The artists’ book in the virtual space

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Master conjoint Franco-hellénique Université Paris 8 - Spécialité : Arts et Technologies de l’Image VirtuelleEcole des Beaux-Arts d’Athènes - Arts et Réalité Virtuelle Multi-utilisateurs

The artists’ book in the virtual space

Anna Meli

Mémoire de Master 2, 2014- 2015

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This work is dedicated to the following people who accompanied me on this journey from Athens to Paris and the world of letters and books.

Manthos SantorinaiosMarie Hélène TramusChu-Yin Chen Serge TzvetkovLeoni Vidali Voula ZoiNefeli DimitriadiTaxiarxis DiamantopouposTassos KanellosAnna LaskariJean Fransois Jego Nolwenn Tréhondart Arnaud Laborderie Tomek Jarolimmy family and my classmates

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Abstract

The present work constitutes the sequel of a ten year research and experimentation in typography and the relationship with other media. The research is specifically about the relation between art, book and writing as a visual means of expression. I search how the artist himself deals with the art of Book, through different periods, with characteristic examples. My intention was to prove that virtual space is the new substrate that will reinforce and will liberate the book’s structure, which has already acquired new extensions like the e-book. At the second part, my personal experiment is analyzed and a new form of artistic interactive book is suggested in the end. A book that is no longer a printed text or digital print-like, but a multimedia three-dimensional object, enriched with the meaning of time and interaction. Α book that will not address to one reader but to a “viewer-user”. At the same time, a prototype font was created, a writing that takes advantage of the possibilities of three-dimensional planning and which I name space-writing.

Résumé

Le mémoire ci-dessous est le résultat de dix ans de recherche et d’expérimentation sur la typographie et le rapport de celle-ci avec les autres moyens d’expression. Plus précisément, ce travail de recherche porte sur le rapport du livre avec l’art, et en particulier l’écriture en tant que moyen d’expression artistique. L’objet de cette investigation est la façon dont l’artiste affronte l’art du livre, à différentes époques et à travers des exemples caractéristiques. Mon objectif est de démontrer que l’espace virtuel est le nouveau substrat qui renforcera et rendra libre la structure du livre, lequel a déjà obtenu de nouvelles dimensions grâce à sa nouvelle forme, le e-book. Dans la deuxième partie du mémoire, je présente mes recherches et mes expérimentations personnelles, pour proposer enfin une nouvelle forme de livre interactif artistique. Un livre n’est plus un texte imprimé ou digital, mais un objet multimédia tridimensionnel, enrichi grâce au concept du temps et de l’interaction ; un livre qui ne s’adressera plus à un simple lecteur, mais à un « lecteur- utilisateur ». En même temps, une nouvelle police de caractères a été créée, une écriture qui selon moi profite bien des possibilités du dessin tridimensionnel et que j’appelle « espace- écriture ».

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Protect me from Alpha.Protect me from Beta.

Protect me from Gamma.From Epsilon and Zeta.

Being able to fight the Eta,Theta,

the Iotaand the remaining pawns of the alphabet,

that with the right movescan shred you,

make you forget who you are and where you’re going,

before learning to read the meaning of the enemies and their tools.

Protect me from the alphabet and the symbolism.

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CONTENTS

General Introduction ....................................................................................8Part I – Historical and theoretical context Introduction...................................................................................................10 1.1 Art movements and writing .......................................................12 1.1.1 Conceptual Art .............................................................12 1.1.2 Lettrism.........................................................................13 1.1.3 Art Informel...................................................................13 1.1.4 Art and Language.........................................................14 1.1.5 Narrative Art..................................................................16 1.1.6 Art Sociologic................................................................17 1.1.7 Computer Art.................................................................20 1.2 About Creative Writing................................................................23 1.3 The Evolution of Writing..............................................................24 1.4 Artists’ Books...............................................................................27 1.5 Artists and significant works......................................................33 1.6 Books in the digital era...............................................................38 1.6.1 The era of paper............................................................38 1.6.2 The era of information..................................................39 1.6.3 e-books..........................................................................40 1.6.4 Kinetic typography........................................................42 1.6.5 Augmented reality books.............................................45 1.6.6 Other examples of books by special techniques.......47 Conclusion..........................................................................................48

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Part II – My personal work Introduction...............................................................................................51 2.1 The transfigurations of letters...........................................................53 2.2 The book as a handmade carnet for painting and notes................57 2.3 The carnet de voyage.........................................................................59 2.4 The interactive book...........................................................................60 2.5 The book in space...............................................................................63 2.6 The book as performance...................................................................67 2.7 The book as playing cards.................................................................69 Conclusion................................................................................................69Part III – The Projects Introduction...............................................................................................71 3.1 Project A – The interactive book for children....................................73 3.1.1 Description of the project....................................................73 3.1.2 Structure of the project.......................................................74 3.1.3 The Interactions...................................................................74 3.1.4 Description of the application............................................75 3.2 Project B – The artists’ book in the virtual space.............................77 3.2.1 Suggestion for a new book form........................................77 3.2.2 Creation of a prototype Font.............................................78 3.2.3 Description of the project.................................................82 3.2.4 The concept of page–turning in virtual space .................85 3.2.5 The tool of virtual writing....................................................86 3.2.6 The new symmetry..........................................................................87 Conclusion................................................................................................89General Conclusion.............................................................................................89Annex The text of the project A.......................................................................91 The text of the project B..........................................................................92 Images of the visual research ..............................................................98Bibliography........................................................................................................100

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General Introduction

My love for books began with the course “Typography and Art of the Book” in 2007, when I was a third-year student at the Athens School of Fine Arts. Until then I did not realize the the importance of books and reading. Leoni Vidali guided us into this world, on a journey that was both artistic and deeply personal. Through her lessons seemingly simple concepts acquired deeper dimensions. I saw more in punctuation, gaps, spelling and searching for the right word. I acquired an appreciation for good paper and well-designed fonts. Furthermore, I developed an attention to detail, fine designs that speak to the text, beautiful colours, good inks and high-resolution printing. She taught us about putting our very souls into what we do, to work a lot until we exhaust all the possibilities on the page. So that anything can’t be more adjacent to or smaller on the page and to make pages that are aesthetically and technically perfect.

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Through this process, from the feverish work of typography arises the next need, to reach deeper, to see your work come to life, move and acquire its own course. And this is how I found myself in Manthos Santorineo’s laboratory, “Multimedia-Hypermedia”, and in his theoretical lectures titled “History of The Media”. His love for books, history, archives, cinema, his discussions on new substrates and the role of the artist in the era we live in inspired me and marked and determined the things I will seek henceforth. Through the courses new horizons were opened in my mind and I realized there was much I didn’t know, I discovered and appreciated new ways of expression and took advantage of the tools given to me. This field of research came through the book “De la civilisation du papier à la civilisation du numérique” by Manthos Santorineos, which describes the passage from paper civilization to digital civilization. I wanted to focus my research on this transition, through the filter of art and the artists’ books specifically, suggesting a new work, a book of virtual reality.

The technology and expertise, analyzing in steps whatever you choose to imagine, and the freedom of expression are the characteristics of a new process of creation. There are no limits. An image is no longer just printed or painted, but an entity, an almost magical object that is enriched with the concept of time and interaction. Through contact with the viewer, it becomes a unique project each time.

Within these last seven years, I have continued to experiment faithfully with pictures and words trying to illustrate the stories I wanted to share with the world with the new tools at my disposal. Now my aim is to create a book at a higher level, utilizing all the experiences I’ve had and the research I’ve done until now, proposing something new and innovative.

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Part I – Historical and theoretical context

Introduction

This year provided an opportunity for searching and thinking on many different levels. I made a wide research in historical, philosophical, and artistic terms, on writing and art. I read about Lascaux caves where humanity engraved its first stories, and about the pictograms on the plates of clay in Uruk, contemporary Iraq, with the cuneiform script and the first bookkeeping inscriptions. I learned about the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt – the writing of Gods as they called it – and Jean-François Champollion’s hassle to decrypt them through the Rosetta Stone.I learned about Sumer introducing phonograms into the alphabet; about Central America and Olmèques, about Islam and the calligraphy of the East. I also learned about the Phoenician alphabet, the Aramaic script, and the Greek one to follow; about Etruscans in Italy, and Mayas on the other side of the earth. I read about the era of clay and stone tablets, the era of manuscripts and the passing from papyrus into paper. I learned that the first work of literature worldwide has been the epic poem of Gilgamesh and that after twenty centuries Homer came in Europe with the Odyssey.

I read about the Library of Alexandria and I marveled at the calligraphy of Middle Ages that ornamented the borders of religious texts, the fine covering of books, the Byzantine book bindings and about the Book of Hours. I read about Johannes Gutenberg who in the 15th century invented typography by the technique of movable types printing as well and about the first printing press in 1450 AD. I read about Aldus Manutius with the invention of italic type, for establishing [semicolon] and for the protocol on the size and the scale of paper; Claude Garamont with his charming roman font, Christophe Platin in Netherlands, and Albercht Dürer in Nuremberg.

I went through Ex Libris, the masterpieces that collectors ornamented their books with; on the easiness of producing new fonts compared to the past, when this was a time-consuming process and needed knowledge of artistry, chemistry, technology, and construction. I read about the French movement OuLiPo and their play with the writing, and I also visited their exhibition at Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal. I realized the evolution of writing that from reed passed to brush, pen, type, typewriter, Braille writing, and reached screens and projectors. I read about how we little by little arrived at the era of internet and large campaigns on digitizing books, such as the Digital Public Library of Harvard University in 2012; about Books on Demand, about saving space when someone may choose a book through an archive and print it at the same time, challenging the balance that library scientists for years are trying to keep. I obtained useful information and I Identified the space that I had chosen to go through.

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My initial aim was to write in detail all elements I obtained throughout this searching, but in essence it would be about a second narration, a reproduction. It wouldn’t allow me to propose something new, only – in the best case – to describe my affection and admiration for this history as a whole. Thus, I took the decision not to include them in this dissertation and to concentrate on the artistic framework and not on the historical one to the same extent. This route helped me to raise my questions and proposals in a more mature way and to keep a broader view in terms of observation and reflection.

Εxamples from the history of writing

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1.1 Art movements and writing

1.1.1 Conceptual Art

In contemporary art writing has played a leading part. It becomes the competitor of the picture’s dominance, but often its supporter. Since 1920 and with the heyday decade of the 60’s, many artists experimented with writing, with the determinant work in the history of contemporary art, the “Fountain” by Marcel Duchamp. With notes, neon signs, advertising signs, printings and with other more traditional means, they set the new aesthetic that would deluge contemporary art. Art that touches philosophical issues, art, decisions and performances meaningless of the result, art that offends and art that rejects, that comments on social and moral issues. Minimal aesthetic, contradictions, variances and puns are the basic characteristics of these works. They usually provoked conversations and conflicts through a simple message. Henry Flint defines: “Concept Art” is first of all an art of which the material is “concept”, despite the oxymoron relationship the words material and concept have.1” It is commonly accepted that adding text in a painting or sculpture affected the image by the word’s energy immediately. For example the work “The Cacodylic Eye” by Francis Picabia in 1921, a painting with many different writings as if it is a piece of the road’s wall. The spectator focuses on reading the words and can no longer see the work as an image. He sees it as words with noise, as a text with low resolution. The artists have always tried to find a new form, a new aesthetic, and despite the faults, they seem to have been satisfied through the use of language.

The important feature of such works was that they had many explanations. They could extract from each viewer a different message, teach, irritate or inspire. Many times we do not know which was the initial purpose of the creator and other times the critic’s view was instrumental in the final portrait of the art, covering the initial intentions of the creator. Significant was the fact that the galleries showed great interest in such art and they often held an anti capitalist attitude, promoting this kind of art.

1 Henry Flint, An Anthology, 1963

Cacodylic Eye

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1.1.2 Lettrism

The foundation of the Lettrism movement in France by Isidore Isou, in Didacter Lettrisme magazine with Gabriel Pomerand, defined letters as a fundamental element for visual, audio, conjectural, architectural or gesture creation. Isou publishes a manifest with more than 300 pages by Callimard editions where he sets out the lines and the pursuits of the movement. It is the first time since Futurism era, Dada and Surrealism that such a powerful and substantial mass of artists – more than 100 people – is appointed and founded its own publications with almost religious discipline. “We will manage to realize the old dream of every poetry. To pass on the poetry everywhere and to surpass every nation and every arbitrary limit that is imposed, despite the people’s will.2” Scraps from the declaration of the foundation of Lettrism: “The letters behind words gave the primitive shouts and the primitive onomatopoeia. The words in front of our words become the mechanics (common facts) of a new art. The marks behind our marks, were re-exposing us the hieroglyphic configuration of writing and were modifying in post-writing.3”

1.1.3 Art Informel

In 1945 until 1960, in post-war France the Art Informel appeared, a movement that took advantage of the autonomous gesture and calligraphy in use of an expressive study of materials and mainly in rejection of a categorical realistic representation. Historically, the term was introduced in Drouin gallery by an exhibition with Haute Pate by Jean Duduffet, the Otages by Jean Fautrier, the work of Wols. An example of calligraphy use is that of Pierre Alechinsky, The Ant Hill (La Fourmiliere), 1954. In this work, you cannot read but it is clear that it is about a configuration with thick writing. Alechinsky was influenced by Japanese calligraphy, which he discovered during his travels to Japan in 1955.

2 Introduction à une nouvelle poésie et à une nouvelle musique, Gallimard, 19473 Introduction à une nouvelle poésie et à une nouvelle musique, Gallimard, 1947

Εxamples from Isidore Isou Pierre Alechinsky, La Fourmiliere, 1954

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1.1.4 Art and Language

The movement Art and Language is one of the most important groups who experimented with writing in the 60’s. When Conceptual Art began to decline, it set towards philosophy, linguistics and social sciences. The saturation of visual representation, realistic or imaginary, found a very large environment for expression throughout the language. The increasingly higher tendency for simplification of the artistic object, the need of communication with the general public and the love of people for sense and clear thinking led the artists to turn to texting.

