I resonated with Duncan’s post – as another tech-adjacent worker I also don’t often handwrite and so found Task 4 physically challenging to an extent, and I have a shameful collection of notebooks with only the first few pages used. Without fail they seem to become a home for lists that ultimately peter out as I repeatedly forget the notebook when I venture out to accomplish the entries.
Duncan’s approach reminded me of Jeffrey Brown’s debut book Clumsy (2002). This has been a favorite book of mine for many years and has informed many of my ideas around art creation in terms of economy of line and clarity of feeling. Brown’s (2002) book was inked without pencils – there are visible errors and changes throughout the book. Duncan’s lower case “r” really reminded me of Brown’s work.
Lucy’s approach to this task was different – while she didn’t wind up making potato stamps I enjoyed reading her approach to handwriting and journaling. I think it comes through that it’s more integrated in her daily life when compared to Duncan and I. The way she includes the time with her date reminds me of letters from my aunt – she always includes time, date, and weather information which always situates her letters in a sense of place.
Task 4 was a task that I was able to integrate into my life easily – we made potato stamps during one of our Art Nights (I write this post during another Art Night). I think the connection to the personal comes through both Lucy and Duncan’s handwriting, and it’s something that I try to nurture in my writing whether it is mediated by the keyboard or not.
References
Brown, J. (2002). Clumsy: A novel. Top Shelf Publishers.
Hamilton, D. (June 9, 2024). Task 4 – Writing and potato stamps. Duncan’s ETEC540 Space. https://blogs.ubc.ca/duncman/2024/06/09/task-4-writing-and-potato-stamps/
Lai, L. (June 4, 2024). Task 4: Manual scripts. Lucy Lai’s Blog. https://blogs.ubc.ca/lucylaietec540/2024/06/04/task-4-manual-scripts/