One thousand journals are travelling from hand to hand throughout the world. Those who find them will add their stories and drawings and pass the journal along in an ongoing collaborative art form.
"Peeking into a journal from The 1000 Journals Project is like peeking into a stranger's diary: enormously compelling, and slightly voyeuristic. The words, photography, and artwork give you revealing glimpses into the lives that the journal has touched" says Brian Singer, alias Someguy, the guy who has developed the project, a graphic designer with a personal interest in reading graffiti which others doodle on the tiles of public restrooms. Yes, because everything began into a toilet. "I've always been fascinated by what people scrawl on bathroom walls and in public spaces. I had been taking photographs of this writing for years, and wanted to put it together in a book. It seemed appropriate to encourage readers to become contributors, and join the conversation by writing in the actual book. From there, I decided that a blank book might be more fun... especially one that traveled around, to gather a variety of thoughts and opinions. And then, why not 1000 of them? It's such an absurd number".
The 1000 Journals Project is designed to stimulate collaboration and understanding among perfect strangers. Blank, 220-page books are sent out from San Francisco or dropped in discrete locations around the world. Each journal has a set of instructions stamped on the inside that invite participants to draw, paste, cut, rip, write, fold, or burn. When finished, participants pass the journals on. A web site tracks the books and their contributors, and displays scans of the pages.
The journals have already traveled by air, sea, and land throughout 40 countries and all 50 states. They've come to rest in hostels, cafes, and law offices, and they've been passed in phone booths, bathrooms, and bookstores. Journals from the project have been the subject of treasure hunts (#354), hidden in remote caves (#285), abandoned at airports (#001), left in the lost and found (#300), and stolen at gunpoint (#949). Each journal is visually unique thanks to covers designed by both well-known and emerging artists. Amy Franceschini of Futurefarmers , renowned rock poster artist Mark Arminski , illustrator Gary Baseman , and digital guru Joshua Davis are just a few of the artists who have contributed covers.
Started in August, 2000, the 1000 Journals Project has already attracted a following among journalers, artists, and writers alike. It has inspired many to resume forgotten artistic endeavors, while others have been influenced by the project's method of sharing. Still others look to the project for escape. When US bombs began falling on Baghdad in March, a well-known Iraqi Web presence began directing Iraqi Web surfers to 1000journals.com for diversion.
The project has not only allowed people to participate in a collaborative project bigger than themselves, but it's brought inspiration back into their lives. It has reopened the doors, and has encouraged people to pick up their old journals and draw again, write again, to begin painting again, because they'd forgotten how enjoyable it is. The journal project reawakened that creativity in them, and motivated them into action. Based on flux and faith, the 1000 Journals Project is an experiment where the journals themselves are a museum and every participant is an artist.
"
More recently, I've launched 1001journals.com , the next generation of the project. This site allows participants to launch their own traveling, location, and personal journals to share with the world", says Someguy.
A few months ago, The
1000 Journals Project Book was published by
Chronicle Books, and boasts images of the best entries from around the world, as well as two stitched pages which have to be seen to be believed. Finally,
The 1000 Journals Documentary , by Andrea Kreuzhage is premiering at the
AFI International Film Festival on November 4th, 2007.
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Links
www.1000journals.com
www.1001journals.com
www.1000journalsfilm.com
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