Characteristic is the work of Jenny Holzer, a constant game with writings in public place. She is maybe the most known artist that deals with texts and was instantly accepted by the circle of Conceptual Art. She felt writings could be simplified to phrases everyone could understand. She called these summaries her “Truisms” (1978), which she printed anonymously in black italic script on white paper and wheat-pasted to building facades, signs and telephone booths in lower Manhattan. For instance, on a public notice board suddenly appears the message “Abuse of power comes as no surprise”, on a billboard in Venice is written “Protect me from what I want” and on a white printed t-shirt: “The authority abuse does not cause surprise”. Her messages always had a social nature and opened corresponding conversations to the circles of the critics and viewers.

Also characteristic is the work of Robert Barry consisting of the eight slides of “It is…inconsistent” in 1971, with printed sentences in the centre of black cartons. The artist comments: “I use the words because they apply to the audience. They come from us and we can relate. When I read words, when I read a play, it’s like the writer speaks to me. The very page speaks.4”

4 “Conceptual Art” Godfrey T., 1998

Jenny Holzer, Abuse of power comes as no surprise and Protect me from what I want

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The art can still be a decision, a contract which the artist receives and executes, after what he has promised. In such works it is not the visual product which is important but the keeping of the arrangement and its processing. An artist who dedicates himself to such a decision-art work is Roman Opałka. He began painting numbers from one to infinity. Starting in the top left-hand corner of the canvas and finishing in the bottom right-hand corner, the tiny numbers were painted in horizontal rows. Each new canvas, which the artist called a “detail”, took up counting where the last left off. In 1968 Opałka introduced to the process a tape recorder, speaking each number into the microphone as he painted it, and also began taking passport-style photographs of himself standing before the canvas after each day’s work.

1.1.4 Art and Language

The movement Art and Language is one of the most important groups who experimented with writing in the 60’s. When Conceptual Art began to decline, it set towards philosophy, linguistics and social sciences. The saturation of visual representation, realistic or imaginary, found a very large environment for expression throughout the language. The increasingly higher tendency for simplification of the artistic object, the need of communication with the general public and the love of people for sense and clear thinking led the artists to turn to texting.

Characteristic is the work of Jenny Holzer, a constant game with writings in public place. She is maybe the most known artist that deals with texts and was instantly accepted by the circle of Conceptual Art. She felt writings could be simplified to phrases everyone could understand. She called these summaries her “Truisms” (1978), which she printed anonymously in black italic script on white paper and wheat-pasted to building facades, signs and telephone booths in lower Manhattan. For instance, on a public notice board suddenly appears the message “Abuse of power comes as no surprise”, on a billboard in Venice is written “Protect me from what I want” and on a white printed t-shirt: “The authority abuse does not cause surprise”. Her messages always had a social nature and opened corresponding conversations to the circles of the critics and viewers.

Also characteristic is the work of Robert Barry consisting of the eight slides of “It is…inconsistent” in 1971, with printed sentences in the centre of black cartons. The artist comments: “I use the words because they apply to the audience. They come from us and we can relate. When I read words, when I read a play, it’s like the writer speaks to me. The very page speaks.4”

4 “Conceptual Art” Godfrey T., 1998

Roman Opałka, details, 1967

Robert Barry, It is…inconsistent, 1971

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1.1.5 Narrative Art

Two exhibitions that the John Gibson gallery organized in New York in 1973 and 1974 entitled “Story” and “Narrative”, favoured the growth of an international movement which would be present in numerous demonstrations in Italy and Northern Europe approximately until 1979. The particularity of this movement lies in the systematic use of photography which is accompanied by a text and both are split in space but are connected with a mental word. It derives from Conceptual Art which favours the thought and the artistic plan against its realization, but reacts against the analytical and didactic way of thinking5. The narrative way of the texts and the autobiographies of the artists largely come from the reserve of their memories, their travels or their sentimental life. The photography – text combination that was already used by Conceptual Art became the means to bring visually to consciousness a mental process. The stories appear when we associate texts with photography. The artists seek to discover the space-time content that is created by the display of the image and the writing, with implications or suggestions the viewer-reader may make.

Joseph Kosuth organized a series of exhibitions named “Zero and No” in 1986. He was displaying huge printed versions of Sigmund Freud’s books which covered entire walls. He then wrote off the texts with black paint, noting that “Oppression may always return”. It is true that he did not abolish the meaning of the words, but he made the reading process more time-consuming. Therefore , the viewer has to be a careful reader and take all the time he needs to assimilate the content. Another significant work about language is “One and Three Chairs” in 1965 which exhibits an actual chair, a photo in proportion stuck on the wall behind and a blow-up of the entry “chair” from the dictionary.

5 “Groupes, mouvements, tendances de l’art contemporain depuis 1945” École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris, 1989

Joseph Kosuth, “Zero and No” and “One and Three Chairs”

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1.1.6 Art Sociologic

In 1974 Art Sociologic aspired to become a practice that uses methods of sociology in order to critically observe the relations between art and society. Its aim was to understand the importance of the socioeconomic frame of art and disturb the ways of communication and how it was transmitted by bombarding the viewer with images like feedback and observe their reactions. The animating spirit or catalyst artist provokes the participation of the audience, from the exhibition visitor to the street passage. He reveals the role of the media and incites the viewers to assimilate them.

In Bruce Nauman’s work “100 live and die” from 1984, the viewer gets in the process of reading the illuminated signs while he has to bear the annoying sound and the blinding light of the art at the same time. With a completely different technique he makes a monumental metallic inscription that writes “The rose has no teeth”, a typical example of the contradiction between text and material.

The artist Glen Ligon found and wrote on a door, an object directly connected and in proportion with the human body. “The door is something that was found and writing is something that was also found”, as the artist claims. He wrote with stencil the sentence “I feel more coloured when I am dashed on a hard white background” repeatedly, a passage from the book of the African American Zora Neale Hurston. The repetition of the same sentence looks like the way someone reads constantly the same text as a lesson and also like the idea of someone listening to you and be listened by anybody. This art refers to the social identity and how language defines it.

Bruce Nauman, 100 live and die, 1984

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Glen Ligon, The door

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Rosemarie Trockel with the work “Ich habe angst” (I am afraid) in the church of Saint Peter in Cologne clearly shows the interaction between words and content and how the artists can take advantage of it. With this suggestion on the sanctuary of the destroyed by bombing Saint Peter, she provoked the questions: Is it really a statement of fear or is it a cynical remark? Who really is the one who is afraid? God, the artist or each reader? All these of course in a place which had just been restored and was used as a museum, she performed the dialogue in a protective environment.

The work of Rony Horn in 1994, based on Emilie Dickinson’s poems, like most of her works, is signs on both sides of metal columns which stand up in the wall of a gallery. The viewer has to walk and read all the lines. Anyone can see the art by walking and reading.

Rosemarie Trockel, Ich habe angst

Rony Horn, 1994

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1.1.7 Computer Art

After 1980 many artists seek in communication technologies an alternative means to overcome the deadlocks of art. The concept art with computers gradually appeared in Europe and in the United States during the 60’s and was named Computer Art. The contemporary writing, programming, aims to acknowledge the computer as a means capable of producing a new form of art-and of course suceeded. The word ceases being a performance, a material. It becomes the order to materialize more complex art works. From the late 70’s Computer Art was divided in four mainstreams: the production of unlike mathematical images, the use of artificial intelligence, the extension of interactions between Computer Art and Conceptual Art, Robotics and Telecommunication Art.

The “Legible City” 1989-91 is one of the major works of the Australian media artist Jeffrey Shaw and a milestone of 1990s interactive media art. In this installation the spectator rides a stationary bicycle in a dark room, experiencing a virtual journey through projected city views of Manhattan, Amsterdam and Karlsruhe. The buildings of the city take on the form of large three-dimensional letters, which go on to form words and sentences with a literary or historical connection to the location displayed. Thus the viewing of a city becomes an experience in reading which each visitor can shape according to his wishes. The real physical exertion on the bicycle is converted into the virtual distance covered.

A poetic work planned in three-dimensional space is “The Secret” by Eduardo Kac, 1996. The reader is invited to navigate this space and create verbal and visual links between immaterial presences, voids, and distant signs. This VRML navigational poem was written directly in VRML. There is also another work by him for a bio-poem named “Prophecy”. It is a transgenic poem with a bacteria transformation proposal made in 2002.

Legible City 1989-91, Jeffrey Shaw

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1.1.7 Computer Art

After 1980 many artists seek in communication technologies an alternative means to overcome the deadlocks of art. The concept art with computers gradually appeared in Europe and in the United States during the 60’s and was named Computer Art. The contemporary writing, programming, aims to acknowledge the computer as a means capable of producing a new form of art-and of course suceeded. The word ceases being a performance, a material. It becomes the order to materialize more complex art works. From the late 70’s Computer Art was divided in four mainstreams: the production of unlike mathematical images, the use of artificial intelligence, the extension of interactions between Computer Art and Conceptual Art, Robotics and Telecommunication Art.

The “Legible City” 1989-91 is one of the major works of the Australian media artist Jeffrey Shaw and a milestone of 1990s interactive media art. In this installation the spectator rides a stationary bicycle in a dark room, experiencing a virtual journey through projected city views of Manhattan, Amsterdam and Karlsruhe. The buildings of the city take on the form of large three-dimensional letters, which go on to form words and sentences with a literary or historical connection to the location displayed. Thus the viewing of a city becomes an experience in reading which each visitor can shape according to his wishes. The real physical exertion on the bicycle is converted into the virtual distance covered.

A poetic work planned in three-dimensional space is “The Secret” by Eduardo Kac, 1996. The reader is invited to navigate this space and create verbal and visual links between immaterial presences, voids, and distant signs. This VRML navigational poem was written directly in VRML. There is also another work by him for a bio-poem named “Prophecy”. It is a transgenic poem with a bacteria transformation proposal made in 2002.

A work with exclusive material, words on a virtual space by Μanthos Santorineos is the “Louis Lambert”. With scraps of the same titled philosophical work by Honore Βalzac, he created a virtual labyrinth with texts which the viewer could pilot through with a joystick, throughout questions and aphorisms, 2013.

Μanthos Santorineos, Louis Lambert, 2013

The Secret by Eduardo Kac, 1996 Prophecy by Eduardo Kac, 2002

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A contemporary work of art as a game with words is the work Escape by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer. An interactive installation where the viewer through an old projector, can switch the lever and show a screening of flies on the wall, that after a while they position and form passages from the work “Transformation” by Franz Kafka. When the viewer stopped moving the machanism the the projection also stopped.

The Grand-Central6 of Thibault Breve in 2013 is a platform where through a website people can leave messages and at the same time they are printed on a large paper roll with a scratch mechanism with coloured markers. She presented the work in the central railway station. A remarkable work is by Brazilian Andre Vallias, the Oratorio, an interactive poem of 2003.

6 Grand-Central: http://vimeo.com/45618302

Escape, Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Grand-Central, Thibault Breve, 2013 Andre Vallias, the Oratorio, 2003

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1.2 About Creative Writing

In recent years there has been increasing interest in creative writing. As a result, many workshops and seminars for all ages have started, there are new experimental techniques and new names emerging constantly in publishing. Workshops, stories, exercises and games all contribute to the utilization of the written word and thought, thus improving the understanding and sensitivity of the text. Creative Writing is a whole organization that is evolving rapidly and the world is increasingly dedicated and devoted to the charming world of words.

This surge of interest in the use of writing as a creative activity occurred in the academic community of the United States in the early 20th century. But the beginning of the story dates back to before the time of Aristotle in ancient Greece. In his Poetics, Aristotle recorded all the creative techniques that had already been in use by the generations before him. Besides this, his work also contained a condensed guide with tips, techniques, and pitfalls for his students to avoid, in order for them to be able to create higher literary works.

In recent times, creative writing has been propagated through the academic community, in particular, with the development of the “progressive education” movement in schools. Creative writing further evolved in various elite academic institutions, such as the universities of Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Iowa, The New School, the Tisch School for the Arts, Bennington College, and later in East Anglia, England. It is generally agreed, regardless of methodology used and ultimate purpose, that “the writing process ceases to be considered solitary, obsessive and personal and it is released from the stereotype of talent and long-term preparation. It becomes a game through which one gains the ability to control and create creative thoughts and transform them into writing.”

Creative writing can be any type of writing like short stories, fantastic literature, poetry, recording real events, scripting, the lyrics and plays, anything which is not professional, journalistic or academic. It is created by ordinary people who rely on a literary formula or a game. Many universities around the world today have creative writing programs at masters and doctoral level.

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1.3 The Evolution of Writing The rise of the Internet and the prevalence of writing on it has led to a specific problem that has taken root: the problem of proper spelling and lack thereof. The commonplace lack of special characters, depending on country and different operating systems has led to much of the world using Latin characters for transcribing words in their local languages. This is especially a problem for languages that do not use Latin characters. For example in Greek, the term Greeklish has been coined to describe this recent development, a portmanteau of the words Greek and English. This method is also used by several other languages and is termed, respectively, Spanglish, Turklish, Franglais or Frenglish etc.

