THE MATERIALITY OF TEXT AS NOT JUST SOMETHING TO BE READ, BUT AS AN IMAGE TO BE CLOSELY OBSERVED. MOLLY SPRINGFIELD. OLLY SPRINGFIELD MAKES GRAPHITE DRAWINGS THAT USE PHOTOCOPIES OF PRINTED TEXTS AS THEIR SOURCE MATERIAL. HER PROJECTS INCLUDE AN INTERACTIVE ARCHIVE OF MARGINALIA; DRAWINGS OF PHOTOCOPIES OF BOOKS ON THE HISTORY OF CONCEPTUAL ART; A "TRANSLATION" OF PROUST'S IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME IN THE FORM OF DRAWINGS; AND INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE PROTO-HISTORY OF THE INTERNET, GOOGLE'S PATENTS FOR BOOK-SCANNING TECHNOLOGY, AND THE INVENTION OF CALOTYPE PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE 1830'S. SPRINGFIELD'S ART PRACTICE COMBINES METICULOUS, OBSERVATIONAL DRAWING WITH CONCEPTUAL AND HISTORICAL INVESTIGATIONS. HER DRAWINGS AND INSTALLATIONS ARE TYPICALLY BASED ON TEXTS THAT REVEAL VISIONARY MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF HOW PEOPLE EXPERIENCE, ORGANIZE, AND REPRODUCE INFORMATION. SHE IS BEST KNOWN FOR DELICATE, FAITHFUL GRAPHITE-ON-PAPER DRAWINGS OF PHOTOCOPIED BOOKS. SPRINGFIELD'S "MARGINALIA ARCHIVE" IS AN INTERACTIVE INSTALLATION THAT EXPLORES THE RELATIONSHIPS READERS HAVE WITH TEXT. HER SOURCE MATERIAL, CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLES OF MARGINALIA SUBMITTED BY FRIENDS AND VIEWERS, IS REPURPOSED INTO A FUNCTIONING ARCHIVE THAT EXPANDS DURING THE COURSE OF AN EXHIBITION. ACCORDING TO ONE ART CRITIC, THE PROJECT "EXTENDS HER PRACTICE OF DRAWING PRINTED AND HANDWRITTEN TEXT, AND ADDS A SOCIAL DIMENSION" THAT "CHIMES WITH TODAY'S SOCIAL MEDIA CONSCIOUSNESS AND WITH GROWING CONCERN OVER WHAT, IN THE WAY OF PARTICIPATORY ENGAGEMENT, WE WILL LOSE IF THE AGE OF THE BOOK ACTUALLY DOES COME TO AN END." AN ONGOING, INTERACTIVE PROJECT ABOUT THE CHANGING NATURE OF READING AND SEEING IN AN ERA OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION. EXAMPLES OF MARGINALIA (READERS’ ANNOTATIONS)—ARE COLLECTED IN THE FORM OF PHOTOCOPIES INTO A FUNCTIONING ARCHIVE THAT VIEWERS CAN BROWSE AND CONTRIBUTE TO DURING AN EXHIBITION. THE ARCHIVE IS ALSO USED AS SOURCE MATERIAL FOR DRAWINGS. #THEMARGINALIAARCHIVE 00:00 VOICEOVER: THIS EPISODE OF "THE ART ASSIGNMENT" 00:01 IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY SQUARESPACE. 00:03 00:06 WE ARE IN WASHINGTON, DC TODAY, AND WE'RE 00:08 MEETING UP WITH THE ARTIST MOLLY SPRINGFIELD. 00:10 FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS, MOLLY HAS BEEN 00:12 MAKING CAREFUL, LABORIOUS GRAPHITE DRAWINGS 00:15 OF PHOTOCOPIES OF BOOK PAGES. 