Excerpts

In the bookmaking class, part of the actual book that needs to be made is the content. For one of my books, I read various issues of The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and The New York Times Book review (and one short story from last year), and picked articles from them to draw a variety of charcoal illustrations.

"Sowing for the Apocalypse" by John Seabrook (The New Yorker, August 27, 2007) is about the world seed bank. In the illustration, I focused on the man who began collecting seeds for plant breeding, Vavilov.



"How Can You Distinguish A Budding Pedophile From A Kid With Real Boundary Problems?" by Maggie Jones (New York Times Magazine, July 22nd 2007).



"High and Mighty" by Sasha Frere-Jones (The New Yorker, August 13, 2007) is about Lil Wayne. In the article, Lil Wayne is compared to Bob Dylan. I want to go back into this one and add the foreground objects from the original Bob Dylan image.



"Until Gwen" by Dennis Lehane is a short story about a son released from prison, his conman father, his girlfriend, a diamond and a grave. It is currently in production as a full-length feature film.



"The Dark Side" by David Owen (The New Yorker, August 20 2007) is about the disappearance of the night sky through light pollution.



"The Taliban's Opium War" by Jon Lee Anderson (The New Yorker, July 9 & 16 2007) in which everyone's hands are tied, from the farmers to the authorities to the government officials.



"The Discreet Charm of M. Sarkozy" by Michel Onfray (Harper's Magazine July 2007) is an excerpt of an interview of Sarkozy by Onfrey. In the interview, Sarkozy says: "For a long time, I got drunk on crowds, from their applause, their excesses, perhaps even their hysteria. And now I am more appreciative of their silence. It expresses much more than applause."



"A Dishonorable Affair" by Katherine Zoepf (The New York Times Magazine, September 23 2007) is about the recent case of honor killing of Zahra al-Azzo in Syria. I'm giong to make a painting of this illustration.



"Body of Work" is a book by Christine Montross, reviewed in The New York Times Book Review (June 24, 2007) by Mary Roach. Montross wrote the book during her first year at med school, and in the article, Roach calls Montross a poet.



Next semester I'll be doing more of the same, reading magazines and publications to create illustrations for the articles and stories. Except this time, I'll be locked away in the printmaking labs, experimenting with monotypes.