DEGREES UNEDITED

# 1 [22 April 2009]

This post will begin on Sunday 26 April

# 2 [26 April 2009]

'Mapping the West' began as a brief conversation between myself and Joseph Ostraff when we met at the 'scissorspaperstone' artist's book fair in London last year, where we were both showing our artist's books.

Over the past year we have kept up a dialogue to work through the practicalities of setting up a collaborative relationship and to develop a project strategy for a bok arts masterclass.

Ideas have come from both sides as to the content and direction of the project theme. We have decided to work towards developing individual book ideas that use the map of the canyon land Escalante region of Southern Utah.

Project parameters will limit the maximum area of the books to the size of the open maps and will ask that when folded or closed they should be the size of the folded down map. beyond this anything is possible. 

The project itinerary will take in introductory presentations by the WMC students to introduce our hosts at BYU to Liverpool's culture and urban and outlying environments as well as a presentation of our visual practices.

There will be introductory master classes in lithography, letterpress printing and book production techniques before we brave the wilds of southern Utah on a three day camping expedition.

# 3 [28 April 2009]

Scot - Monday 27 April

Today we had our first day meeting the students at Brigham Young University. As a group we had different expectations of what the people would be like however the students were all very friendly and welcoming. We knew we had to speak in front of the group and a lot of us were nervous about it, but our fears were put at ease as the students introduced themselves individually to us which broke the ice.

I managed to have quite a lengthy conversation with a group of the students about the cultural differences between our ways of life. It was a good way to start communication between us which I feel will help the collaborative project.

After our initial introductions we proceeded to begin our group presentation about Liverpool and our work. This was a great success and I received a lot of positive feedback from some of the students who were really complementary about my work. I was really happy that my work was being understood and well received even on this side of the Atlantic!

Today has been such a success that I've become so excited to go back into the university tomorrow and take part in the classes. I also have a real urge to start working on our 'Mapping The West' project, which is actually going to be exhibited here in the university gallery.

 We are so lucky!

# 4 [28 April 2009]

Patricia

First impressions

WOW!!!!!!!  

Massive, humongous, university with wonderful facilities.  The Print rooms, and note I said print rooms were very well equipped and Sarah they had windows in them.  The digital media suite was full of apple mac computers and the printer could produce a print that was bigger than two A1's together. The tech man there said that they can reproduce almost any size we require. The Arts Center housed the performing arts as well.  The atrium in the centre of the building was spacious and opened up over the four floors giving ample space for exhibitions to be displayed to their full advantage.  Off this atrium were theatres and also another very large gallery where our exhibition of the collaborative project will be displayed for exhibition next Thursday. Near the Harris Arts Centre is the library and Art Museum buildings.

Open, warm, friendly, generous spirited  people, eager to share and learn both with us and from us.   They have done everything possible to make us feel at home both on campus and at the homes where we are staying.  On Sunday we went to a really nice family for dinner.  The house was like something out of Grand Designs, set in acres of land. 

The scenery is breathtaking and words fail me to describe the beauty of the mountains that surround the city with rests in the valley below them.  

First day we also gave our presentations which seemed to go down well.  The students were very responsive to all we threw at them.  Especially our colloquialisms, Michelle was explaining how something could go west and further used the expression to explain this by saying that a thing goes pear shaped and later they said that they all thought she was saying they had pear shaped hips.   OOOOOOPS! 

Joe, Amy and Tolly have done everything possible to accomodate us both on campus and off.  Such wonderful people.

# 5 [29 April 2009]

Tuesday 27 April

Chris, Jude, Louise, Patricia

Letterpress Demo am

Today we were introduced to the letterpress process by Rob Buchert and saw history brought to life by a master craftsman in suit and sandals. We were very worried for his toes as he worked the press!

We saw the physical activity needed to assemble blocks of text, the special relationships formed between type face blocks and the tactile nature of the sculptural letter forms. And we noted the personal interaction inherent in assembling the text block which is missing in our default habits with the digital text.  Despite careful planning with the composing stick, the end print was still a big surprise and contained satisfying embossment which embedded the text into the paper. More thought was involved, making your choice of words far more important. The process creates a special quality, and seems to invest something significant into the meaning of the words.  

After the session we taked about how we might incorporate letterpress into the project. Michelle suggested that it might provide a further opportunity to produce a collaborative piece involving not just WMC but the combined group.  The result was an idea to produce a prose poem, with Louise's guidance, using text to record our personal observations or our impressions of Utah's astonishing landscapes.

We have made a plan to introduce the idea to the whole group tomorrow as a suggested partner piece to the collaborative litho plate we will take on our travels.  We will get feedback from the group on what they think about this.  

Lithography Demo pm

MFA Student Amy Royer introduced us to BYU's litho department and demonstrated the printing process with a print from a prepared litho stone.

Its a long and complicated process which both baffled and beguiled us.  We want to do more but time is so short.  

Our solution to make it acessible to us was to limit colour and to share plates, and also incorporate plate images from the group into our individual prints for the book.  

Despite the complexity, Amy, succeeded in hooking us into the possibilities of the process and broke down quite a few barriers to its technical considerations and we are determined to give it a go.

# 6 [29 April 2009]

Wednesday 29 April - Caroline

Michelle's Book arts intro

This morning we had a presentation on book making by Michelle followed by a demonstration on paper folding techniques.  Although I am a third year, this was new to me because I joined the Wirral Met in the third year and hadn't done bookmaking at my previous University.  It was a fun day, but also challenging  thinking about what we are going to present as our final piece.  We have bought paper and materials in the very well stocked University shop (we are completely spoiled now, we must speak to our college reps when we arrive home!).  Tonight we have had an amazing meal at our host's house and are preparing for our adventure to Bryce Canyon tomorrow.  Hair wash night tonight as facilities are going to be stretched for the next three days of camping.  Lydia has bought $20 dollars of sweets to eat on way, hope it stays down as will be driving for at least 5 hours! 