00:17 SHE DRAWS FROM A WIDE RANGE OF TEXTS. 00:19 AMONG THEM, SEMINAL BOOKS ON CONCEPTUAL ART, 00:21 WALTER BENJAMIN'S "THE WORK OF ART 00:23 IN THE AGE OF MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION," 00:25 AND SEVERAL TRANSLATIONS OF PROUST'S "IN 00:27 SEARCH OF LOST TIME." 00:28 HER WORK ENCOURAGES YOU TO CONSIDER 00:30 THE MATERIALITY OF TEXT AS NOT JUST SOMETHING TO BE READ, 00:33 BUT AS AN IMAGE TO BE CLOSELY OBSERVED. 00:35 SHE'S INTERESTED IN OUR INDIVIDUAL RELATIONSHIPS 00:37 WITH TEXT, AND THE NOTES, SYMBOLS, 00:39 AND ANNOTATIONS WE ADD TO CHART THAT RELATIONSHIP. 00:42 THE MARGINALIA ARCHIVE IS AN ONGOING WORK OF MOLLY'S THAT 00:45 COLLECTS COPIES OF INSCRIBED PAGES FROM PERSONAL LIBRARIES 00:48 AND FILES THEM ALONG WITH INFORMATION 00:50 ABOUT THE PARTICIPANT. 00:51 OTHER RECENT WORKS INCLUDE THIS DOCUMENT, A BOOK 00:54 AND 20-PANEL DRAWING THAT BREAKS APART AND REASSEMBLES 00:56 ONE UNDERLINED SENTENCE FROM A DOUGLAS HUEBLER QUOTE 00:59 AS IT WAS REPRINTED IN LUCY LIPPARD'S BOOK "SIX YEARS-- 01:02 THE DEMATERIALIZATION OF THE ART OBJECT FROM 1966 TO 1972." 01:07 CHALLENGING THE IDEA OF PERFECT REPRODUCTION, 01:09 MOLLY'S WORK TRANSFORMS COPIES INTO ORIGINALS, 01:12 AND SHOWS US HOW BOOKS ARE NOT CLOSED DOCUMENTS 01:15 BUT COULD BE RAW MATERIAL OPEN TO INTERPRETATION 01:17 AND TRANSLATION. 01:19 HI, I'M MOLLY SPRINGFIELD, AND THIS IS YOUR ART ASSIGNMENT. 01:22 01:27 I STARTED MAKING MY FIRST DRAWINGS OF PHOTOCOPIES 01:31 IMMEDIATELY AFTER GRAD SCHOOL. 01:33 WHEN I FIRST STARTED MAKING THOSE, IT WAS AROUND 2005. 01:37 I'VE MADE PHOTOCOPIES OF BOOKS ABOUT THE PHILOSOPHY 01:43 OF LANGUAGE OR LANGUAGE IN ARTS AND LANGUAGE IN LITERATURE, 01:49 AND THEY WERE JUST BASIC 8 1/2 BY 11, 11 BY 17, 01:54 STRAIGHT UP HAND-DRAWN COPY OF THE PHOTOCOPY. 01:59 AND THEN IT GREW FROM THERE, AND THEN THINGS 02:01 HAVE EVOLVED A LITTLE BIT FROM THAT. 02:03 BUT THAT'S STILL A PRETTY SOLID FOUNDATION OF MY PRACTICE. 02:07 EVEN THOUGH I'M VERY FAMILIAR WITH MAKING COPIES 02:09 AND I CAN MAKE A GOOD GUESS, YOU STILL 02:12 NEVER KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO COME OUT. 02:15 I LIKE THE PARAMETERS THAT A PHOTOCOPIER GIVES YOU. 02:20 I'M NOT THE KIND OF ARTIST WHO RESPONDS 02:22 WELL TO HAVING EVERY OPTION AVAILABLE. 02:26 I LIKE TO HAVE A SET OF PARAMETERS, AND A PHOTOCOPIER, 02:30 YOU COULD ONLY ENLARGE TWO 400 PERCENTS AT A GIVEN TIME. 02:34 YOU CAN ONLY DARKEN AN IMAGE SO MUCH. 02:37 YOU CAN ONLY PRINT OUT ON WHATEVER PAPER 02:40 YOU CAN LOAD INTO THE COPIER. 