Simon's What How Why 26-9-18

Simon's What How Why

From the books: SLV RBRR 000-099 (FTB: SLV RBRR 000-099) is a publication that explores marks left in over 300 books by visitors to the State Library of Victoria (SLV) Redmond Barry Reading Room (RBRR). The book is section-sewn, with an unglued spine, allowing it to incorporate other components of the publication, including a zine (with a commissioned essay by Federico Antonini on book-marking as a creative strategy in art and literature) tucked inside the front cover, and a collection of 4" x 6" photographs taken at the SLV which are randomly inserted between pages. Transcripts of sounds recorded in the RBRR, which appear as intermittent typographic spreads within the layout. On the cover of the book is a list of the terms we defined to categorise the types of marks discovered. The preface to the book is an essay I wrote on the changing role of libraries, with a tongue-in-cheek "bibliography" at the back giving details of each book that appears in the publication. Examples of marks catalogued in the publication (both intentional and accidental) include marginalia, underlined text, dog-ears, stains, wear and tear, and objects left within books, such as photographs, scraps of paper or letters to future readers. The books are from the first section of the Dewey Decimal System, 000-099, as well as an essay, and transcripts of sounds recorded in the RBRR, which appear as intermittent spreads within the layout.

The publication developed from a research project undertaken in collaboration with graphic designer Masaki Miwa. Part of the research involved exploration of the books within the 000-099 section, in which we removed each book, inspected for marks, and scanned results, which were then identified, catalogued and inserted into the layout of the publication. Other research included interviews with librarians at the SLV on marks within rare books (which can indicate provenance). This resulted in an essay I wrote on the changing role of public libraries from repositories of knowledge to active social spaces, which acted as a preface to the image section of the book.

The project began with an interest in this phenomenon, and curiosity about the possible intentions of mark-makers. This expanded into a wider exploration of public libraries and their role within society. Our interviews with librarians at the SLV revealed the relationship between a book’s value and the phenomenon of mark-making, which can transform a book from a lowly multiple into a rarefied object and determine its place within the collection, i.e. moving it from public shelves to stacks in less-accessible locations of the library. FTB: SLV RBRR 000-099 also is an attempt at a taxonomy of mark-making (within the limited context of this section at that particular time), in the discovery, interpretation and cataloguing of these marks.