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Giselle de Oliveira Macedo's original questions
email any submissions to gi_sell@yahoo.com
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this questionnaire is part of the project 'to publish or not to. publish', which i,
giselle de oliveira macedo, graphic designer, have been developing for the internet.
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the launch of the whole project will take place during the symposium 'declarations' which
is being organized by the design art department of the concordia university in montreal,
canad�, from october 25 to 28: http://design.concordia.ca/declaration
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at the moment, i am a researcher of the design department at the post-graduate institute
jan van eyck akademie, maastricht, the netherlands. thanks for your collaboration.
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the project will be located at http://www.janvaneyck.nl/publish from the dates mentioned
above.
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NAME OF PROJECT(S) BirchLane
(www.birchlane.org) and BirchLane Press
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DRIVE: (someone said)
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1. describe your involvement with the act of publishing: your current position and how you
got involved.
Although baseball was my childhood passion, I always considered
myself a writer. And by the time I was thirteen I surprised everyone, including myself,
with a portfolio of poems and short stories. I can vaguely recall a weekly column I wrote
for the Ramsey High School weekly, "The Ram;" features that I prefer to pretend
never existed. Nevertheless, so many writers, like myself, have experienced early forays
with some form of journalism. A beginning begins somewhere. At Manhattanville College I
absorbed the Eliot tradition well, and my mentor did his best to make sure nothing after
the "Four Quartets" was mentioned. So I became a William Blake devotee, and
published an essay/a catalogue (you can find it here)
to coincide with an art exhibition that I organized: "William Blake: The Apocalyptic
Vision." Perhaps, it was from this Blake tradition ("Without Contraries there is
no progression") that my cross-country travels began. No matter, my near-starving in
San Jose, California and automotive breakdown in an Oklahoma blizzard were crucial.
Crucial were the travels and mishaps in the sense of innocence and experience and that
imagination had to be used to progress within these states. So I then became an art
gallery assistant in a stately historical mansion. I fancied myself a man of many talents.
Ah, yes, publicity to picture framing to poetry. Next, "Unusual Gifts," a book
of original poems was published and received rave reviews in New Jersey, New York State,
and Philadelphia--everywhere I had friends. Then I worked in marketing for ten years at
Hearst Magazines (Good Housekeeping, Cosmo, Esquire, House Beautiful, etc), visited art
galleries on a daily basis along 57th Street, attended way too many concerts,
wrote--infrequently, had my/our first child, lost job, moved to Massachusetts. Recently
inspired (and I really can't put this into words that make any sense of the
"experience"), recently being within past two years, by an article in New York
Times about an "intellectual's website," Lemonyellow; so inspired I decided to
start my own. And then over the course of the past year and a half have been continually
inspired by others (nqpaofu, erendira, to name just a few).
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2. which medium do you work with and why did you choose this medium?
I think I chose this medium, or it seems it chose me, because it
was instant and it was a method that not only required daily exercise (I knew if I built
it people would come) but it demanded of me an ongoing engagement. And trained both as
somewhat of an art historian/writer and sales/marketing expert, I thrived on the
communication loop aspect; the dialogue/feedback part.
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3. what is your motivation and purpose? why did you start it? is profit a main motivation?
or at least, a concern?
My motivation is simply to create and express myself, to write to
understand, to meet others on the journey of self-expression and spiritual and artistic
fulfillment. I started BirchLane because I was
intellectually hungry for it and lemonyellow inspired me (as I said, I really can't
explain how and why that day the lightbulb turned on; it just did) No, there is no profit
motive. However, I am trying to build a publishing venture, but profit is not the motive,
desire and passion are, and the "fun" aspect; I simply like doing this; so much
so I want to help other people; represent, for example, a canadian photographer and help
her to get work shown in nyc. Or let someone else edit an issue of BirchLane, the journal.
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4. to what extent are you in control over the production, marketing, and distribution of
your publication? full, partial, no control? describe.
Pretty much full control. I did have a co-editor for second issue
of BirchLane, the online magazine and want to have more co-editors; want to have editors
do their own thing at BirchLane, creating, and moving us to the wow.
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5. what is the gap (if any) between what you imagine your publication should be and what
it actually is?
I'm not sure there is one. On the one hand, I feel I am making
great progress and then on the other hand , sure, Id like to take online journal and print
it but financially it is just now not possible. Sometimes the only gap there is comes
about because I am on the road and can't get back to the computer to write! So I take lots
of notes and then when I get home, revise, write, upload.
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BELIEFS:
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1. tell me about your publication. please describe it.
There are really two things going on here: there is BirchLane the
web-site which I think of as a journal, not a diary so much as a collection of thoughts,
poems, pictures, questions, information and links. Then there is BirchLane the art
journal; call this "art" I like; that is really what it is. What moves me and
what I think might move you.
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2. do you believe your publication has a message? if yes, what? if no, why not? I don't
know.