There are three types of such Latinized writing, transcribing the phonetics of the words in Latin characters, keeping the correct spelling with characters that resemble Greek ones, or writing as if the keyboard was Greek. It should be noted, however, that there are several sample handwritten manuscripts dating as far back as the Renaissance, where Greek texts are written in Greeklish, an example being, the comedy “Fortounatos” by Marco Antonio Foscolo (1655). There are also printed works in Greeklish, such as the book “I Mera tou Hristianou” which is kept today at the Venetian Museum of Naxos. A more modern example is the Exegesis 2000 by Acid Publishing. Some sources say that the first modern use of Greeklish was done by E.M.Y, the Greek National Meteorological Service, many decades ago, long before the widespread use of the Internet. Nevertheless, while the phenomenon of Greeklish may not be entirely limited to the recent past, the widespread and global nature of the Internet has accelerated its effects, becoming a major blow to languages other than English. The Internet facilitates writing becoming easier and faster to become a fashion, haphazardly with no set rules, where everyone can write in their own personal way. It behaves like a virus, as it spreads, it assimilates the language, mutating it in a way where older people may not be able to understand and communicate with the environment.

video art βίντεο τέχνη video texnh

b;inteo t;exnh ωιδεο αρτ

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In recent times, people tend to write using their two forefingers on small or large touchscreens. In Michel Serres’ “Le Petite Poucette”, named after the traditional French tale of Charles Perrault (1697), a small-bodied hero, Poucet, is described who, while very small, shows great skill in his movements and thoughts. In this fashion, Serres describes the new generation which with great ease uses their fingers on their smart-phones, computers and other tools at their disposal. So we leave behind generations of calligraphers and craftsmen who managed to put their unique character and personality into the text. We don’t encounter handwriting very often anymore in our everyday life and the signs of personality and character that we leave on paper is very limited. Today our keyboard is a piece of glass that at designated points corresponds to a particular character, and a specific point corresponds to a new group of characters on the entire surface. This extremely minimalist writing instrument is enough to be able to express, to communicate and create. So what are the skills that we are striving to develop? Probably, once again, to increase the speed of writing. But what is the sociological impact and message to the younger generation growing up in this text-entry environment?

An even more complex question arises when we take into consideration the process of speech recognition (SR system). Utilizing a system like this, one needs not even to touch the device or tool while keeping notes or “writing” works of literature. This technology is based on the analysis of language and sound (voice and tone) and translates them in real-time into written text. This is done with great success at the individual level and in recent years has evolved into the automatic transcribing of many different conversations at the same time. This story began in 1932 and continues today with gigantic developments and applications in the realms of security, health care and education, but most important of all it is transforming culture itself with a new concept of writing. It is like a camera that keeps notes of the present. The technology becomes invisible, operating in the background, while supporting ever more needs and thus writing becomes increasingly endangered.

All of this is alluded to by Vilém Flusser in 19877. Flusser, a very important philosopher of communication, art and technology, describes all this in detail in his most powerful and influential book, “Die Schrift” (The Writing), with the subversive subtitle “Hat Schreiben Zukunft?” (Does Writing Have A Future?). It thus immediately destroys the place of importance given to the titular book and protagonist in his work and also gives us a glimpse of the memorial to the dying, if not already dead, writing.

7 “Does Writing Have a Future?;” Flusser V., 1987

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From the first lines of the introduction, Flusser gives the basic message of his book. Specifically he says that, “Writing, in the sense of placing letters and other marks one after another, appears to have little or no future ... Future correspondence, science, politics, poetry and philosophy will be pursued more effectively through the use of codes than through the alphabet or Arabic numerals. It really looks as though written codes will be set aside, like Egyptian hieroglyphs or Indian knots. Only historians and other specialists will be obliged to learn reading and writing in the future.8” It appears that this future will not be in thousands of years but, in perhaps, a few decades.

Apart from speculation about the future, how do the different instruments that man uses shape his consciousness? For instance, when we write on paper, we have an axis, even when we type in the computer characters are placed in a horizontal row, there always is automatically a goal. This process fosters within us a mode of consciousness. We learn to think in one direction, aligned in rows. If we increasingly rely on a technology that writes for us while we speak, the course of our narrative becomes circular. This rotation of thoughts where each can go back to previous cycles and delete is called “mythical thought” by Flusser.

And what will happen to the concept of memory, when recording history using new instruments will foster new forms of consciousness? How will a human be formed by a computer, which emphasizes the importance of high-speed and volatility, telematics and the new era of codes? The act of writing is a gesture of historical consciousness. Programming is a gesture of a different type of consciousness, much more comparable to a mathematicial rather than a literary consciousness. Our existence is shaped by our daily experiences, if the process of writing changes will the mental qualities of the people of the future also become disorted?

At another point Flusser discusses children and illiterates, who when initiated into the code of the alphabet, initially learn to spell and not read. They learn the signs, to eventually enable them to comprehend the signified, in spoken language. First they learn to speak correctly and having mastered that, then for them the spoken language becomes a phenomenon that they approach with the help of symbolic signs. Afterward they do not speak in the way in which their mouth developed anymore but they think with the new rules in mind. The alphabet arranges and classifies what is meant by language, thought itself.

8 “Does Writing Have a Future?;” Flusser V., 1987

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1.4 Artists’ Books

Artists’ pursuit of books is as old a story as books are themselves. Since the era of manuscripts with covers, carpet-pages, decorating initial letters and borders, painters were in charge of the decorations, who worked side by side with the scribes in monasteries. With the spread of typography at the end of the 15th century artists stopped working on decorating and making books. They worked as engravers in wood and copper and then other technicians took over finishing the works, to print or to cast them9. However, what do we really mean today by using the term Artists’ Book? It is neither about plain illustrated books, nor the book collecting the works of an artist – portfolios. Deciding which would be the name of this new genre took a long time. In the beginning, these works used to be called bookworks, bookart or book objects. In France, accordingly, there are the Livres d’artiste which are special high-quality editions by artists in limited edition. In 1973, a very significant exhibition was held entitled “Artistic Books” at the Moore College of Art in Philadelphia which coined the term for the future. However, the dispute on the apostrophe mark will be kept alive for many years: Artistic book or Artists’ book. The collections from academic libraries played a decisive role in history as well, as by keeping a large archive of Artists’ Books they became sources of research and study. Basically, there are four different ways that derive from connecting art and books: artists’ books, art about the books, art representing books and altered books. Artists’ Books is a quite recent, yet significant, form of art. As Alex Selenitsch10 said: “...a book made by an artist, and is meant as an artwork”, while Peter Di Sciascio’s more descriptive words were: “Artists’ books are books or book-like objects, over the final appearance of which an artist has had a high degree of control: where the book is intended as a work of art in itself and/or is presented by the artist as an Artists’ Book.11”.

The creation of Artists’ Books is attempted with many materials, wood, metal, or mixed techniques. Some use restored books, they process them by colour-plating or cutting or creating works from the ground up. Some use photographs and others nothing but engraving and manual embossing. Regardless the technique followed; usually it’s about hand-made works and self-publishing in limited edition. The fact that they are affordable, easy to carry and to exhibit are the three basic advantages, but the most decisive factor is that since then art has become accessible to the entire world, challenging the established closed market. Despite the great variety of different genres until now, there is not a dictionary mapping out the techniques on an international level, or at least proceeding in creating a detailed record. Just like there is no right or wrong way to make a book. There is always the issue of the artist’s choice and of the aesthetics to be followed.

9 Casting = in metalworking it’s the method for achieving a specific form through a mould. For example, in fine covers with embossed depictions a specialised technician was necessary to take over finishing the work.10 University of Melbourne, Sets, Series and Suites: composing the multiple artwork, 2008.11 Artists’ books A world of openings Di Sciascio P., University of Melbourne Collections, Issue 6, June 2010

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Indicative examples of artists’ books:

Marcel Broodthaers, Pense-Bête, 1963

Robert Jacks, 12 hand stamped books, 1982

Guez-Ricord, Gabriel C., Anik V., La porte de l’Orient. Atelier des Grames, 1986 Kiss Ilona, Europacafe, 1997

Susan Porteous, Eclipse, 2007

Robert Jacks, 12 hand stamped books, 1982

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Omar Khayyam, Ne blâme pas ceux qui s’enivrent, William Blake & Co. 1990

Guy Debord & Asger Jorn, Μemories, 1995 Martin Puryear – Cane portfolio, 2000 Susan E. King. Rosendale, Women and Cars 1983

Pablo Lehmann, altered books, 2008Patritsia Evgenia Deligianni, Salaman-der Story, 2006

The Altered Books Guy Laramée, 2012 The Xerox Book, group project, 1968

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A Humument12 has been a work in progress since 1966 when artist Tom Phillips set himself a task: to find a second-hand book for threepence and alter every page by painting, collage and cut-up techniques to create an entirely new version. The book he found was an 1892 Victorian obscurity. A Human Document by W.H. Mallock and Phillips transformed it into A Humument. The first version was printed by the Tetrad press in 1973, and Phillips has continued to transform it, revise it and develop it ever since.

The work “Pliage”13 by the éditions volumiques in 2010 is a proposal for a paper book in the form of a labyrinth that unfolds from different sides, while there is no text on its pages.

A series of artistic books makes up ‘pop Books’. This term is attached to any three-dimensional or movable book, such as pop-ups, transformations, tunnel books, volvelles, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs, pull-downs and others, each one operating in a unique way. Such books are not always Artists’ books; many times it’s about mainstream publishing that combines illustration and technique addressed to children. With special cutting tools and tailored folding they give another dimension to the printed book, creating through motion an enchanting result. To

12 http://www.tomphillips.co.uk/humument 13 https://vimeo.com/10179167

A Humument, 1966,Tom Phillips

Pliage

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design and create such books may be called ‘paper engineering’ as well, which does not refer to paper industry, rather than to studying geometry and motion. Transformations come over with vertical slots, so that at the time the reader turns the page, the pages move from the bottom, each one pulling the next, until an entirely different image appears. This technique in terms of paper folding is closely related to origami, the difference being that in the second case there is no use of cutting. English author Ernest Nister is one of the first children’s book writers who very often created works using this technique.

A contemporary example is that of Carol Barton “Five Luminous Towers, A Book to be Read in the Dark”. It includes six poems about towers; on alternating pages, five white laser-cut towers are lit from below by a small light bulb (2001).

Ernest Nister

Five Luminous Towers

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In the case of rotated books, known as Volvelles, the first one appeared in 1240 by the monk Matthew Paris with the work “Chronica Majora”. He added circular constructions into his books in order to help the other monks calculate the holy days. Volvelles are constructions made from paper usually with a firm centre, which the reader may by turning read them. This way has often been used to present calculations or scientific issues, such as teaching anatomy, astronomical predictions, creation of secret codes and less in literature works. The reason is its form that looks like a cogwheel, with gaps that allow hiding or showing particular information, depending on the position of the rotating sheets. A significant example is the “Astronomicum Caesareum” by Petrus Apianus in 1540.

Another form of movable books are Tunnel books, or by another term, peepshow books, since the mid-19th century. The term comes from the fact that many of these books were made to commemorate the construction of the tunnel under the Thames River in London. It is made up from two folded concertina strips on the two sides and an opening in the cover. This way allows seeing the entire book up to the last page as well as the three-dimensional scene being created in between. An example of a Tunnel book is Lane’s telescopic view of the interior of the Great Industrial Exhibition. View through open peep show, in 1851

Astronomicum Caesareum

Great Industrial Exhibition

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1.5 Artists and significant works

William Blake (1757 -1827), who is one of the most significant Romantic English poets, is considered an avant-garde artist with regard to artistic books. “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” and “The Songs of Innocence” are the most significant pieces of his artistic work. A poet and an engraver, he writes, illustrates, engraves, colours, and publishes. His works were found after his death and inspired the artistic movement Art Nouveau. His work is very particular; he adopted a novel printing technique, in his capacity of engraver and painter, combined with the one of poet.

According to estimations, this printing involved the following process: initially writing the verses on copper plates with the use of ink and brushes, employing at the same time an acid-resistant medium. Afterward the plates were placed in acid so that the non-processed copper would dissolve. At the final phase, the plates got painted with water colors and placed together to form a single volume. Blake named this method “Illuminated printing” and often the works of this type are also called “Illuminated books”. He used this printing for all his works he made since the time he invented it and each one of his “illuminated” books formed a unique work of art. Blake considered that the autonomous publishing of books could relieve the artist from the oppression of censorship imposed by the church and the state.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

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The evolution of typography will inspire a new wave of creativity and more and more artists will get close to the structure of book and printing in order to make new remarkable works. The invention of lithography by Alois Senefelder in 1798 and photoengraving gave artists the chance to design with wax crayon directly onto the plate of printing. The work of Henri Matisse that stood between painting and making artistic books is very significant. Based on his texts, but also texts by James Joyce, Stéphane Malarme, Tristian Tzara, he contributed a major legacy in this field. He remarkably said: “I do not distinguish between the construction of a book and that of a painting and I always proceed from the simple to the complex.”. Among his significant books is Jazz in 1947 made via stencil and collage, and Poèmes de Charles d’Orleans made via the technique of lithography.

There are also books that look like but cannot be named Artists’ Books, because they are not made by visual artists rather than by authors or philosophers, such as Gins’s Word Rain (1969), Butor’s Mobile (1962), and Derrida’s Glas (1974).

Stéphane Mallarmé made a work entitled “Un Coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hasard” in 1897, where he treated the whole page as a painter’s canvas, rather than a poet’s paper. He utilized different sizes and different typefaces, he played with the text like he was transcribing thought according to content and significance. Making a play of melody, with words shouting and words fading out.

Stéphane Mallarmé, Un coupe de dés, 1897 Alexander Kruchenykh

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Long before the First World War, the Russian futurist Alexander Kruchenykh used transfer paper and lithographic pen for the work “Letter as Such”, in cooperation with the poet Velimir Khlebnikov.

A similar way has been followed by Guillaume Apollinaire in Europe. He made his distinctive Calligrammes, poems where the letters describe images, for example “Le pont” in 1917 and the “Cheval” in 1910. In detail, the following definition is given: “A calligram is a word or piece of text in which the design and layout of the letters creates a visual image related to the meaning of the words themselves. The typeface, calligraphy or handwriting is arranged to visually express the meaning or theme of the text. A calligram is thus a combination of poetry and visual art.” Exactly like the Arabic calligraphy many years before. Lithography managed to relieve the artist and so he was able to make a design that, despite the process of reproduction, would be of the same quality in all copies. If it was not for this method the realization of these significant works would have been impossible.

Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973), apart from his widely known works in painting, sculpture, engraving, and ceramics – being estimated at 50,000 works in total throughout his entire life – has left a very significant legacy in notebooks and sketches; drafts of his paintings and his sculptures and experimentations with new forms and depictions14. Drawings with fine lines, repeated patterns with short notes reveal his research on form and composition. There are geometrical patterns and calculations, with half the side of the paper full of notes, and spots on the space of the paper and lines like exercises of the cubist perspective. His manuscripts

14 “Picasso, Carnets de dessins” Léal B., 1996

Guillaume Apollinaire, La Mandoline, l’Oeillet et le Bambou, 1914

Guillaume Apollinaire,

Cheval, 1910

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are of exceptional interest as well. It’s about pages full of rough forms of letters, sketches and drawings. He usually wrote using ink or big brushes, and the trace he left on the paper, together with the drops of ink, made it look like it was illustrated. A too closely-written, with diverse direction of the sentences, and with comments on the top and underlining, it could be called a writing of gesture, as it is also exceptionally the case with regard to his signature. All these elements, despite the fact that they have never took the form of a book, are very significant visual works, standing very close to the world of typography, and beyond any doubt making up a source of inspiration for many artists that followed.

The work of Frida Khallo (1907 – 1954) with regard to books is significant as well. One of the most fascinating and colourful artists of the 20th century, physically afflicted from an early age, she suffered much in the years before her death, often illustrating her pain and distress in a notebook, with colorful artworks and poetical texts. Εventhough there are very few dated entries, nor are there any facts about her day-to-day life, the notebook was published very successfully - an exact copy, with notes and translations - as “Τhe Diary of Frida Kahlo”.

Pictures from Carnet of Picasso

Τhe Diary of Frida Kahlo

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The publications by Dadaists, Surrealists, Futurists, Russian avant-garde artists and Constructivists’ concrete and visual poetry are significant too. In particular, famous artists of the 20th century that experimented with the form of the book are Marc Chagall (1887-1985), Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Joan Miró (1893-1983), Salvador Dalí (1904-1989), Le Corbusier with the work “Poésie sur alger”, 1950, El Lissitzky (1890-1941), Fernand Léger (1881-1955), René Magritte (1898-1967) and Francesco Cangiullo (1884-1977).

Le Corbusier René Magritte Joan Miró

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1.6 On the book in the digital era 1.6.1 The era of paper

The book is one of the most significant signs of our culture, a mirror of each era. It evolves and presents new forms like an autonomous organism that seeks to stand out and enchant the reader. It’s always about a sum of information, visual or verbal, but the structure, aesthetics and the way of its use differ significantly from time to time. From lithography and the freedom that it provided the artists with, during the era that it was used for the first time, up to the present, the borders have changed many times. The notion of freedom ceaselessly gets reshaped and wider. With the invention of the typewriter in 1714 by Henry Mill, there was a new wave of experimentation on the way. The first one to utilize it in an artistic way, writing poems as visual works, has been Pierre Garnier. An example of his poems is a circle with sloping lines which he named “Pik bou”.

By turning the paper roll of the typewriters half at a time he could print the letters very closely. Very often he changed the turn or he wrote on many different levels by passing over and over again the page through the machine. The result was drawings with letters that altogether created an image. The new aesthetics of the printed square letters will become a feature of the modern era up to entering the digital one. This process, in both visual and practical terms, launches a new period, the one of Desk-top Publishing, that provides artists with the chance to publish their works directly without depending on the publishers and typographers. Anyone who would like to produce a work may now do so with minimum requirements. There is no need being a significant artist or having access to a large laboratory and equipment. Anyone having a laser printer at home may write, design the page and print the amount of desirable copies at the same time. Pages as autonomous visual or poetic works, even chapters of a larger literature work. The history as a whole that has passed to get to this moment has been purified. At the same time, few money, and no hard work is required for anyone of us to be a writer, designer and typographer.

Pik bou

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1.6.2 The era of information

As we saw in the previous chapter – on writing and art – through copiers, fax and electronic mail a new field of experimentation with writing starts. Poets and artists worked together and they created very remarkable CD-ROMs, video poems, bio-poems, interactive and virtual works via the internet. Alire was the first magazine to come on a disc; it was dedicated to digital poetry publishing and it was published for the first time in 1989. From this era and after that, works will not always have to do with the book but stand on another level. Through means currently available they utilized the language and writing in the new environment each time. An application, a web page, or a blog may be a work of art under certain conditions. As it was the case with artistic books where the existence of an artist was a requisite “...an artist has had a high degree of control”15, the same goes for these works as well. For specifying them as art, there must be a single or a group of artists that have the control over aesthetics and will hallmark them. A work of web art is a space, a standing exhibition, some bites on a server that having the Uniform Resource Locator, in other words the URL, as a cover, allow communication with any part of the word. In the case of a Blog, it is like a public diary – where someone can add texts and pictures in time. It is not an object with a starting and ending point anymore rather than a process that evolves.

Loss Pequeño Glazier16 is a poet and stands among other literary figures at the “forefront of the digital poetics movement17” and since 1999 he has made many works on the internet, for example the “Fish”18 and the “Pequeno Amor”.

15 Artists’ books A world of openings Di Sciascio P., University of Melbourne Collections, Issue 6, June 201016 Loss Pequeño Glazier is a poet, professor of Media Study, SUNY Buffalo, New York, Director, Electronic Poetry Center (EPC), Director, E-Poetry Festivals, and Artistic Director, Digital Poetry & Dance (UB).17 Bruehl, Thalia A-M, “Technology’s Poet”. (Hispanic Executive, July/August 2011): 28-29”18 http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc/authors/glazier/viz/fish/fish1.html

Loss Pequeño Glazier, Fish

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1.6.3 E-books

The contemporary reader has a very wide range of possibilities through electronic reading. The reader may connect to the internet at any given time and download new references from web sites, take notes or copy, save, and edit excerpts of the text. The term e-book that comes from electronic book is a digital publication that someone can read from the computer, via a webpage, or from e-reader devices19. These are mobile screens with electronic ink technology in white and 16 shades of black which usually imitate the image of a real book. With a riffling effect, borders, and the rules of the aesthetics of printing, they look like pages of a typical printed book. The important fact is that the reader can alternately increase and decrease the size of the letters, the brightness, shaping a reading environment tailored to his individual needs. With the evolution of technology files and features change. For example, from e-pub which supports texts and pictures, we pass to e-pub2, enriched by the option for files of sounds and videos. On the next level is e-pub3 where interaction is added20.

With mobile phones and digital tablets elements constantly change. It’s about very light, thin, and handy, touch screens, micro computers that process lots of data in high speed. Through these devices artists can employ more options for interaction and make works that a few years ago would have been impossible to accomplish. With the use of positioning information through GPS, gyroscope21, microphone, camera and the direct internet connection, they can make “smart” applications-works which do not just simply look good. Books, electronic games, and educational applications have been enriched and their users are in a constant state of following them up. I bear in mind that we have not yet accomplished to create aesthetic masterpieces like the ones made on paper. The history of digital tools is still very young and its works are in an immature stage compared with the given abilities and choices.

“Retour à Béziers”22 by Didier Daeninckx and Sébastien Calvet, 2014. An interactive book which challenges our relation to politics by the passing of three elements: fiction, photographic documents and the unique experience of reading through slides and motion.

“Zéphir”23, a work series of 2015 by Editions Volumique. It is a combination of a typical book and a digital tablet. When the book will is finished the child takes the paper vehicle from the last page of the book and will continue playing on the tablet, a trip with balloons above earth.

19 Some indicative examples of such devices are: Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble Nook, Kobo eReader, Amazon Kindle, Bookeen, Onyx and Pocket Book.20 Other electronic book formats are PDF, FictionBook, BbeB, CBR/CBZ, LIT, Plain Text, XHTML, and XMDF as well.21 Gyroscope is a device (sensor) which can maintain its orientation stable through the rotation of its parts and the principle of the conservation of angular momentum. It was invented by Jean Bernard Léon Foucault in 1852, who tried using it to demonstrate Earth’s rotation.22 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_emtmxd3-Xo23 https://vimeo.com/117497852

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“Voyage au centre de la Terre24”, Jules Verne, L’Apprimerie, 2012. It is an application that provides the reader with a full-fledged experience through illustration, options and kinetic typography.

“À la découverte Du Monde”25 is a student prototype realized at Paris 8 University as a collaborative project between people of different disciplines. It is a project for an interactive museum based on old maps and Arnaud Laborderie was the project manager, 2012 The interactive book “Une Nuit d’Hiver”26 by Studio Troll of 2012 is an imaginary tale with animation and sound. Little readers have to trace the story by the options they are given in an immersive environment.

The work “L’Homme Volcan”27 is a book with animated cartoons and options for a little boy that hated reading and discovers literature created in 2012 by the Flammarion S.A publishing.

“Spawn”28, Andy Campbell, 2012. It is a work of interactive typography where the spectator can have an effect on the image with the mouse and read different elements each time.

24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXfAH28epK425 https://vimeo.com/3596736026 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Brj9tmV9E27 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xor4y9_volcano-boy-animated-book-on-ipad_creation28 http://dreamingmethods.com/spawn/

Retour à Béziers Zéphir Voyage au centre de la Terre

À la découverte Du Monde Une Nuit d’Hiver L’Homme Volcan Spawn

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“Le Horla”29 of Guy de Maupaussant, Editions L’Apprimerie 2014 is an interactive book tailored to people with dyslexia. “The Scrapbook”30 of Anne Sykes is a work that carries an existing notebook on to the new level by the option to turn the pages front or back. There is a video in low opacity and sound, but basically this work is based on the previous generation.

“Inside”31 is a Journal of Dreams of Andy Campbell & Judi Alston in 2002. This work is a diary with words that can be pressed, with sound, videos, and animation.

A book in the form of a video game, “The Dead Tower”32, Andy Campbell & Mez Breeze, Dreaming methods and @dreamwurker, 2012. A free code poetry application, an imaginary landscape with texts scattered on the virtual space to be browsed and unveiled.

1.6.4 Kinetic typography

Kinetic typography is a technique for movable text through video and animation in a certain time. It started in 1899 alongside the launch of cinema and animation and in particular with advertisements in the work of George Melies. In the 1960s it was defined as a genre together with the opening and ending tiles, with Alfred Hitchcock in the work “North by Northwest” (1959) being exemplary. Henceforth the use of kinetic typography became a commonplace in the introductory titles for film and television advertisements. There is a model by Barbara Brownie that divides kinetic typography into three groups: scrolling typography, dynamic layout and fluid typography. In the first case, it’s about the motion of the letters on the screen, in the second one the motion of the screen, like the window of an airplane, as she characteristically says, and in the last case, the letters are stable but they show a little motion in space.

29 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf-dPQeGsIU30 http://dreamingmethods.com/scrapbook/ 31 http://dreamingmethods.com/inside/ 32 http://labs.dreamingmethods.com/tower/

Le Horla The Scrapbook Inside The Dead Tower

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“Alphabet”33, Pavel Pavlov, 2011. All letters of the alphabet, with each letter succeeding the next by a faint line. This alphabet in motion video is sublimely smooth. The artist, former graffiti artist now turned motion graphic, morphs simple but beautiful lines and graphics together to form a unique design for each letter of the alphabet.

“Rolling Stones”34 - Doom and Gloom, Directed by Rok Predin, Illustration by Sara Savelj, 2013. A very nice outcome that imitates graffiti and splashes. Celebrating their 50th anniversary with a series of comeback gigs last year, the old-time rock ‘n’ rollers even managed to release a new track that was pretty darned good. For the accompanying music video Trunk Animation designed this great splatter style animation which is reminiscent of Ralph Steadman’s typography artistry.

“The Alphabet”35, studio n9ve in 2011 did a short story of fonts. A spelling-video where each character is the initial letter of a font name. Alessandro Novelli captures his love for typography and animation in this 60-second Alphabet video.

“Make it better”36, Created by: Climent Canal and Sebastián Baptista, 2011. Colour and morphing typography are the elements for an advertising spot that shows the novel creations of a group. The video shows the graphic process to make the most out of an idea.

33 https://vimeo.com/1308350034 https://vimeo.com/5120376135 https://vimeo.com/1849958036 https://vimeo.com/18669276

Alphabet Rolling Stones

Alphabet Make it better

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“Coldplay”37: Atlas, Blind Pig - sister company to Absolute Post - in collaboration with creative agency Hugo & Marie, 2013. It’s a video clip directed by Mario Hugo.Τhe illustrations are largely based around the celestial sky map and myth by Micah Lidberg. Animation creative directors Ric Comline and Jonny Bursnell ensured that the video would be a seamless animation sequence, with both agencies providing gorgeous inspiration.

“Apocalypse Rhyme”38, Oliver Harrison, 2014. This is an amazing piece of work considering it was all done by one person. Oliver Harrison wrote the poem, composed the music and organized it all into a splendid animated whole for Channel 4’s Random Acts, and his reward was the ‘Best Motion Graphics’ prize in the British Animation Awards 2014.

“ChildLine”39: First Step from Buck, 2013. ChildLine is a UK-based, confidential, free, 24-hour counseling service for children and young people under the age of 19 with an excellent advertisement video.

37 https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=68&v=Lh3TokLzzmw 38 https://vimeo.com/8332735039 https://vimeo.com/65337755

Coldplay Apocalypse Rhyme ChildLine

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1.6.5 Augmented reality books

Augmented reality, as an expansion of virtual reality, is the technology that allows overlapping virtual objects onto real-life ones, creating a mixed reality. This augmentation takes place in real time, depending on the place of the user and his/her movements in space. This can be accomplished by combining a camera with the GPS system of the device, or through computer vision, by scanning via the camera a two-dimensional printed bar code. Thus, additional information for a geographic or local point can be shown, shaping an augmented, in informational terms, final result with three-dimensional graphics, texts, sound or video. The projection of data is possible either to mobile phone screens and digital tablets or to special augmented reality eyeglasses. This technology has been utilized a lot in both video games and books, adding up another dimension to the real space. On book pages someone can unveil hidden objects and the reading experience can be more fascinating and essential as well.