Lydia

We had already tried the majority of exercises in paper folding but today was a much needed refresher course. I found the ideas the BYU students had were  very interesting and made me think about folding, collage and paper sculpture I had not previously considered. I enjoyed the lesson and it has definatly promted me to start thinking about the format I want my "Mapping the West book" to take. I am excited but anxious about the camping trip, but as with everything else I will end up really enjoying it, even with scorpions and bears.

# 7 [29 April 2009]

Wednesday 28 April

Book intro and planning for camptrip

Christine

We’re off to the desert on the first leg of our foraging tour to gather images and impressions that we can interpret into print. We leave at 8 o’clock in the morning, but I am nervous about the task ahead. It’s hard to prepare for the project when you have no idea where you will be going, or what you will be doing. And you don’t know what you don’t know yet.  

We are all armed with the technical skills to produce something special, but we don’t know what to expect from the landscape we are about to see for the first time no matter how many cowboy films we have seen.

My mind is full of dangers and hazards such as scorpions, snakes and sand, and it is hard to concentrate on anything else, so planning ahead a challenge.

Despite these dangers I am looking forward to the trip. New experiences are good for the  soul and I hope that inspiration will flower in the desert.
 

# 8 [30 April 2009]

Thursday 30 April

Bryce Canyon and the first day of camp out

Cath Mcgrail 

Wow what a day, the weather improved as we travelled south to Escelante andwe reached Bryce Canyon by lunchtime in bright sunshine. We ate a delicious lunch prepared for us by our hosts and then we set off to walk the canyon.

You get a taste of what is to come when you look over the rail at the incredible landscape below, the alien shapes and the intense colour, but walking down the steep path right into the canyon you become engulfed and swallowed up by these monolithic sculptural forms, the deep deep orange colour intensifies and changes constantly with the changing light.

The trek takes you deep into the heart of the canyon and bottoms out into a dry river bed. At this point you are in the middle of a western movie and lizards are skittering across your path.

The trail then begins a steep ascent up through the canyon and the landscape changes again. Looking back the rocks change shape and colour and then finally you reach the top of the path and the landscape is again laid out before you.

I was lucky enough to stand on this path alone, no other walkers and in silence. I have never felt so overawed by a landscape the way I have here.

We use superlatives all the time, awsome, incredible, superb, wonderfull, but in the case of Bryce Canyon they all apply and then some.

I have discovered the worlds best architect and sculptor is nature itself and I would not have missed this sight and this experience for anything.

# 9 [30 April 2009]

Thursday 30 April

Reflections on the camp out and the cultural differences of BYC and WMC 

Lili Hall BYU student

When I was a little girl, I would go on road trips with my dad. He would give me a map of Southern Utah and tell me that I could pick any point on any road, and off we would go. As a result, I've been exposed to many rugged terrains off the beaten path, and the sometimes barren/ sometimes lush (it all depends on elevation, the latitude, and the time of year) landscape of Escalante is very familiar and homey to me. I was excited to go to Bryce Canyon with the Liverpool group, though, since this is one famous site in my own home state that I've never seen with my own eyes.

I found that being with people who were seeing this kind of landscape for the first time influenced the way I viewed things--I kept wondering what our new friends were thinking of the mountains, of the highways, the dry air, the red rocks, the heights, the blue sagebrush, the s'mores...of everything. Viewing the sites through their eyes gave me a bit of a fresh perspective on the land I sometimes take for granted. I paid attention to the comments people made--both from the BYU group as well as the Liverpool group. The Liverpudlians expressed things such as "I feel so small" or "everything is so big," while those of us who grew up here said things like "even though I've never been to this very spot, it still feels like coming home." I don't typically realize just how cowboy-ish this countryside really is until I'm with people with lovely English accents!

In October, I came home from a yearlong study program in England. Having lived in the English countryside so recently, I can't help but juxtapose the two places (Utah and England) in my mind as I embark on this Mapping the West art collaboration. The two landscapes are so vastly different... but they're the two parts of the world most familiar to me.

I think that travel impacts the way one sees and appreciates their own home. The fact that I've seen Liverpool gives me a bit of insight as to where my new friends are coming from as they come out to visit. I can't help but link the two places in my mind as I approach this Mapping the West book arts project, and I think that my piece for the show will be an exploration of my thoughts as to how the two places and their people are (or are not) linked insofar as my own experiences are concerned.

# 10 [30 April 2009]

 Friday 1 May

Calf Creek Canyon Hike

Paul Bearman, WMC Staff

The students were invited to take part in an informal drawing session, on the 5 mile hike up Calf Creek box canyon, to record their perceptions of this unusual place.

This approach, of observing the landscape using traditional drawing materials, proved to be a successful and engaging experience evidenced by the varied interpretations which were shared at the end of a physically tiring day.

Bryan Hutchison BYU student

We came to map the Southwest of Utah. On our hike today we were encouraged to draw, to make rubbings, to interact with the land through mark marking. Explorers and settlers make maps - a sort of document symbolizing their conquering an unforgiving land, or a document of ownership. I wanted my friends from Liverpool to conquer this land, to own it, to be a part of it, and bring a piece of it back with them.

We created a sort of relation with the landscape, perhaps even connected to a sense of past peoples connection to a land that gave and took life, and we bring a piece of it to the world.

Max BYU Student

I have never seen this land before. Talking with the Liverpudlians about their landscape has helped me realize how unique the land we are visting is. They helped me realize the absolute control water has in shaping the land and dictating what lives or dies. Having never visited England I can only imagine how opposite the landscapes really are.