02:42 SO IT HAS ALL OF THESE BUILT-IN PARAMETERS, 02:44 AND YOU HAVE TO TRY TO WORK WITHIN THEM. 02:46 AND I LIKE THAT A LOT. 02:50 THE FIRST STEP OF THIS ASSIGNMENT 02:52 IS TO PICK A PAGE FROM A BOOK. 02:54 IT CAN BE ANY KIND OF BOOK, ONE THAT 02:56 HAS PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE FOR YOU 02:58 OR ONE THAT YOU MAYBE JUST PULL AT RANDOM 03:00 FROM THE BOOKSHELF AT HOME OR IN THE LIBRARY. 03:04 NEXT, YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE A PHOTOCOPY OF A PAGE 03:06 FROM THAT BOOK. 03:08 AND THIS FIRST PHOTOCOPY SHOULD BE A STANDARD 8 AND 1/2 03:11 BY 11 OR 11 BY 17 PHOTOCOPY, DEPENDING 03:15 ON THE SIZE OF YOUR BOOK. 03:17 THEN YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE A PHOTOCOPY OF YOUR PHOTOCOPY. 03:22 AND THIS TIME, TRY MANIPULATING THE SETTINGS ON THE COPIER 03:26 TO CHANGE THE IMAGE. 03:27 SO YOU COULD INCREASE OR DECREASE THE IMAGE SIZE. 03:32 YOU COULD PLAY AROUND WITH THE DENSITY OR SHARPNESS SETTINGS 03:35 ON THE COPIER. 03:36 YOU COULD EVEN EXPERIMENT WITH THE MIRROR IMAGE 03:39 OR POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE FUNCTIONS 03:42 IF YOU'RE A PHOTOCOPIER HAS THOSE. 03:45 THEN, YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE A COPY OF THE PHOTOCOPY 03:49 OF YOUR ORIGINAL PHOTOCOPY, AGAIN 03:52 PLAYING AROUND WITH THE SETTINGS ON THE COPIER 03:55 TO CHANGE THE IMAGE. 03:57 AND YOU'LL CONTINUE THAT PROCESS UNTIL YOUR FINAL PHOTOCOPY 04:01 IS A TRANSFORMED IMAGE, SOMETHING 04:04 THAT LOOKS VERY MUCH REMOVED FROM YOUR ORIGINAL PHOTOCOPY. 04:08 SO SARAH, I OFTEN THINK ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT COPYING 04:11 IS TO THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, BECAUSE IS IF PEOPLE HADN'T 04:15 METICULOUSLY COPIED TEXTS OVER MILLENNIA, 04:19 WE WOULDN'T HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT, FOR INSTANCE, 04:22 ANCIENT ROME. 04:23 MM-HM. 04:24 WELL, AND WHAT MOLLY'S WORK DOES SO EFFECTIVELY 04:26 IS SHOW AND SORT OF GLORIFY THE VALUE IN THAT 04:30 COPYING, AND MEDITATING ON SOMETHING THAT IS EXISTING 04:35 AND THAT YOU CAN SIT THERE AND MULL ON 04:37 FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME AND NOT JUST COPY AND PASTE. 04:41 YEAH. 04:41 AND IT DOES CHANGE BY THE ACT OF COPYING, 04:45 AS WE'RE GOING TO SEE IN THIS PROCESS OF PHOTOCOPYING 04:47 A PHOTOCOPY, A PHOTOCOPY, A PHOTOCOPY. 04:49 RIGHT. 