“The Reality Book Jekyll and Hyde Augmented”40 , by Martin Kovacovsky in 2011 is a book that may be read next to a computer with a camera like lighting. As the viewer turns the pages, a camera reproduces the real image which it video-records at the same time enriching it with motion in the images, adding shadows, sound, or other effects, which make reading become an experience in the story with the imaginary covering the real. At the end of the book, the reader can use some stickers that come with the real book, and, by moving them on the paper, create a collage of animation.

40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGrqp1LXKSg

The Reality Book Jekyll and Hyde Augmented, by Martin Kovacovsky in 2011

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Fibonacci41 by Ferdinand Dervieux, in 2012. Fibonacci is a dialogue between hand-printed etchings and new technologies. Use your smart phone or tablet to scan the fifteen engravings and discover a digital work in augmented reality. From code to engraving through generative animations, Fibonacci is a hybrid work linking traditional technique and technology.

The work “La Douce”42 in 2012 by François Schuiten, a designer that has been publishing works since 1973, is an augmented reality comic. By placing each page in front of the camera of the computer hidden pieces of the story may be unlocked with video, more images and sound.

41 https://vimeo.com/6495003842 http://12-ladouce.com/fr/la-realite-augmentee.html

Fibonacci

La Douce

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1.6.6 Other examples of books by special techniques

We often run upon literature or educational audio books that an actor reads and we can listen to through a CD or via the internet. What we do not run upon often is audiobooks in the form of a game and that’s the reason that makes the work Music Book43, by Editions Volumique very special. Made in 2012, it’s about an original audio book, a small device with points upon the printed surfaces that the reader can press, listen to the story, and on the last page watch a video. The same group has released the book entitled “Le livre qui voulait être un jeu vidéo”44, in 2012, an original “smart” book, that senses the current page and plays respective electronic sound.

Le livre qui disparaît45 (The book that disappears) of Bertrand Duplat, Éditions Volumiques, 2012. Made from heat-sensitive paper (as is the case for fax) so that when the pages are being turned over it is affected by the light and little by little its pages get black. Reading it can only take 20’ which otherwise would have been impossible as the book has quite a lot of pages and it is printed very fine.

43 video. https://vimeo.com/3125824144 https://vimeo.com/5784272445 http://volumique.com/v2/portfolio/disappearing-book/

Music Book Le livre qui voulait être un jeu vidéo

Le livre qui disparaît

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“Elegy for a dead world-pax East” in 2014 is a game about writing fiction, an original work between video game and a platform for creative writing. Observing the scenery and the artistic sequence of the work, the player adds his own story. A game with the personal expression and communication being the objective. It gives people, page by page, the opportunity to create their own story freely. And afterward they can share it with other players, inviting them to explore it. From Éditions Volumiques as well there is an original construction for an interactive book46 with self-turning pages.

Conclusion

What happens after this beautiful story, the expensive publications, the artistic books, Βlake and Apollinaire? Lithography, typewriters, these many techniques and the lots of people who were working to reproduce for years now, all this civilization? What is the continuity of this road? Where is the book guided? Which elements does it leave behind and which will it acquire in the future? Are the interactive mobile applications morally correct to be called books? These are some of the basic questions that have occupied many philosophers and observers during the last decades. With the rapid data development, the book is constantly at stake. The sure thing is that there is no end, at least not like the older generations were foreseeing. In the work by Anthony Grafton “The form in crisis”, subtitled: the book is dematerialized, he emphasizes on the threat of the book’s material existence and not as an object in itself.

46 https://vimeo.com/9107016

Elegy for a dead world-pax East Βook with self-turning pages

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The book changes form, does not stop to exist, it changes, follows the technology and constantly evolves. It is an abstract meaning, which even though it has its roots on paper, is not tied up with it. Book, in German Buch is a name of a tree, liber means tree bark and comes from the Greek word λέπος (lepos = bark), which comes from the even older “lep”47. So etymologically as well as historically there is an affinity between a book and paper. The sentence: “the books are as dead as the trees that gave their paper”48, may be biologically reasonable, but in reality it is not books that are threatened but paper.

Manthos Santorineos states that our civilization, even though relying on paper for centuries, has passed on to the era of the electronic layer. Money, identity, degrees, fortune, were all secured on a piece of paper. Now, even though they are in digital form, they are still sustained on the paper’s structure. In his book49 he made an approach on the research field as well as the art in the digital era, through studying the artificial organization systems and classification of the human memory. Throughout this research arose the suggestion for an original, complex tool of thoughts submission and data composition which are about to contribute to the development of a new form of doctoral, promoting the new structure of things.

Internet search is based on reports, interconnections and meta data, related to speed and in this way the new structure has to be managed. The new and valuable methods of searching and finding are characterized as a trade-mark of today’s information. The sentence “The quest is everything” has become proverbial, like the motto “The journey is important, not the destination” which prevailed for many years and it is more a stereotype now . In our days, the destination is important and the faster someone reaches it, the more successful and substantial the quest is. The books-no matter what their form will be in the next years-should have to aim for a higher speed of process and data projection. It would not be unreasonable if we finally concluded that it is neither the book nor the form in crisis, but the concept of time. And that is exactly where the battle should be be fought: in its management. Everything is evolving rapidly and books do not have nothing but to follow the time rate.

47 “Does Writing Have a Future?;” Flusser V., 198748 “The Crisis in Reading”, Grafton A., 201349 “De la civilization du papier a la civilization du numerique”, Santorineos M. 2008

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Part 2 – My personal work

Introduction

In this chapter I will analyze the stages through which the visual game using letters and words gave birth to books of various forms as well as every artistic procedure in the sense of a book. We will see a book’s journey of existence from “The book as a handmade carnet for painting and notes” or a notebook to “Carnet de voyage”, “The interactive book”, “The Book in Space”, “The book as performance”, “The book as playing cards” and finally to interactive applications. Additionally, I will present the transition from the conversation with the spectator to the reader and ultimately to the end user and the interactions evoked. Narration being the corner stone, and through persistence and constant quest, this archive of various experimentations has come to life. The obsession I had with writing unwrapped these projects sprouting new ones over and over, carrying the accumulated knowledge and experience both technologically and conceptually. This is my personal visual research, the very foundation and the point where this dissertation started from.

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2.1 The transfigurations of letters

From the beginning of my studies, I have been interested in writing and how I would be able to create an artwork through the different forms of letters, materials and change of scale. From printing with the use of a domestic printer, Japanese calligraphy, etchings on surfaces, the collage with words and sentences, the letter prints on small tiles up to improvised stamps and 3D letters. I was always looking for the ideal form of an artwork, created only by use of letters and meaning of the words. It is neither supposed to be a pure text nor a descriptive icon. I was extremely interested in the form of letters and I believed that the most important thing I could do was exactly this: the game with words.

Through this quest I accumulated a large portfolio of different scriptures, two- and three-dimensional. I don’t consider these projects important and autonomic, but pieces of a wider research. It is a way for me to reach the next level. This is the area I am examining in this present thesis and in particular a proposal for a new font based in three dimensional space.The first example of this experimentation is the project “pink, yellow, blue and purple flowers”. An installation with 32 characters of cigarette butts on the floor with a total length of five meters. With this project I wanted to give emphasis to the contrast between the pleasant and the unpleasant, the colorful and the dark, the garbage and the ornaments, the living and the dead.

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2.1 The transfigurations of letters

From the beginning of my studies, I have been interested in writing and how I would be able to create an artwork through the different forms of letters, materials and change of scale. From printing with the use of a domestic printer, Japanese calligraphy, etchings on surfaces, the collage with words and sentences, the letter prints on small tiles up to improvised stamps and 3D letters. I was always looking for the ideal form of an artwork, created only by use of letters and meaning of the words. It is neither supposed to be a pure text nor a descriptive icon. I was extremely interested in the form of letters and I believed that the most important thing I could do was exactly this: the game with words.

Through this quest I accumulated a large portfolio of different scriptures, two- and three-dimensional. I don’t consider these projects important and autonomic, but pieces of a wider research. It is a way for me to reach the next level. This is the area I am examining in this present thesis and in particular a proposal for a new font based in three dimensional space.The first example of this experimentation is the project “pink, yellow, blue and purple flowers”. An installation with 32 characters of cigarette butts on the floor with a total length of five meters. With this project I wanted to give emphasis to the contrast between the pleasant and the unpleasant, the colorful and the dark, the garbage and the ornaments, the living and the dead.

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Another project is “Φοβάμαι” (fovame), maybe the most integrated of all because it develops in many different stages. This project came of a look at the photocopies of Hokusai’s “Thirty-six Views of Fujiyama”. I had a nightmare that I was in a volcanic eruption, I woke up, creased the photocopies and I wrote the word “Φοβάμαι”, (I fear), with capital letters. After this, I designed the same letters on seven big card boards with pencil and ink. Then I took a picture of these and I designed their special external outline with a computer. In the same way I made the rest of the symbols in order to complete the font including the numbers. Finally, I transferred the same font to a three- dimensional environment by adding volume and I created a series of ceramic letters and digital three-dimensional objects. So, a new artwork was created; a virtual ceramics exhibition which was a pile of these objects in the center of a room. Anyone could stir or even destroy the exhibits – the virtual ceramic letters by the use of a computer mouse.

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I also created a new font, by knitting little square pieces of lace, each of them having a character in pixel form in the middle. I took advantage of the technique of crochet, which looks like a digital screen, black or white- knitted or blank, and I created little frames of 7x7 cells, which included all latin characters, numbers and punctuation marks. The special feature of this project is the fact that it combines a very old technique with a modern picture. This new font was used both digitally and as a stamp for the next attempts of writing.

One more project which is considered to be a large scale project is the German word “es”. These two letters divided in 37 ceramic containers. The “es” stands for “it”, the unconscious - unknown being and the containers of which it is composed by symbolize the different pieces of soul. Another attempt was with ceramic tiles with prints of real typographic elements, which were becoming a game of scripture. I could make a synthesis, write something by sticking the tiles on the wall or by leaving them on the floor, change them all the time and play with the words.

A last project that relates with scripture in virtual space is one of the three final scenes of the team project “Επιλογή in Crisis”50, which was created during my Master’s Degree in 2014. The 7 letters of the word “Επιλογή” were placed in a square frame and lifted so that all letters collected, would look like a corridor. It is a labyrinth, where the user has to navigate in order to find the source of sound and earn a second chance to play the game.

50 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej7wHJ7k4Mk

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2.2 The book as a handmade carnet for painting and notes

Parallel to the course of letters another series of art works started to take form. It was the creation of small handmade objects resembling something between a notebook and an art book. They were unique, hand bound objects and they became the base for future designs. The need for customized size and design was what commenced this series of handmade book like objects in order to put them to use as I saw fit. They were unique designs for every occasion in every color and size I willed.

My first attempt and a quite characteristic actually, is “The Blue Notebook” which is a diary for a semester. There is also the book “Poems 2007” which is a catalogue of attached printed poems, the book “Poems for Dionysus” sub labeled “unfinished edition” and “The Red Book”. The latter is a square book made of older sketches that were cut in pieces and through bookbinding they became a base for future designs.

The most important project of that period is the one called “The Book of Black and White Thoughts”. It is an art book with a ceramic cover created in November of 2009. It is a collection of poems, a composition on a continuous surface measuring 15cm wide and 500cm long. The passage, the black and white pictures, the pen drawings, the aquarelles and the collage are all integrated in my first solid art book, an object published in three (3) numbered copies. Its two ceramic covers (front and back) baring an imprint of a tangled rope, enclose the pages which are folded seemingly as an accordion.

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2.3 The Carnet de voyage

A particular branch of the book as a diary is the travel journal, the “carnet de voyage”. It is a notebook that describes and immortalizes the moments of a travel. The work “Μelia in Berlin Ι” is an attempt for the creation of a diary in the form of a book, which came from the experience of the students exchange program Erasmus in Berlin. It started as a convention to keep an everyday journal, one page for each day, and to visualize the continuous data of the traveling in its two pages. Thus, 130 pages have resulted, as many as the days, a sum of watercolours, collages, and everyday life notes. The things I have done, the things I have eaten, the books I have read, scattered thoughts, people I have met, everything new that was coming to my thought every day, nightmares, the museum tickets and other insignificant findings. All the pages are contained in a handmade bookbinding box (18x27x10cm), with the title and the date graved upon it. It is a unique object, a small souvenir box that holds all the memories of the travel, from the smallest to the greatest.

This commitment of taking notes every day, taking each day as a unique experience, not repeating myself and discovering new ways to cope with the pages, has been the greatest profit for me. I have discovered many things through this process, new techniques and ways of writing. It has been a big challenge for me and not always an easy task. Many other works have seen the light after this one, by cutting off texts or sketches, as the small book Μelia in Berlin ΙΙ, which has been printed on that year in 10 copies. March- July 2008.

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2.3 The Carnet de voyage

A particular branch of the book as a diary is the travel journal, the “carnet de voyage”. It is a notebook that describes and immortalizes the moments of a travel. The work “Μelia in Berlin Ι” is an attempt for the creation of a diary in the form of a book, which came from the experience of the students exchange program Erasmus in Berlin. It started as a convention to keep an everyday journal, one page for each day, and to visualize the continuous data of the traveling in its two pages. Thus, 130 pages have resulted, as many as the days, a sum of watercolours, collages, and everyday life notes. The things I have done, the things I have eaten, the books I have read, scattered thoughts, people I have met, everything new that was coming to my thought every day, nightmares, the museum tickets and other insignificant findings. All the pages are contained in a handmade bookbinding box (18x27x10cm), with the title and the date graved upon it. It is a unique object, a small souvenir box that holds all the memories of the travel, from the smallest to the greatest.

This commitment of taking notes every day, taking each day as a unique experience, not repeating myself and discovering new ways to cope with the pages, has been the greatest profit for me. I have discovered many things through this process, new techniques and ways of writing. It has been a big challenge for me and not always an easy task. Many other works have seen the light after this one, by cutting off texts or sketches, as the small book Μelia in Berlin ΙΙ, which has been printed on that year in 10 copies. March- July 2008.

