Through my project message in a bottle I now have a bit of contact to other people who write or collect messages in bottles. Yes, there really are people who collect them. Who would have thought that possible? – Certainly not me. One of those people is James Ismael Kuck aka Peter Stein. Peter has advanced in recent years to the expert in messages in bottles in Germany. In recent years he has met an author wanted to interview him for a book he is writing, artist Anne Berlit has sought his advice for her art project involving messages in bottles, one of the big regional TV stations, and now one of the two publicly funded German TV stations is going to speak with him about the topic. As before on such occasions, Peter asked his friends and acquaintances for contributions, and so I quickly whipped up a little something to go into the bottles: Knowledge.
The text is one I used before for a little pamphlet, but now there are new images. You might remember that I was making these beach finding sketches, well, I am still doing them. I am getting quicker and I think I am also getting better, too. It really is all a matter of practise. I am especially delighted by this, because I grew up thinking, I couldn’t draw. But I am learning…
What I really ought to be doing is to finally get a grip on 346 and finish that project. In a way I really want to. And in some way I don’t. The text turned out much more private, than I first thought it would be. Of course I wanted to put my experiences into this book. But I throught I would make up part of it, put in some discussions about general topics, too. But now it turned out pretty much just a report on what was happening. The way how I decide to put it, what to tell, and what to leave out is connected with some of the broader topics I initially wanted to touch, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is very personal. I am not so much afraid of the exposure here. I am not going to print an edition of thousands anyway. But that is the najor question: Should I edition at all? I sort of want to, but I am not sure that anyone would be interested in such a personal – diary really. Some of the diary is visual. I am going to add some visuals now, but most were done back then, while I was living it. And it is hard to put new stuff in without changing the style.
Furthermore is is currently half-term, and the kids don’t go to school. So I can’t work much anyway.
A lovely little book: I think your drawing is fine! And an interesting project.
Thank you, Cathryn! I do struggle, but I am getting more and more confidence that the struggles are worth the time.