04:50 THE KIND OF LOSS THAT HAPPENS OVER TIME WHEN SOMETHING 04:53 IS COPIED AND COPIED ISN'T ALWAYS VISIBLE, 04:55 ESPECIALLY DIGITALLY NOW. 04:57 BUT I BELIEVE WHETHER OR NOT YOU CAN SEE THAT KIND OF LOST 05:00 FROM COPY TO COPY, IT'S THERE. 05:02 AND THIS ASSIGNMENT MAKES IT VISIBLE. 05:04 SO SARAH, NOW I'M INTERESTED IN HOW PHOTOCOPYING HAS 05:06 BEEN USED IN ART IN THE PAST. 05:08 AND I ASSUME THAT'S WHAT TODAY'S ANIMATION IS ABOUT? 05:11 YOU'RE CORRECT. 05:12 THE DAWN OF THE PHOTOCOPIER IN THE 1960S 05:15 COINCIDED WITH THAT OF CONCEPTUAL ART. 05:17 IT FOUND USE BEYOND THE OFFICE BY ARTISTS 05:19 LIKE MEL BOCHNER WHO, IN 1966, CURATED A SHOW BY ASKING 05:22 HIS FRIENDS TO SUBMIT WORKS ON PAPER THAT DIDN'T EVEN 05:25 HAVE TO BE ART. 05:26 THE GALLERIST WASN'T THRILLED WITH THE WORK 05:27 AND REFUSE TO HAVE IT FRAMED, SO BOCHNER USED A PHOTOCOPIER 05:30 TO MAKE FOUR SETS OF THE DRAWINGS 05:32 AND PRESENTED THEM IN BINDERS ON PEDESTALS. 05:34 REMEMBER, A HALLMARK OF CONCEPTUAL ART 05:36 IS LETTING THE IDEA COME BEFORE THE PHYSICAL OBJECT. 05:38 SO IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE THAT 05:40 ALONG CAME A SHOW IN 1968 THAT TOOK UP NO SPACE AT ALL, 05:43 EXISTING ONLY AS A BOOK. 05:44 FOR THEIR XEROXED BOOKS, SETH SIEGELAUB AND JACK WENDLER 05:47 INVITED SEVEN ARTISTS TO CREATE A 25-PAGE WORK 05:50 TO BE COPIED AND INCLUDED. 05:51 ALSO IN 1968, IAN BURN LOOKED CLOSELY 05:54 INTO THIS NEW MEANS OF REPRODUCTION. 05:55 HE BEGAN WITH A BLANK SHEET OF WHITE PAPER, 05:57 RAN IT THROUGH THE COPIER, AND THEN 05:59 USED THAT COPY TO PRODUCE A HARD COPY, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH 06:02 100 TIMES. 06:03 SCRATCHES AND STATIC CAME AND WENT WITH EACH PASS, 06:06 GETTING DARKER AND LIGHTER AGAIN. 06:08 BURN LET THE IDEA RULED THE PROCESS. 06:10 MOLLY IS ASKING YOU TO LET THE PROCESS BE YOUR GUIDE, 06:13 STARTING WITH A PAGE OF TEXT AND ENDING UP WHO KNOWS WHERE. 06:16 THE ACTUAL PHOTOCOPIES HAVE MATERIAL QUALITIES AS WELL, 06:22 AND DEPENDING ON THE PHOTOCOPIER THEY'RE 06:24 GOING TO BE VARYING QUALITY. 06:28 IF YOU USE A PHOTO COPIER IN YOUR SCHOOL LIBRARY 06:31 THAT GETS LOT OF USE, THAT'S GOING 06:33 TO MAKE A VERY DIFFERENT PHOTOCOPY 06:35 THEN A PHOTOCOPIER AT YOUR DAD'S OFFICE THAT IS REALLY FANCY. 06:40 IT'S GOING TO PRODUCE A BETTER-QUALITY IMAGE. 06:44 SO NEGOTIATING THOSE THINGS, AS WELL, I THINK, 06:47 CAN BE REALLY INTERESTING. 06:48 WHAT IS A BAD PHOTOCOPY? 06:51 GENERALLY YOU TRY TO AVOID THEM, BUT HERE I'M 06:54 KIND OF ASKING YOU TO PURPOSEFULLY MAKE 06:56 A BAD PHOTOCOPY. 