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2.4 The interactive book

The next step in this research has been experimentation with the concept of interaction and the ways in which this new material can offer new perspectives and directions. Thus the interactive work has resulted; it is an alternative form of diary, based on the hypertext and the options. The “NonLinear Diary51” is presented on a touch screen, yet its form remains closer to the traditional book as it imitates the paper’s texture and has a variety of different writings.

In this work all thoughts, actions and emotions recorded do not follow the time line as it is the case with proper journals, but instead they create a network of associated thoughts, developed in a circle with the reader’s aid. Thus elements such as fragments of speech, pictures and small actions create a complicated nexus of interactions within the hypertext. Every picture or word leads to another and every choice defines a different course. The spectator is able to penetrate the thoughts and change the course, literally by touching the journal’s texts with his/her finger. It is a big puzzle that can be entirely discovered with the right choices or be blocked, constantly passing by the same points.

51 http://annameli.com/flashdata/Non_Linear_Diary.swf

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2.4 The interactive book

The next step in this research has been experimentation with the concept of interaction and the ways in which this new material can offer new perspectives and directions. Thus the interactive work has resulted; it is an alternative form of diary, based on the hypertext and the options. The “NonLinear Diary51” is presented on a touch screen, yet its form remains closer to the traditional book as it imitates the paper’s texture and has a variety of different writings.

In this work all thoughts, actions and emotions recorded do not follow the time line as it is the case with proper journals, but instead they create a network of associated thoughts, developed in a circle with the reader’s aid. Thus elements such as fragments of speech, pictures and small actions create a complicated nexus of interactions within the hypertext. Every picture or word leads to another and every choice defines a different course. The spectator is able to penetrate the thoughts and change the course, literally by touching the journal’s texts with his/her finger. It is a big puzzle that can be entirely discovered with the right choices or be blocked, constantly passing by the same points.

51 http://annameli.com/flashdata/Non_Linear_Diary.swf

Besides the concept of the hypertext as a new structure of creative narration, the work’s form is also based on the thoughts procession. Small pictures that come and go, forgotten or followed leaving others behind, instantaneous discoveries and “déjà vu”, they all look like a labyrinthine wandering within a web environment. Having no time to give the proper attention, several different elements pass before the screen and lead us to the next pages. All this procession, this mechanism of interactions is directly related to the game playing and the mind recycling.

The project was developed with the Adobe Flash CS4 platform, as well as with the Action Script 2. All the texts have been initially written on small pieces of paper, then have been scanned in order to design every page with the fragments. For every choice a new page was created, which abutted in its turn to 2 or 3 other pages, creating thus a form of family tree. At the end of every course, the last choice leads again to a point in the middle of the work, so that the latter is never-ending. There is only one choice that leads to the initial page, a small chance for someone to get him/herself back there. There are also some pictures with brief animations going with the text that could have been chosen. No sound has been used in the work, so that it could remain within the framework of a “silent” book. (2010)

In the same context, although three years later - for the course Online Platforms and Interactive Works of the first year of the Master, I made the project: “The Way.” An interactive book with only one page, on which the texts of history unfold in a cyclical way. The central idea was personal space within the public space, in particular, personal time within public transport. Within the repetition of the same route every day and the limited movements of public transport, one nevertheless, has the opportunity of a contemporary form of “meditation”.

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Initially, I wrote of my daily route from home to school, with the three main subjective tools: steps, breaths and stairs. Steps that were needed to shift my position in space, stairs that take one up or down to change their level, and breaths to measure my transposition when I was in the bus or when waiting at the stop. So I made an imaginary map that marked the path and sets the distances that I count. In a second step, I collected material from my thoughts like a “recording” of reflections on the route, a total of 1383 words, as many as the units of distance.

Using these elements, I created an application with a linear narrative. A different type of log book where the viewer can browse online in two directions: forward and back, by using the right and left arrow on their keyboard. Each press corresponded to a step of the way and a next word from the text. Similarly, the screen gradually changes color from white into blue, symbolizing the sky at noon and black at night. After 1383 steps one reaches the end of the path and if the viewer continues, they return once more to the beginning. The work is like a band of time, similar to how one’s radio pointer shows the frequency - thus the screen was showing the position along the path. This unstoppable recycling of texts and the switch from day to night is my proposal for the abstract portrait of personal time. A different type of book, one-dimensional and limited, just like the movements within the crowd and the noise of the city.

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2.5 The Book In Space

The next goal was to build a new level of book, an installation in real space. The topic was my twenty fourth birthday and thus I created a calendar-exhibition portraying the “essence” of each year. The works, texts, pictures and sculptures are placed in space so that the viewer can wander, following the course of the narrative and also “read” the pieces of the story. The exhibition hall played the role of the book and each work was a new section. In the beginning the projects were conceptually, and technically, simpler while as my age during each exhibited year increased, the projects also become more mature and complex.

Specifically, the exhibition begins with a clipping of a calendar showing my date of birth. Afterward there is the sound of a bottle that breaks periodically which represents loss and the anxious anticipation of punishment. My first school bag, an animation of moving bottles of shampoo on an embroidered toilet. Four nightmares are painted with markers on canvas. Then there is another animation of an open mouth displaying a figure painted on the tongue which follows its movements, it is like a game in front of a mirror, a housewife who cooks and cleans in her mouth-home. Then there is a printing of a two-page notebook of mathematics. A series of letters with promises for the future. Following that there is a small painting depicting a tour guide - a profession that I had an interest in at the time. A project about my first period with spilled red paint on the floor. Then, there is a monument to the first cigarette. The hidden notebook I had done under my office in my room. A school desk with school memories stuck to it and adorning it. A family time line with drawings, photographs and caricatures. A little man with covered eyes that balances on a hemisphere.

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The paintings of the project “ΦΟΒΑΜΑΙ”. A memorial to death which takes the form of an astronaut and the work “NonLinear Diary”. Finally there is the interactive Garment, a project that somehow encompasses all the previous twenty-three years and symbolizes maturity but also protection and defense.

As for the Garment52, it is an interactive project with six touch sensors and a projector, which depending on the options chosen, displays a series of animations and sounds. When a visitor approaches the garment, he sees bright spots - points that can be touched. Each tap corresponds to a series of projected images that change the environment. At times, they transform the dress into the sea, show a wall that collapses, display a body trapped inside the garment, a glass of wine that becomes water, a passage through corn or just play a sound, such as a children’s musical game or wiping of broken glasses. These images are a set of many independent subjects comprising a personality and are initially hidden. They are glimpses of personal memories, reflections, opinions, experiences and details that are activated when they come in contact with the viewer.

At the same time the viewer, sculpture and projections, correspond to the three parts of the psychic apparatus defined in Sigmund Freud’s model of the psyche, the super-ego, the ego and the self. In the case of the work, the viewer is playing the role of super-ego, is as a judge and censor.

52 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2KOrVRz38M

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The sculpture is the “I”, the conscious part, the only one that is in direct contact with the outside world. A garment, according to Marshall Maklouan53, is an extension of our skin, in this case the mapped signs are the signs buttons, holes in the housing of our protection. Finally, the display itself symbolizes the Self, the instinctive nature of man, the intangible heritage, which bears from birth and is a reply to the super-ego viewer.

53 “The Medium Is the Massage” McLuhan M 1967

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2.6 The book as performance

Although the aim of creating a book within the space has been achieved, it needed to move on further. Thanks to the festival “Experimentations with the Narrative”, organized by the troupe Fournos and its director Manthos Santorinaios, the aforementioned installation has been transformed into a theatrical play entitled: “Do you want to go far?”54 Most of the installation’s works have been transformed into a theatrical set and the interactive Garment became the fellow actor. The actress Penny Milia has been commissioned to narrate a story, animating thus the static space. Using the force of the live speech, the actress’ movements, the stage light and the projections on the dress, the entire work has been enriched and enabled to reach a following level highlighting hidden images and meanings.

The initial text was fragmentary; it was a patchwork of personal notes and thoughts from different periods, all collected, elaborated and defined in a different order according to the director’s view. A time and meaning sequence has been constructed, as well as a course, so that the play can evolve and conclude. The story begins with the room and the diary of a young girl before adulthood in nowadays’ Athens and finishes in a magical world where everything is possible. It is an experimental work that alternates irrationality and reason, dream and reality. It is an attempt to portray a today’s girl with a “dangerous” naivety, trying to find her place within the decadent contemporary civilization, through the difficulties of modern, “easy” times. Isolated and constantly confronting herself, she argues and she rebels as if she always was at the same spot; in between the present, the past and the future, where everyone constantly judges and gets judged.

The concept of a book extended in space, having words printed or engraved on clay or pronounced by the actress creates an imaginary environment that advances at its own pace. It is as if the actress, just like the stopwatch line, is branding the work, highlighting the fourth dimension of it. It is not a static work anymore, it is not a text printed on paper, nor an object within space; it is a living organism, breathing and making pauses. It is a “déjà vécu” that was repeated every week, in each performance. The feeling that gives us such an experience has nothing to do with reading or playing with interactive screens. Its a voyage to a parallel world, that carries us away through the actress’s voice and the mise en scene, to take us back to reality after the end of the play. October 2011- April 2012.

54 https://vimeo.com/54255468

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2.7 The book as playing cards.

While the performance was taking place, a book in the form of playing cards had been created, having the same title: “Do you want to go far?”. It is composed of 97 cards in a handmade box, with the text of the play and with pictures inspired from the theatrical set and the projections. This work is an attempt for an alternative form of writing, that can also be read by fragments. It is an object between a book and a toy. The texts may be given through many different ways, by fragments, backwards, or in a completely random order, without altering the meaning of the thoughts. It is a sequence of independent cards, each one elaborated in a special way, with no commitments, each card having an individual symmetry and composition. Each and every card is a unique typographical object.

At the end of all performances, most of the spectators had the need to share the common points, their own dreams or phobias, and to confide forgotten experiences. The success of the play lies precisely there, in the unrolling of all these simple, everyday images, that often cross our minds, that one loses – at least temporarily – if they are not noted down and recalled. This awakening of childhood and young age memories has been the initial thrust for this book’s form. It could be used both ways, as a book and as a game: a board game where a group of people can mix and choose cards randomly, so that a player can describe the first thing that comes across his/her head after the choice of a card, or give an imaginary picture that beseems the card’s words. Between an art book, a play’s brochure and a coffee table book, this work motivates the players to open wide their imagination, their memories and the dreaming images that lie inside them and to communicate. Both sides of the card are printed. On the one side there are the texts and the pictures, while on the other side all have the same pattern, the garment’s cloth; thus they also refer to a pack of cards. The cards are also numerated, in order to be replaced in their initial order, i.e. in that of the play. The book has been printed in November 2011 in 200 signed copies (11x4x15,5cm).

Conclusion

Recording and analyzing these projects was a necessity in order for me to be able to define the research frame I am mostly concerned with. It is a chain of projects, similar to a ladder, an upgrade, a stable but essential progress, an experience through which the new conscious state can be seen in every step. This is why I thought it should be part of my dissertation. It is the rock on which my whole work stands, both theoretically and practically. I can only hope that my future research will flourish equally firmly, enriched with new elements and finding new courses in every step of the way.

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Part 3 – The Projects

Introduction

During this post–graduate course, the year was dedicated to 4 work–thesis, each different from another but closely connected. One was research, the historical, artistic and technical quest about art, books and writing. In the library of Paris 8, in Bpi–Public Reference Library of Pompidou Centre, in different museums and on the internet, I was searching and collecting information and knowledge that interested me and that I needed or I will need in the future. The second work was the e–book “I am not afraid any more” which came up from a parallel university lesson and proceeded until the final stage. The third was the basic project I had chosen to do for the second year of the post–graduate course “The artist’s book in virtual space” along with the new font I created. Although it is at an elementary level it constitutes a powerful suggestion for the next form of the artistic book and a base on which I would like to continue experimenting. Last but not least, the fourth work is a series of sketches which I decided and performed at the same time with the research. I created a file with writings and symbols, notes with things that interested me and at the same time experimentations on the image of the basic project, trying to give solutions to the visual questions that arose.

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3.1 Project A – The interactive book for children

3.1.1 Description of the Project

The project “I am not afraid anymore55” is a scheme for a new kind of interactive childrens’ book, something between an educational tool and a game. The child has to approach both rational and irrational fears through a digital tablet, where one can either play or discover the right answer. Every fear has a unique way to be solved and only when the answer is found can the story proceed56.

Nightmares, for instance, are an opportunity to make the most of our imagination and create beautiful drawings the next morning. Solitude is a great opportunity for a bunch of ideas, whereas insects work the same way for exploration. In the next level more complicated interactions will be held like is the case of the darkness the child needs to use a real source of light in order to illuminate the tablet or regarding loud and scary noises they can overcome this fear by creating their own voice with the help of a microphone.

Every childhood fear has its roots in unawareness. When you are aware, you are not scared anymore. Any fear can be debunked through the right method and this interactive plaything can make it a much more profound experience. It’s not just a correct answer that needs to be found, it’s their encounter with movements, gestures and riddles that work to the child’s advantage. Therefore the positive meaning of each can grow deeper and deeper in them and become a mindful experience. The purpose of this interactive book is for the children to deal with and eventually overcome their fears, to be inspired and to be given a sort of imagination so that they view real life with creativity and hope.

In addition, this form of book–game can also be used in the field of Psychology as an important tool in research and education. It is the base of a new world of interaction and playing, where a child can easily absorb new information and be taught as well as amused. This book was created throughout the course IDEFI CreATIC Textualités Augmentées in Paris 8 University, supervised by Pr. Nolwenn Tréhondart and the support of Tomek Jarolim during my post graduate program in 2015.

