Thursday, February 24, 2011

The Sketchbook Project


Are you familiar with the The Sketchbook Project hosted by the Art House Co-op? Participants in this project were provided with a blank Moleskine sketchbook with its own unique bar code. They then selected one theme from a list provided and completed the sketchbook with that theme in mind. Completed sketchbooks were then returned and became part of a collection that will tour the United States. Over 28,000 artists from more than 90 countries received blank sketchbooks and approximately 10,000 books were completed and returned.

The opening of the travelling exhibit was this past weekend at the Brooklyn Art Library in Brooklyn, NY.


All visitors to the exhibit checked in and were given their own personal library cards, which granted them access to the sketchbooks, two at a time.


You could request books based on artist name, artist location, or sketchbook theme. The whole process was amazingly smooth and fast despite the large crowd and the large number of books...


...books...


...and more books!


I did not participate myself but was able to look up the sketchbooks from some artists who might be familiar to you.

A page out of the sketchbook of Chris Miser.

Joan Rowlands sketchbook from Australia.

From Kathryn Dyche Dechairo's sketchbook.

A spread from the sketchbook of Juana Almaguer.

From Pat McNally's sketchbook.

I know most of you will not get a chance to see this exhibit so I hope you enjoyed the view from your computer screen.

30 comments:

Anne Huskey-Lockard said...

Holy cow....the number of books is STAGGERING....
What a delight it would be to live close and get to browse through at least a few.
Amazing.

XXOO~~
Anne

Lisa said...

thanks for the virtual tour! looks like one could get lost in there for a long time browsing and reading...

Jill zaheer said...

That's unbelievable Seth. Just astonishing and love your pics of all those books. Thanks so much for showing us some of the individual sketchbooks as well. You do get to see some of the most unusual exhibits around!

mansuetude said...

i so LOVE the idea of checking the books out as a library activity.

the drop out rate, from 28- 10, ooo
is somewhat worst than freshman college dropouts ... interesting.

thanks.

Kathryn Dyche said...

I love that you took the time to check out some books, I'm definitely hoping to get to see some when the sketchbook project comes to DC.

Thanks for featuring a page from my book. x

creativelenna said...

Thank you for posting about the opening, Seth. My sketchbook was in there somewhere! I hope to see the "Tour" of Sketchbooks when they come to Winter Park, Florida in July. Your photos were really something. Very appreciated!

Julie Prichard said...

Awesome post, Seth! I did not participate either..but looking at the books and these few pages was really exciting!

ArtPropelled said...

10,000 !!! All those books...... I would be quite overwhelmed trying to decide which to look at and would want to camp there for a few hours..... or days. Thanks for showing us a few familiar "faces".

Caroline Gill said...

Thank you, Seth, for bringing this before our eyes. What a wonderful project.

Emma said...

I'm in there somewhere & Chris is a buddy of mine! I'd like to camp with Art Propelled & go thru them - probably won't get a chance to see them here on the Isle of Skye so good to see them thru your eyes.

Missouri Bend Paper Works said...

My heart is still jumping from those shots of the shelves filled to the hilt with all those lovely little books from all over the world. As a former library cataloger, the collection of the books is enough to make me swoon...and then there all those little books themselves....I'm in a dead faint!!! Thanks for the virtual tour! Patti

lyle baxter said...

what a sight all those books. thanks so much for the tour! the photos of the bookcases full takes your breath away. just think of all the picassos and michaelangelos hidden on those shelves. I would love to see them in real life!

iHanna said...

Yes! I am excited to see those book shelves. Thank you Seth for sharing this. My little sketchbook traveling from Sweden is in there somehwere too. What a huge project they've put together!

Dayna said...

I did, I did enjoy the view from my screen thanks to you, Seth. Thank you.

Artsnark said...

what fun!

GalleryJuana said...

Hi Seth,

Thank you for explaining the process of checking out a book. I'm hoping to make one of the exhibitions when it tours and was wondering what info I'd need on hand.

I am honored that you took the time to have a look at my sketchbook and included it in this post. Thank you much.

Truly amazing that 10,000 sketchbooks are there!

Susan M said...

Thank for the pics - I saw mine in the 2nd picture, on the 3rd shelf, 17th from the left....

IrelandBrady said...

The enormity of this project is over whelming! What an amazing fete, so much talent. so many books revealing the true artist in each. WOW! Absolutely amazing!

Thank you for sharing this and bring the "ArtHouseCoop.com" to the attention of so many more.

I would imagine one could get literally lost in this sea of artwork.

Anonymous said...

Once again..thanks for posting these images as you're right...I won't be able to see them in person. Incredible sketchbooks...all!!

Parabolic Muse said...

OMHS
(oh my heaventy sakes!)

These walls are incredible! I love the inside look at the check-in process, and that you went there the first weekend! You really ARE amazing. And thank you so much for featuring one of my pages. That is so sweet, really, plus, I SO want to see Emma's and Hanna's and all the other wonderful artists, what they did, their theme, their construction, their interpretation, their inspiration...

Just send all those over to me at your earliest convenience, you know, when you aren't doing anything else.

XOX

ooglebloops said...

So glad you got to go and were able to see mine too!!! Thank you!!I can't wait for the tour to come to DC- 28,000 books - wow!! Will have to take a list !!
These can be viewed online - some of the artist have theirs digitized on the library website. It will probably take a while before they are ALL up there. While not quite the same as holding a book in ones hands - at least those who can't get to an exhibit location, can peruse some of the books online.

Unknown said...

It's so amazing to see ALL the BOOKS!

Mine is there :) Check it out next time you visit!

I will see the tour in Seattle and am really looking forward to that!

x..x
steph

Lynn Cohen said...

What a sweetheart you are to go to the library and share some of the wonderful art in the sketchbooks with us Seth! Thank you!

nancy neva gagliano said...

just grinning that you went there and did this!

Marit said...

I am familiar with the project, but didn't participate - how awesome that you got the change to visit the exhibition! I would have loved to 'nose around' there! Thanks for publishing some pages, they all are gorgeous in their own, unique style!

Anonymous said...

a very cool concept, I am so glad to hear that it went so smoothly. I have no doubt that if it were possible for me to see it in person, I would become obsessed with nosing through thousands of them!!! thanks for the virtual tour! Cheers from Barcelona, Spain

rivergardenstudio said...

What an incredible experience this must have been! Thanks so much for sharing it with us! Stacks and stacks of art journals! roxanne

donna joy said...

wow-thanks for posting a few pictures-must have been amazing/overwhelming at the same time-is there a list/site to see where they will be exhibited?

cookievf said...

LOVE that you shared this with us, seth! And the pics you took of all those lovely books lined up across those shelves was SUCH a "juicy" shot... made me want to jump right in and disappear for an afternoon!

As I'm fairly local, I was sad to realize it's already left Brooklyn (3/6) for Austin, TX (3/12) but was thrilled to discover they'll be part of the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Art Library at the end of the tour! And I plan on going solo, so i can CAMP OUT for a few hrs. Meet you there?

- vicki xo

Irene said...

You gave me a sense of being at the exhibit. Very exciting to see all of the creativity on shelves. Thank you for the tour.