User:Simon/Trim4/fieldwork

21.10.19 - Meeting with Eva Olthof

Eva Olthof is an artist who is conducting a research project titled "Public Library Of". I was interested in talking with her about her work with libraries, and in particular, how they are managed. Recently, I've been telling everyone that the bootleg library is not my library, but ours. The feedback I've received in response has been that this is a potentially dangerous position - in trying to be democratic, I may be creating confusion and a lack of confidence that I am responsible for the bootleg library. Eva believes in a democratic approach to library infrastructure, in which experts and non-experts are both involved. She sees herself as a initiator of libraries, rather than an administrator, or a librarian.

Eva's most recent project is a residency with PrintRoom Rotterdam, producing a series of zines called "Dear Bieb", in which Olthof outlines an upcoming research project she plans to conduct within the Bibliotheek Rotterdam, the main municipal library here in Rotterdam.

Eva's zine, produced at PrintRoom, designed by Guilia (former XPUB student):

We talked about this project, which began with her approaching the Bibliotheek Rotterdam to request a space in which she could conduct her research. At the basis of this project is a very simple question, but one that warrants asking: What does library membership mean? This is a very pertinent question, as library members are treated as customers; for a start, library membership is not free (you have to pay a small fee), and also the Bibliotheek Rotterdam recently announced plans for the building of a Starbucks cafe, and a Blokker (a commercial bookshop). Public library spaces are becoming commercial spaces, as businesses try to capitalise on the sociability that libraries produce.

She said that she spent quite a few months getting passed around from person to person within the administration of the Bibliotheek (who didn't really know how to place her request - was it art? was it research?). She spoke of her wishes with the project, including the creation of a small collection of member-contributed texts, and the possibility of publishing from the space within the library. We talked about possible ways that I could be involved in this project, and the potential for using some of the digital publishing knowledge I have gained to publish from the space of the library.

We also discussed the initiation and development of Leeszaal, which is a successful model of a community space based around a collection of books. Eva said that Leeszaal was initiated after many small local public libraries were closed. The initiators of Leeszaal, Joca and Maurice, met with members of the local community, and asked two questions: 1) Do we need a library? and 2) If so, how can you contribute? These seem to be very pertinent questions, asked in a way that includes non-expert opinions. This was inspiring to hear, as I'm also working in an amateur librarian way, with other people who are also not professional librarians.

20.11.19 - Meeting with Yin Yin Wong at Publication Studio Rotterdam

I met with Yin Yin at PS Rotterdam to talk about book production, and the particular publishing model that Publication Studio works with. Publication Studio is a federated publishing initiative, with branches all over the world. It began in Portland, founded by Matthew Stadler and Patricia No, motivated by the simple desire to self-publish at low cost. Yin Yin told me that the rudimentary equipment used at each Publication Studio is a hot glue hand-binder machine, a laser printer, and a guillotine. The main idea is to provide perfect bound (softcover) books cheaply, and locally.

The hot glue binder at PS Rotterdam

The guillotine at PS Rotterdam

All of the Publication Studios worldwide print books from a shared catalogue. The idea is to provide an inexpensive POD service for their own books, and for others. Economic considerations mean that the books are usually printed on the same inner text stock, with coloured paper covers printed usually with a stamp, or in simple black ink. Differences in availability of machinery, paper stock and technique mean that all the books produced are slightly different from each other. In this sense, it's kind of like they are all following a recipe, with slightly different ingredients.

Alongside running PS Rotterdam, Yin Yin also runs a service called "Moonshine Editions". It was interesting to see that she had been thinking along the same lines as myself in terms of the bootlegging aspect (moonshine is hard liquor that was made and sold during the prohibition years). We talked about the gesture of homage in bootlegging, and how this is aligned with how we look at this process (rather than the cheap knockoff definition floating around contemporary notions of what bootlegging is). She showed me some books she made during her time studying at the Werkplaats Typografie, in a series called "Mary Shelley Frankenstein Facsimiles". The books were made by photocopying an entire book, annotating relevant sections, printing it from one paper stock (quite low gsm, around 80/90) with a self cover, and perfect binding the book. The materiality interested me - was this some kind of spectre of a book? The whiteness, the economy of just wanting the text and not introducing new typographic considerations, the self-cover with handwritten title.

Yin Yin, along with the editor Isabelle, staff Paula, and an intern (whose name escapes me) were busy producing a set of ten books. We talked about the production process - they were working towards a deadline, so they were hot glue hand-binding them, rather than using the cold glue automated machine. Cold glue is much more flexible, and allows the book to be opened wider than hot glue, however the lack of rigidity in the spine means that if it is glued to the cover, the cover is likely to bend as well.

Yin Yin generously offered for me to come and bind some books sometime - I talked about problems I was having with the machinery here at WdKA. We also talked about paper grain direction - at PS Rotterdam they get their paper custom cut and delivered, A5 sheets which they print one-up on (Yin Yin said 2-up was problematic with the paper grain direction).