55 https://vimeo.com/12258808656 You can fint the content of the e-book ath annex, page 95

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3.1.2 Structure of the project

The application “I am not afraid any more” was created on “Processing” software. It is an open source programming language, easy to use and it is based on notebooks called “sketches” where all the code parts are written. Everything that has been “designed” can be displayed by pressing the button “play”. The project is developed in a 800x600 pixel resolution but having all the pictures aligned in the center, allows the user to project it in various resolutions and different screens without altering the end result. I have used Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop to create the illustrations. The melody at the beginning is a German traditional folk song for kids 57while the rest of the sound effects have been found on www.freesound.org and modified accordingly.

3.1.3 The Interactions

As mentioned before, every story has its own special way to be dealt with. Interacting, apart from being choices in the game, have a conceptual connection with every fear, ultimately giving a moral lesson. In the first story, the user finds oneself in the school, trying to choose the right answer of multiplying 5 with 8 on a blackboard. In the second story, the insect story, one has to use two fingers to maximize the depicted insect which will give the user the message not to be afraid of nature as well as to observe it closer. In the third one the end user has to choose six (6) options among the list. Apart from the ideas of what to do while the child is home alone, the application teaches you to schedule a whole day. In the fourth story, in order to face the angry father, the child must tap the screen multiple times to make years pass which will result with the child in the picture to grow up and stop feeling small and weak. Through obedience and patience the child reaches maturity and no longer has the anxiety or fear of being reprimanded. In the next story, the one with the loud sounds, the child can compose a piece of some sort by tapping fifteen (15) times on each of the four pictures. In the story with the nightmares one can choose pieces of the pillow until the hidden picture behind it appears. In the “fear of the doctor” story, the child will have to use gauze carefully to cover a knee injury, thus adopting the doctor’s role. The eighth story is about fearing the dark. The child must illuminate the room turning the light on by tapping on the lamp in order to realize that there is nothing scary hidden in the dark. Another moral lesson can be found in the ninth story. While war is raging, the child will have to put out the canons’ wicks for the war to stop and for the rest of the scenery to become a much more peaceful and blissful place. In the last story which is about death, the child has to cover the dead pigeon with leaves where a flower will blossom passing the message of the cycle of life in our world.

57 Digital notation and midi in Sibelius by Argyro Papathanasiou.

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3.1.4 Description of the Application

The program functions with a six–tab combination, every one of which calculates specific data. These are the following: Welcome, Fears, Properties, MouseControls, Settings and Stories. In detail, the Welcome tab starts the program and shows the title of the project and two pictures while playing the introducing sound on the start screen. The Fears tab introduces the sound library ddf.minim and loads all the images and sounds from the data folder. Then an if condition determines every step of the application and labels each story.

if (fearStep == 0) startProgram(); else if (fearStep == 1) story1();

In the Properties tab, settings for particular pictures are included. For example, in the seventh and the last story the exact position of the gauze and leaves respectively is calculated for the story to be completed when the items approach the appropriate spot. Additionally in the case of the fourth story there are the commands zoomImage4a = 0.55; and zoomImage4b = 0.1; in order to magnify or shrink down both images with every tap. Pressing the MouseControls tab you can find all the interaction options. There are four voids: void mousePressed(), void mouseMoved(), void mouseDragged() and void mouseReleased(). At first there is a boolean isStory1Solved = true; and for every time a correct answer is achieved, a unit is added in step fearStep = fearStep + 1; so it can go to the next one. Settings tab is where each story’s images and sounds are loaded.

// story 1 image1 = loadImage(“story1/fears-1.png”); image1a = loadImage(“story1/fears-1a.png”); image1b = loadImage(“story1/fears-1b.png”); image1c = loadImage(“story1/fears-1c.png”); playerStory1 = minim.loadFile(“sounds/fears_1.mp3”);

The last tab, Stories, is where the whole application is based on. When the story begins and since the right answer is given and the time set is not bigger than 4000 milliseconds, the initial text of each story appears on screen on a preset background color through a dissolve. 4000 milliseconds is the waiting time I have set for the text to remain on screen.

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Georges Rousse, Hamel Patrice. Artists worked on the idea of perspective and illusion and they based their projects on the position of the viewer.

An artist with a very remarkable work very close to this sense which I also seek,is Mathias Goeritz. With most important example the work La Serpiente de El Eco,a sculpture with objects in space ,evolving in time.

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3.2 Project B - The artists’ book in the virtual space

3.2.1 Suggestion for a new book form In 1954 Αrt Cinetique along with Bauhaus and Constructivists noted that artistic creation stifles because it is not predestined to endlessly repeat the same forms. The artist must constantly reform it, renewing the same artistic materials. At that time, they were occupied with mechanic constructions, light and moving objects, the viewer’s intervention and the transparency of the materials. The artist of that movement was organizing complex structures and was becoming an observer of his environment.

In a sense, the art in visual space is an idealized or else modernized form of Art Cinetique. Like the artist-mechanist who then made his constructions, thus now in the environment of a game engine, the creator materializes a system, in another scale but with similar instruments. A device that acts with its environment, with physics, with light, with constructions and motions in resemblance to reality. This new environment is ideal for the contemporary figure of artistic creation. It is a substratum ready to put up with ideas and actions and release the art’s captivity from monotony οnce more.

I was based on these facts through this research and suggested a work that fluctuates between a virtual environment and a book. A handwritten book that takes advantage of the third dimension and evolves in this three-dimensional ecosystem that virtual reality provides us. A new writing form, not placing marks on a surface but setting the letters, the three-dimensional objects. This work will not address to mere readers but to viewers who read, watch and experience its pieces at the same time. It offers an experience, not only information. It is a visual multi-show where the only difference with Art Cinetique is materiality. It is a next level of book-diary, a short visual trip, a miniature of a greater real trip-in Paris-with its marks placed on three-dimensional space58.

58 All in all I have completed the text, the architectural framework on which the project is based and the font. Nevertheless, it is a draft, a rehearsal for the final form. Only the first two spaces are set up, without interactions.

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3.2.2 Creation of a prototype Font

A purpose for this research was the creation of a new font that would be specifically designed for this project. The new font is not merely a three-dimensional analog of an existing two-dimensional font, where only depth has been added along one axis to create volume. It is an entirely new font utilizing the potential of three-dimensional design and created ex nihilo on this new substrate.

For the initial idea a small wire was designed from different perspectives. The result was designs that appeared like little skeches , where each one had seemingly nothing to do with the previous one, although it was the same wire with the same design. Continuing in the same spirit, the creation of a new font was started using the 26 Latin characters including punctuation marks.

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The letters were designed by a vector line deformed along the depth of the shaft perpendicular to the front shape of each letter. This line then obtains a volume based on a hexagonal surface which serves to generate a visually appealing cylindrical illusion. This hexagonal surface plays the role of a calligraphic pen that gives the final style of the letter. The extrusion also has a gradually shrinking width by 20% from the beginning to the end of the line, thus determining the direction of the line.

The creation of a new digital calligraphic tool involves the following parameters: slope, roundness, size of footprint, pressure, the beating, the stylus wheel, the tilt, rotation and a hint of randomness. In the case of this font, only the first three parameters were used, the slope, the roundness and size thus determining the final result. This particular font is a trace in three-dimensional space of a continuous curved line, by a quick glance it looks more like an Arabic rather than a Latin script.

With the 3d font I created afterwards I took all the objects and traced their outline in a 2d environment. These were then used to create another font the: 3DAnnaM.otf.

The digital calligraphic tool of Adobe Ilustrator

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An important and interesting feature is that only a certain specific point distinguishes each letter, while changing the tilt parameter, by even a few degrees, results in the letter being unrecognizable again. Due to this phenomenon, the process of reading becomes quite an experience, with the position of the viewer, with navigation and interactions, and the movements and rotations of the same letters contributing to the aesthetics of the experience. To find out what each sentence is saying, the reader has to find the right way from which to view it. It is a fascinating new form of writing that exploits three-dimensional space and could for that reason be called space-writing.

It is important to note that some letters may be confused with others. For example, if C is rotated out 90 degrees on the y axis it can be read as I and in some cases Z resembles N. Nevertheless, this does not affect the meaning of the text, because each letter at the right time is fixed to the correct position, relative to the viewer.

Relationships the times we live, personal, social and political are deformed relationships, genetically modified just like our food. The new font I created is relevant to this thought: that everything is blemished. Even though it looks normal on one side, if you look at it in a more spherical way, you see that its form changes and becomes incomprehensible, it stops being what we were seeing and thinking. This contradiction of being and appearing is the cause of the letters I suggested.

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3.2.3 Description of the Project The content59 is a set of excerpts from thoughts and ideas that were written in the last year in Paris. It includes notes from walks into the city, talks with new people, from daydreams, and thoughts during my courses60. It is a series of brief descriptions, images, advices and decisions. A work of art that is in contrast to the city it describes. Fresh, first-hand, short and dense, in comparison to the the old, huge and historically rich center of Europe.

The geography, the layout of the city becomes the substrate used to develop the course of the path. Inspired by theories of Lettrist, Situationalist, and Psychogeography “the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals”61. I decided to base my project on a map. I wanted to create a base from where exploration starts, a route in virtual reality. The helical shape of twenty departments of central Paris becomes the base of the creation of twenty corresponding volumes, in the shape of the real map at a 1:100 scale. Each department provides an autonomous space that refers to a separate page, and has been managed separately as a two-page print. The series of texts is a function of the location of each department, conveying what is important in each one. Expressing whether or not I had ever wandered into each one and the imagined and real things I encountered therein.

59 Some texts from my project were inspired by a game with words. I wrote words on small pieces of paper and then I tried to create poems with them. Like a game of creative writing or OuLipo used. The content is found in the annex.60 You can find the content of the project at annex, page 9661 Guy Debord 1955, Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography

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The project starts from the town center in the first “arrondissement” (district). For navigation, the storytelling unfolds by every room letting you pass only onto the side adjoining the next room. So the course is predetermined and helical. By passing into each new area, the former areas which have been visited are freed up by having their limitations removed. In this fashion, the viewer can then return and see the spaces previously visited, but can now move freely in them without restrictions62.

The set is subtractive and simple in its form. Neither decorations nor descriptive elements were used and only black and white is found. The initial target was not to be illustrated, to have only the written narration as main components into the virtual space. Some sound samples were used which were mostly aiming at reinforcing the space perception rather than describing the work.

In the stage the work is, there are the following tests. Ιn the first place there is the project’s title which is static. On the other part, there is the sentence “Les images…” which is also simply placed. On the right corner, there is the sentence “Lis moi…” which has a small deformation on the word poème. On the right side there is the sentence “Il y avai...” which follows the movement and the rotation of the camera and rotates respectively. On the opposite side on the left wall there is the sentence “Je dois…” which rotates around itself on the axis y. In the second place there is the sentence “Developer...” and on the left there is the alphabet from A to Z which rotates around itself separately. On the left side there is the word “Morphogenèse” which has hinge joints between the letters and makes the word look like it has lost its shape.

62 This is an allusion to the freedom that one acquires through experience which transforms the unknown into a personal space

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I want this project, in its final form, to be presented through a tablet. As the book is an open window through which one can dive in its world, likewise in this project one needs also a window, however more vivid and interactive. This is a mobile window which helps you discover a virtual environment through rotation. It is of great interest semantically that tablets were the first form of books, as in the ten commandments of Moses, whereas many years later these tiny yet powerful gadgets show up with the same name. The book, as mentioned before, always seeks the most up-to-date environment in order to create a relationship and evolve. Nowadays we have this multi-tool, which we can use to our advantage and create projects based on the well-known way of print-on-paper, in a new digital form.

3.2.4 The concept of page-turning in virtual space

Up to the present there were many different types of bookbinding shown in history and thus there are also different methods for page-turning. Pages may be all bound as a whole from the one cover and get riffled from the other one, they may form a concertina which allows someone to open and close the book like the musical instrument; pages may be cards, they may be like a roll, a lengthy page to be scrolled for the entire content to be shown. Most electronic books and blogs follow this rationale of scrolling. Each chapter in a common electronic book is just one page, with a fixed width, and usually wide at length, with the information following one another.

In the case of this work, there is not a rectangular surface as a page, but a three-dimensional space, so a new way shall be determined for passing through the pieces of the story. It could be a button at some point of the screen which once pressed could transfer into the next space. Another idea has been for a short linear map of the entire space, placed tactfully at a point of the screen, on which someone could choose the page – or point to go to. A third choice since the beginning has been that once someone would open this book it would start moving automatically into the space being directed towards the end, so the reader should emulate reading in relation to the dispatch or for an additional option to be in place allowing for a quick or slow browsing. In fact, a solution had to be found for the concept of page-turning to get transferred into the three-dimensional space.

What I concluded after various trials for this work was to take advantage of the structure of video games and the rationale of First Person Controller so that the reader can be directed through the space; so that it will be about an actual simulation of reality in virtual space.

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The end user will be able to rotate his virtual camera through the gyroscope of the tablet and explore the space. He will also be able to move towards the wall in a certain distance simply by touching this particular spot on screen. There will be no keyboard, as every option will be executed through rotating or touching the screen. Additionally there will be interaction rules concerning the position of the user and the letters’ motion. For instance, the user will be able to choose, shuffle or destroy words just by touching them. Another example is that the letters will be gathered in one spot and from that spot they can periodically be moved and put in order and then after a while collapse. There might even be a clue, some sort of sound or some glowing letter, which will invite the user to approach and then all the letters will appear.

3.2.5 The tool of virtual writing The text I decided to use for this virtual book consists of 1200 words, 6500 characters approximately. It was impossible to handle all this mass of objects separately, it was too large for me to manage as well as for the computer. There cannot be writing in virtual space, if it is created for each letter an object in hierarchy, and its burden to be added to the processor. Also, the font is planned in isometric view and not in perspective. This meant that, in order for the letters to be recognized by the viewer each time, they should be lined vertically in length and height to the camera. With the slight move by the viewer, new positions should be set. The idea for the map-platform was also an obstacle. In order for the user to be able to pass from one space to the other, this meant that all objects should be on one stage, a fact that would make the application very heavy. So, I found myself in a series of problems I had not predicted and which led me to a dead end. The elaboration of the computer’s memory was the most important, and even more in the case that the work would be through a tablet.

