s cool. did you find one of the journals, or did you sign up for it? btw: you´ve got a nice blog.

@_paulina_: bin gespannt ob es zurückkommt. wenn du möchtest, dann kann ich noch ein buch starten und dir geben? hääte ich es früher gewusst, dann hätte ich es dir noch rechtzeitig vor dem urlaub gegeben. dann hättest du es in paris, madrid oder barcelona aussetzen können. wäre cool gewesen.

Mim said...

This should be a very interesting project - I'd love to see the completed piece.
Did you get your newspaper yet? probably not but it is in the mail.

soulbrush said...

man oh man this is such a cool idea. there is a group of people who read a paperback book and then leave it on a tube or train or bus and hope it gets read by someone else.

Kerstin Klein said...

@mim and soulbrush and others: i have another journal which hasn´t got any purpose yet. one possibilty at 1001 journals is to start a journal with only friends being invited to participate. so in case anybody is up to it, just let me know. For example I could send it to Mim, and she will then decide whom to pass it on next, etc.

@mim, the magazines haven´t come yet, but usually it does take some time. i hope you didn´t pay too much for postage. just let me know whether I can send you something in return, or if i can return the favor in any way.

Kerstin Klein said...

@soulbrush: that group sounds like bookcrossing.com
i´m member there too, as i hate throwing away books and absolutely can´t keep all of them.

Moni Martini said...

oh ja, hmm... mann, das wäre toll. ich würde es sofort mit auf reisen nehmen und da wo es mir am besten gefällt, werde ich es aussetzen... bis morgen müsste ich es dann aber schon haben...;o)

Kerstin Klein said...

na ja... ich hole die kinder um 15 uhr vom kindergarten ab, dann könnte ich dir ca. 15.30 uhr irgendwo ein büchlein vorbeibringen. kommt natürlich darauf an, wo du gerade bist. falls du das möchtest, dann schick mir doch eine email, wo ich das buch abgeben kann und deine nummer, damit ich kurz anrufen kann, wenn ich da bin.