06:58 SO WE'RE GOING TO LEAVE THE STUDIO 06:59 AND HEAD OVER TO AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WHERE I TEACH, 07:03 AND BORROW THE ART DEPARTMENT'S PHOTOCOPIER 07:06 TO MAKE SOME COPIES. 07:07 AND I'M GOING TO BRING A COPY OF "SIX YEARS," WHICH 07:11 IS A BOOK I'VE USED A LOT IN MY WORK, 07:13 AND ALSO A COUPLE OTHER NOVELS THAT HAVE TEXT AND IMAGE. 07:18 I THINK IT'LL BE FUN TO EXPERIMENT WITH THOSE TWO. 07:22 I THINK YOU COULD PICK A BOOK THAT HAS PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE. 07:26 OR BECAUSE THE FINAL COPY ISN'T MEANT 07:29 TO RESEMBLE THAT ORIGINAL, YOU COULD JUST KIND OF 07:33 PICK A BOOK AT RANDOM. 07:34 I THINK YOU COULD SHARE THE WHOLE PROCESS. 07:37 YOU COULD HAVE EVERY STEP THAT YOU DID. 07:39 OR IF YOU WOULD RATHER IT BE A MORE MYSTERIOUS IMAGE, 07:44 YOU COULD JUST HAVE THAT FINAL PHOTOCOPY OR FINAL DRAWING 07:48 OR PAINTING OR WHATEVER YOU ENDED UP MAKING. 07:50 WHEN AN IMAGE IS REPRODUCED-- AND I CONSIDER TEXT 07:54 TO BE AN IMAGE-- WHEN SOMETHING IS REPRODUCED, 07:57 I THINK NORMALLY INFORMATION IS LOST. 08:01 AND I'M INTERESTED IN WHAT HAPPENS 08:03 WHEN NEW TECHNOLOGIES ARE ADOPTED 08:06 AND WHAT GETS LOST IN THE PROCESS OF GOING 08:09 FROM ANALOG TO DIGITAL. 08:11 AND SO WHEN I'M AT THE PHOTOCOPIER, 08:13 I'M NOT STANDING THERE THINKING ABOUT THAT. 08:15 BUT IT'S PART OF WHAT IS DRIVING THE WORK. 08:18 I WANT TO KIND OF STRIKE A RELATIONSHIP 08:21 BETWEEN THE ACT OF MAKING A PHYSICAL ANALOG VERSION 08:26 OF SOMETHING THAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE DIGITALLY. 08:29 IT'S NOT 1966 ANYMORE. 08:31 WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT. 08:33 BUT THE TECHNOLOGY IS STILL THERE, 08:35 AND WE CAN STILL USE IT IN A WAY TO SAY SOMETHING 08:37 ABOUT NEW TECHNOLOGY NOW. 08:39 08:44 THIS EPISODE OF "THE ART ASSIGNMENT" 08:46 IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY SQUARESPACE. 08:47 SQUARESPACE IS AN EASY WAY TO CREATE A WEBSITE, BLOG, 08:50 OR ONLINE STORE FOR YOU AND YOUR IDEAS. 08:52 SQUARESPACE FEATURES A USER-FRIENDLY INTERFACE, 08:54 CUSTOM TEMPLATES, AND 24/7 CUSTOMER SUPPORT. 08:57 TRY SQUARESPACE AT SQUARESPACE.COM/ARTASSIGNMENT 09:01 FOR A SPECIAL OFFER. 09:02 SQUARESPACE, BUILD IT BEAUTIFUL. 09:05 MAYBE DON'T PHOTOCOPY YOUR BUTT. 09:08 [PLAYFULMUSIC] HTTPS://MOLLYSPRINGFIELD.COM/HOME.HTML HTTPS://MOLLYSPRINGFIELD.COM/SECTION/38675-THE-MARGINALIA-ARCHIVE.HTML HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/MOLLY_SPRINGFIELD
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