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In the stage I have reached, I have a very good preparation: my idea is very definite, the materials, aesthetics and content, it is all clear and ready. The next step is to make all this work on a sound basis, more algorithmic. I thought that I need a new system to advance the work, a mechanism that could support in process, the writing in virtual space.

A tool should be created which could write without outweighing the processor with the size, apart from the initial objects. In the beginning, there will be a form for the user to drag all the 3D objects that have been created, letters and numbers, and correspond them to the alphabet. Afterwards, activating the tool of the visual writing, he can type normally with the text appearing in the space. Subsequently, he will be able to process the sizes, the alignment, the gaps, the two linings, and make other typographic formations. For example, to define if he wishes to write in series, from top down or follow a curve. Then he will be able to process the text, and if there are different fonts in the library, then he will be able to change the .obj file to another equivalent. Each letter, after writing, will be a proper object that he can process it with components and a code. In a stage even more sophisticated and “clever”, there could be the possibility of orthographic and grammatical control of the text.

3.2.6 The new symmetry

One of my initial questions was the subject of symmetry in virtual space. If there are new rules then a new symmetry should be set. On paper always-or nearly always we have rectangular shapes. From the beginning of history with Leonardo Da Vinci and Albert Dürer, up to contemporary scientists, many researched the matter of symmetry. They proposed formulas for a more correct exploitation of the typographic two-page, the ideal proportion of format and the examination of a golden rule’s existence. But what happens if we do not have a parallelogram piece of paper but we have a whole world with only one fixed point, the xyz 0,0,0? Within the tool of virtual writing I suggest lies the answer to the question: “How will the typographic setting on the 3D layout be handled” and that is “Algorithmically”. No matter what these rules are, they should be in proportion with the viewer’s facts. The picture’s frame we have from the camera is variable, it could be an object right in front of us and in the next moment we turn and see objects on the other side of the stage, for example as if they are 500 metres away. Thus the rules cannot be fixed but in accordance with the camera and its move. Depending on how close or far it is from the object and how leading or secondary we want the elements to be. This mechanism will help to define those kind of rules and will give the opportunity for interaction with typography, in real time. One could customize the rates he has designated, fluctuate or rotate the objects in relation to the viewer. It will be a tool that can be used by each one who wants to make a form of handwriting in a virtual environment.

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Conclusion

These two works, the child book and the Livre d’artiste are closely connected with my initial intention. They are attempts to experiment with typography and narration. It is highly important that I maintained a balance between these four different levels-along with research and sketches- and it is undeniable that each field strengthened the other. If I had focused on completing the work, then I would have lost in quality from reading and research, and if I had focused more on reading, I would have lost the chance to create an e-book and learn all the things I learned during its course. I would like both works to be continued, to evolve and become the beginning for the next procedure. The procedure for the first work has begun with a presentation in University pavilion IDEFI CreaTIC of Paris 8 in the Salon du Livre, Porte de Versailles, Parc Des Expositions, Paris, Μarch 20-23, 2015 and has been accepted in the exhibition “Campus exhibition-UP8-Arts Electronica 2015” in September 3-7, 2015. The second work, the virtual book, I would like for it to be displayed with the projects and the present research, as a whole work when it is completed.

General Conclusion

As photography did not ruin painting, like many people were afraid of its discovery, so new technologies do not abolish the book. The book is a priceless history, interwoven with the history of art and enrichment which develops until our days, having always something new to propose. The book is a product of civilization and at the same time promotes it. It follows and develops at the same time with technology and in this way it now gets another dimension in “space” through new technologies and new devices such as smart phones and tablets.

Through this course I ran across artistic movements, artists and techniques and I created a small file-compared with reality-but important to me at this moment. From all I have learned and all the small details I discovered, I was fascinated and decided not to end this journey here, with the completion of this dissertation, but to exhaust it and go to a next level through a doctoral research. At the same time, I want to materialize the tool of virtual writing I suggested, and make it my weapon so as to continue the virtual game of the treasure discovery-notionally and formalistically. To take advantage of the technology and the new aesthetics and create something new with all the respect to the preceding history.

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Annex

The text of the project A: Je n’ai plus peur

Je n’ai pas peur de l’école, parce que... si je fais toujours mes devoirs je suis heureuse et insouciante.

Je n’ai pas peur des insectes, parce que... si je les observe de près ce sont des êtres formidables.

Je n’ai pas peur de rester seule, parce que j’ai... une grande liste des choses que j’ai envie de faire.

Décider ce que je deviens quand je serai grandeÉtablir une liste des choses que j’aime

Dessiner. Danser. Trouver un prénom pour le chien que j’aurai quand je serai grandeÉcrire une lettre à une amie. Créer des fleurs en papier pour offrir à maman

Me rappeler les prénoms de tous les membres de ma famille et dessiner mon arbre généalogiqueRaconter un conte qui me vient dans la tête. Lire un conte dans un livre

Planter des lentilles dans un bout de coton mouillé Ranger ma chambre. Apprendre les tables de multiplication

Je n’ai pas peur de me faire gronder, parce que... si j’écoute ce qu’ils me disent, un jour je serai meilleure.

Je n’ai pas peur des bruits forts, parce que... je peux imaginer la musique qu’ils cachent.

Je n’ai pas peur des cauchemars, parce que...

le lendemain, inspirée par ça, je ferai de jolis dessins.

Je n’ai pas peur des médecins...parce qu’ils veulent juste me soigner.

Je n’ai pas peur du noir ni des monstres sous mon lit, parce que... je sais que rien jamais n’existe vraiment là-bas.

Je n’ai pas peur des guerres, parce que... je les arrêterai quand je serai grande.

Je n’ai pas peur de la mort, parce que... c’est toujours une opportunité d’ aimer la vie et les gens autour de moi encore plus.

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The text of the project B: “Le Livre d’artiste dans un espace virtuel”

page I / espace ILes images m’emmènent aux choses que j’aime et que j’admire.

******Lis moi un poème

un poème vieux, mais important.******

Il y avait une fois...******

Je dois trouver mon chemin.

page II / espace IIDévelopper un rapport avec un mot, une notion, et y rester fidèle.

Pas communiquer, établir un rapport.******

Morphogenèse.******

Si seulement il y avait quelqu’un pour t’aimer, t’admirer et te protéger comme un archéologue qui aime son travail.

page III / espace IIIL’histoire va vers l’avant, c’est sa seule façon d’exister.

******Réfléchis... à travers la nouvelle fenêtre de ta vie, regardant les Archives Nationales et

l’aspect d’une autre ville qui t’accueille. Tu as quoi de neuf dans ta tête ?******

De l’appartement d’à côté on entend des chansons,tous ensemble, en chœur, comme des paroles de tragédie ancienne.

******Plusieurs amis ne viendront jamais ici.

Respire bien, c’est ici où tu es !

page IV / espace IVImprovise, découvre ton mythe, dessine ton blason.

******Tridimensionnel.

******Bonjour Marcel ! Ça va ? Merci beaucoup d’être venu,

je sais que c’est désormais très difficile pour toi de bouger.******

J’oublie de respirer, j’ai mal au cœur.

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page V / espace VUne sculpture de l’Histoire, en vin.

******Je n’aime plus la frivolité.

******Souvent je me suis dit que je dois être forte, me sentir présente en ce monde où j’existe

depuis si longtemps sans laisser de traces.******

Je ne vais pas bien. Tu dois aller bien ! Il est obligatoire d’aller bien !

******Combien de temps s’est-il passé ? Combien de bateaux sont-ils passés ?

page VI / espace VIUne obsession installée dans ma pensée, je m’y suis concentrée sans la connaître.

******C’est magnifique !

La rivière coule constamment, le pont pas du tout.Ce mariage est idéal, il est mortel.

******Je ne le supporte plus, être si heureuse et si déçue à la fois.

******Tu as peur de quoi ?

J’ai peur de la liberté. Elle aussi elle a désormais grandi, elle est devenue dangereuse. J’ai très peur mais je ne dois pas le montrer. De quoi as-tu vraiment peur ?

******Un Minotaure seul en train d’attendre.

page VII / espace VIITerre, je voudrais que tu sois plus libre. Plus forte. Plus sûre.

******Je ne veux pas que les gens que j’aime aient peur. Je ne veux trahir aucune des personnes que j’aime.

Voilà une chose dont j’ai peur. ******

Parfois mettre les lettres dans l’ordre peut être la plus belle œuvre. ******

J’aime la rivière, les fenêtres et la mécanique de l’horloge.

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page VIII / espace VIIILes enfants jouent. Dans l’air, le pollen des arbres.

Quelques jours plus tard, avec deux mouvements diagonales dévoré.Le soleil est parti, mort. Tout le ciel était rouge.

******Ne me regarde pas, m’a dit ses peintures.

Peut-être tu découvriras toutes mes erreurs, tout ce que je n’ai pas achevé .Je déteste les spectateurs tenaces !

page IX / espace IXTout change, moi aussi. La journée également, elle devient plus longue.

******Les règles me donnent le vertige, je me balance, mais je ne me conforme pas à la règle.

Tout est en mouvement. J’ai le vertige ! N’oublie pas de respirer !******

Dans une maison avec un beau jardin,dans un jardin avec des myrtilles,

myrtilles sans conscience, sans scrupules ni connaissances sur la politique,dans une ville silencieuse, c’est là ou je rentre.

******Toi qui vis dans les ténèbres et la peur des couleurs, dis-moi quelle est ta vérité.

page X / espace XTout est symétrique par rapport au présent.Qui sait pour demain ? Demain, qui sait ?

******Ce qui compte est de regarder son prochain dans les yeux et d’y voir un chemin.

Le même endroit, toi et lui. Le départ et la destination, le même lieu.

page XI / espace XI- I feel blue

- Le bleu du ciel ? - Non.

- Quel est le bleu que tu te ressens ? Quel est le bleu qui parle à toi ?

page XII / espace XIIINVERSION s’il vous plaît !

Les nuits, je n’arrive pas à dormir, je m’imagine des monstres.******

Tu rejettes ce que tu n’arrives pas à obtenir. Chaque obstacle apporte quelque chose de bien.

C’est le point où les réductions commencent,comme les indications sur les vitrines des boutiques.

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page XIII / espace XIIIOù est la sagesse et où est l’immaturité ? Ce sont deux endroits ou un seul ?

******Qu’as-tu fais ?

******L’art qui mûrit devient écriture. Son essence est la poésie.

La poésie veut se définir et elle choisit un livre. Le livre naît et le livre meurt.******

Je me plongeJ’alourdis peu à peu

Je perce la Terre Je vais à son centreJe ne cherche rien

Sur la route, par les fenêtres, je vois l’histoire entièreJ’arrive à ses points importants

Je regarde ses acteurs dans les yeuxCe ne sont pas des professionnels

Je les laisse devantJe vais plus loin

Plus au fondJe veux arriver au centre

Dans le noyau de la connaissance Je veux tout savoir

Sur la Terre il n’y a que la moitié qui est écriteJe dois trouver la sortie.

page XIV / espace XIVCoordonne toi, synchronise toi.

******Tu viens d’attraper mon secret.

******J’ai perdu mon sol, comme si j’étais déracinée

******Se peut-il que les changements que j’entreprends sont

comme des changements de vêtements ? ******

Comment garder ma grand-mère vivante dans ma tête ? Sa voix, son odeur ?

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page XV / espace XVPeux-tu affronter toute ta vie ?

Ton futur, ton passé, ton pressent,avec la même ferveur avec laquelle tu tombes amoureux et que tu désires ?

Avec de la crainte, du désir, l’estomac noué. Arrêter soudainement pour y penser.

N’avoir qu’un seul souci, qu’une obsession, ne pas perdre du temps.Faire tout à la bourre, pour terminer dans un côté et jouir de la beauté de vivre.

Ne pas arrêter un instant, ne pas cesser d’y penser. Ne pas pouvoir reprendre. Ne pas pouvoir retrouver ta raison. Être vivant .

page XVI / espace XVITénèbres noires et silence. Si tu n’as pas peur, tu gagneras !

Quoi? Tu entres dans le noir et puis tu vois ses couleurs et ensuite tu en fais partie. Et maintenant, si quelqu’un voit le noir, tu peux l’épouvanter.

page XVII / espace XVII- Une inspiration ou une chaîne ? Tu choisis quoi ?

- La chaîne, bien sûr ! ******

Emmène-moi loin d’ici. Ouvre-moi la porte et jette-moi dans l’espace, l’espace magique, le non-espace.

******Je m’enthousiasme puis j’oublie.

Je ne sais pas si je suis arrivée là où je voulais ou si je me suis complètement perdue. ******

L’été s’est fané.******

Je peux le choisir, je peux le suivre et savoir qu’il m’emmène sur le bon chemin.******

Sens unique.

page XIX / espace XIXJe sentais fascinée les angoisses, les insécurités,

et déçue de nombreuses fois dans cette ville.

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page XX / espace XXSi seulement demain serait différent

Si seulement demain je serais la mêmeSi seulement il n’y avait pas de si seulement.Si seulement je n’existerais pas moi non plus

******C’était la vie que je attendais. Cette vie vient de se terminer.

******Dans le cimetière du Père Lachaise j’ai pensé à un certain moment que je mourrai

mais ensuite je me suis dit que c’est la vie qui ne dure qu’un instant, que c’est la mort qui dure pour toujours. Une fois, j’ai vécu.

******Que le soleil d’aujourd’hui amène un message agréable au monde.Faisons un monde meilleur. Les prières ne changent pas le monde !

******Un poème de l’Asie lointaine

dit qu’un personnage ayant découvert l’écriture a eu les larmes aux yeux.******

C’est chouette.******

Ensuite la princesse âgée est retournée dans sa maison.

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Examples from the fourth project, sketches about writing

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Sketches of 3D spaces

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