If you’re in the Melbourne CBD this Thursday, the 1st of August, you might keep an eye out for something that looks a little like your man here on the right.
It’s one of the journals being released as part of the Sharing Ink project run by the delovely Sayraphim Lothian. The idea is that she’s leaving 30 hand-stitched blank books made of gorgeous handmade paper all over the city between 1 and 10 August.
Each of the books has been given to an “inscriber” who has contributed a bit of their own art, writing or what have you to the first page as a kind of dedication/welcome/thank you/inspiration.
It’s kind of a reward to those people who are curious and adventurous enough to interrupt their journey through the city for whatever reason to pick up something beautiful and unusual. What they do with it then is up to them.
I mention this because I’m one of the inscribers – as if you hadn’t twigged. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Sayraphim before and I’ve always found her to be a force for creativity and imagination. Sharing Ink has just the right kind of beauty and whimsy I’ve come to expect from her.
“My” journal – which I am pleased to point out has got an octopus on it so booyah – has got a poem from me on the front page, an oldie from Not Quite the Man for the Job that I thought suited the project pretty well. If you aren’t able to get into Melbourne on Thursday, or if you do and you don’t find it, not to worry – here’s a preview:
Check the texture on that paper, is all I’m saying.
Three journals will be released somewhere in the Melbourne CBD each day between August 1-10. There’s more info about all 30 journals and their inscribers, as well as the ideas behind the project, on the Sharing Ink blog. Who knows? Sayra might even post some clues about where she’s leaving them.
Happy hunting.
The Other Adam Ford 