Brian Singer and "The 1000 Journals Project"
ATLANTA (GA) – What if 1,000 blank journals were circulating throughout the world, beckoning contributors who find the journals by chance on trains, in cafés, and anonymously left on doorsteps? Well, it’s actually going on right now – and has been since 2000 when “someguy,” a.k.a. Brian Singer, a San Francisco-based artist and designer, launched the project. Singer will be in Atlanta August 20-23 to talk about this exciting project. His trip is sponsored jointly by The Art Institute of Atlanta and the Portfolio Center.
According to Singer, “The 1000 Journals Project is an ongoing collaborative experiment attempting to follow 1000 journals throughout their travels. The goal is to provide a method for interaction and shared creativity among friends and strangers. Those who find the journals add something to them. A story, drawing, photograph, anything really. Then they pass the journal along, to a friend or stranger, and the adventure continues.”
Singer will speak more in depth about the 1000 Journals Project at The Portfolio Center, 125 Bennett Street in Midtown Atlanta, on Thursday, August 21, from 10 am to 12 noon. On Friday, August 22, he comes to The Art Institute of Atlanta from 10 am to 1 pm, where he will make a presentation to the students, including a “lunch ‘n learn”, and will briefly attend the annual Alumni Reunion that evening in The Art Institute of Atlanta Gallery, beginning at 7 pm. The Art Institute of Atlanta is located at 6600 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, 100 Embassy Row, in Sandy Springs.
Immediately following the Alumni Reunion, he will be at the Youngblood Gallery, in Virginia-Highlands, for a 9:30 pm screening of the film, “1000 Journals,” presented by Docufest. The film, by documentary filmmaker Andrea Kreuzhage, is about people around the world whose lives are touched by these traveling journals. The Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival (DocuFest) brings the best in independent documentary film and video from across the globe and showcases meaningful life stories that educate and entertain audiences. For more information, go to http://www.docufest.com <http://www.docufest.com/>.
“Unfortunately,” Singer says, “you've got a better chance of winning the lottery than of getting hold of a journal. That's the problem when there are only 1000 of them. Now, your best bet is to check out www.1000journals.com <http://www.1000journals.com/>, where you can sign up for a journal, or launch your own traveling, location, or personal journals.”
As part of this project, The Art Institute of Atlanta and the Portfolio Center have each started a journal, which will rotate between the two schools. Alumni and current students will have the opportunity to exchange their creative ideas, anecdotes about “real world” experiences, or simply test out new ideas. When the journals are completely filled, their pages will be scanned and uploaded to the 1000 Journals site.
Brian Singer’s speaking engagements at The Art Institute of Atlanta and the Portfolio Center are open to the public at no charge. Reservations are not required.
The Art Institute of Atlanta is one of The Art Institutes (www.artinstitutes.edu), a system of over 40 educational institutions throughout North America, providing an important source of design, media arts, fashion, and culinary arts professionals. The Art Institute of Atlanta has one satellite location, The Art Institute of Atlanta-Decatur, and three branch campuses: The Art Institute of Charleston (SC), The Art Institute of Tennessee-Nashville, and The Art Institute of Washington (Arlington, VA).
Portfolio Center is the oldest school for communication arts in the country. Founded in 1977, it was the first school of its kind. It is also the most progressive – respecting tradition, yet constantly evolving to stay ahead of a dynamic industry driven by cultural shifts and technological innovation. Portfolio Center has served as the paradigm for all such schools for the past quarter of a century.
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