No, I don't really think it does. But, of course, it is me and some people have said its message is an exploration of "beauty;" life, dreams and visions--maybe so. I think I do belive in beauty. Emerson said:
"Beauty is the form under which the intellect prefers to
study the world. All privilege is that of beauty; for there are many beauties; as, of
general nature, of the human face and form, of manners, of brain, or method, moral beauty,
or beauty of the soul......The question of Beauty takes us out of surfaces, to thinking of
the foundations of things. Goethe said, "The beautiful is a manifestation
ofonsmustfurnish secret laws of Nature, which, but for this appearance, had been forever
concealed from us." And the working of this deep instinct makes all the excitement --
much of it superficial and absurd enough -- about works of art, which leads armies of vain
travellers every year to Italy, Greece, and Egypt. Every man values every acquisition he
makes in the science of beauty, above his possessions. The most useful man in the most
useful world, so long as only commodity was served, would remain unsatisfied. But, as fast
as he sees beauty, life acquires a very high value......We ascribe beauty to that which is
simple; which has no superfluous parts; which exactly answers its end; which stands
related to all things; which is the mean of many extremes. It is the most enduring
quality, and the most ascending quality....... The line of beauty is the result of perfect
economy. The cell of the bee is built at that angle which gives the most strength with the
least wax; the bone or the quill of the bird gives the most alar strength, with the least
weight. "It is the purgation of superfluities," said Michel Angelo. There is not
a particle to spare in natural structures. There is a compelling reason in the uses of the
plant, for every novelty of color or form: and our art saves material, by more skilful
arrangement, and reaches beauty by taking every superfluous ounce that can be spared from
a wall, and keeping all its strength in the poetry of columns. In rhetoric, this art of
omission is a chief secret of power, and, in general, it is proof of high culture, to say
the greatest matters in the simplest way......The production of a work of art throws a
light upon the mystery of humanity. A work of art is an abstract or epitome of the world.
It is the result or expression of nature, in miniature. For, although the works of nature
are innumerable and all different, the result or the expression of them all is similar and
single. Nature is a sea of forms radically alike and even unique. A leaf, a sun-beam, a
landscape, the ocean, make an analogous impression on the mind. What is common to them
all, — that perfectness and harmony, is beauty. The standard of beauty is the entire
circuit of natural forms, — the totality of nature; which the Italians expressed by
defining beauty "il piu nell' uno." Nothing is quite beautiful alone: nothing
but is beautiful in the whole. A single object is only so far beautiful as it suggests
this universal grace. The poet, the painter, the sculptor, the musician, the architect,
seek each to concentrate this radiance of the world on one point, and each in his several
work to satisfy the love of beauty which stimulates him to produce. Thus is Art, a nature
passed through the alembic of man. Thus in art, does nature work through the will of a man
filled with the beauty of her first works......"
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3. do you believe your publication is a radical one? (not necessarily politically speaking
but also esthetically etc)
Radical--maybe, only because I believe I have an eye and ear to
see and hear what is radical. I think there is a simplicity to its "design"
which might be considered radical.
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4. do you consider yourself an activist of any cause? if yes, what cause or movement? is
this engagement reflected in your publication?
No. But yes in that I think this has the power to bring people
closer together; at least I hope so; for example, I communicate with people from Oklahoma
to California, France to Germany, Japan to Italy. And they, likewise, contribute back--to
me and to BirchLane.
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5. what's the social relevance, if any, of your publication, do you believe it can somehow
change the world?
see comment to #4:
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6. are you part of a network? can you describe your role in the network?
Not really. There is, however, a fair number of people I e-mail
with or "visit." My role? The only one I can now imagine is to facilitate
communication between us, to turn one person on to another person's work. For example,
this past weekend I received an e-mail, a link to the
most amazing site I have seen in a long time; I immediately linked to it two days in a
row and also e-mailed numerous people about it, suggesting they spend time
"visiting" it. Heather at Harrumph says
"it's all about love;" I think that is a beautiful way to express our role, if
there is one.
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COMMUNICATE:
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1. does graphic design play any role in your project? if yes, which, if not, why not?
Only to the extent that I wish to make BirchLane easy for me to
use, and easy for people to read and navigate. Remember, my primary purpose in this is to
have a place to go to to write every day. Of course, with the journal, there is more of a
"design" element, but even there I try for simplicity and take my inspiration from
older art movements (I'm thinking now of Mondrian or the Constructivists) and today's
mail-order online sites (LL Bean, JJill, JCrew).
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2. does internet play any role? how?
Well, of course. It IS the internet. Although there is also a
print version of the journal. But the interent is the focus; I write, post/upload,
comments return (sometimes), I "surf" my "friend's" sites. Every Day.
Each and every day. Throughout the day, in fact.
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3. do you make use of (other) professionals to develop your project?
Only to the extent that one or two help with editing the journal;
and others inspire me.
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LOGISTICS:
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1. how old are u, male or female, profession.
You can read all "about" me here. male.
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2. when did you start? did you have any previous experience? have done it before?
Two years ago. Previous experience--art history degree, published
writer, seeker of information.
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3. where are you located/based (city, country)?
Northampton, Massachusetts (on Birch Lane!) USA
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4. how many people do you work with on your project?
Only me. But many with the journal; always looking for
help/submissions.
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5. how do you fund your project? Are you supported by any specific
group/company/corporation?
Me.
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6. how do you distribute it? Do you sell it?
It is up there on the net. Printed journal mailed to
friends/contributors.
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7. who is your public? any target group?
Anyone.
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8. how many people do you reach?
I seem to get 10-20 visitors a day. Although when others linked to
journal, the numbers rose to 5-70.
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9. how do you advertise/publicize your publication? Internet/ ads/ word of mouth?
No. I hope it somehow advertises itself; people tell people about
it.
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10. are you a not-for-profit organisation? how do you make a living?
I make a living as a print sales person.
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11. how many hours per day/month/year do you spend on your publication?
Many (but I always need to chase my two kids away from their
IM'ing!).
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HTTP://
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COMMENTARIES AND OBSERVATIONS:
To come as I think of more to say.
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