2020 Existent Books Residency: An Interview with Michelle A. M. Miller & Onajide Shabaka
/While the global pandemic has admittedly halted some dreams and aspirations we’ve had for 2020, our Existent Books programming was able to continue with some notable expansions thanks to the generous support of The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through the Knight Arts Challenge Award we received last year. While our Existent Books project has been developing steadily for the past five years, the added grant funding enabled us to offer a residency stipend for our artists, Michelle A. M. Miller and Onajide Shabaka.
Both artists were invited to IS Projects in order to experiment with fine art printmaking and book binding techniques. Over a two week Summer residency, Miller and Shabaka designed artists’ books inspired by our collection of historical letterpress type and/or new printmaking techniques learned with the support of staff and the project’s lead collaborator, Ingrid Schindall.
We’ve recently announced that Miller and Shabaka’s books will launch October 14th, though a pre-order option is now available on our website. What follows is an interview with both artists reflecting on their experiences during residency while sharing some crucial insights into how their projects came to fruition.
What are the overarching themes and concepts driving your Existent Book book project?
Onajide Shabaka (OS): My book follows my path over the past several years through several residencies and research on subsistence and industrial rice cultivation, and the culture developed around those doing the labor. The majority of my investigations have taken place in Suriname (South America) and coastal Georgia (Lowcountry). Both regions were heavily influenced by the agricultural knowledge of Africans, both those enslaved and maroons (who escaped the plantations for freedom). Through the book I am showing photographs, laser cut drawings, letterpress and screen printed pages, including an opening page that makes each book unique. So, even though the book is editioned they are each different: an editioned multiple.
Michelle A. M. Miller (MM): Memory, mortality, place, the cosmic, and the convergence of seemingly asynchronous events that shape our lives and connect us to one another. And oysters.
(Read more about Michelle’s book in this lovely blog post written by the artist: September: Syzygy)
Have you pursued artist book publishing previously and if so, did you encounter any limitations?
OS: I have made a few books in the past but they were photographic books. Individual books with silver gelatin prints and one with an extensive essay on the burials of African Americans in Florida. Even in death segregation has existed nationwide.
MM: I’ve dabbled with a collaborative zine and found the experience to be liberating.
Why is it important that this project be a book?
OS: I wanted to make a book because it is a way, importantly, that I can share my art practice and years of research with others. Many people know me personally but have only recently begun to learn about my art practice, which I have been working at for more than a couple decades.
MM: This project was always fully formed in my mind as a book. I suspect it is the intimacy of books--the ability to hold them in your hands and experience them at that visceral, personal level.
What new knowledge (technical or otherwise) was gained through working in artist books and printmaking?
OS: The screen printing technique has been a real revelation. I had never seen that before. We are not finished so I have more to learn regarding book binding and embossing.
MM: This project allowed me to flex my creative muscles. I have learned about die-cutting, laser cutting, 3D printing, and book binding. My desire to incorporate more sustainable materials in my practice as a whole led me to select algae ink and paper produced domestically using wind power and recycled sources.
What techniques did you include in this project and what drew you to them?
OS: I have selected photographs, laser cut drawings, letterpress and screen printed pages. I was first exposed to printmaking in the 1960s. I loved stone lithography, although it's very difficult, and serigraphy. I loved serigraphy (screen printing) because it was something I could do at home, but lends itself to photographic as well as hard edge design and posters. Letterpress I have worked with Extra Virgin Press, Tom Virgin, on several projects, including the Sweat Project Portfolio and most recently with two letterpress prints. The prints were funded in part by The Ellies Grant and a Wavemaker Grant.
MM: We determined early on that my drawings would translate well into screen printing and that the text would be letterpress. The haptic sensation of letterpress is very appealing to me, that textured surface is so satisfying and contrasts nicely with the flatness of the screen printed imagery. The laser cut elements add to the overall texture and aesthetic experience of the book and we added die-cutting because a particular shape was important.
What was your experience like collaborating with IS Projects staff?
OS: Everyone has been very helpful and generous with ideas and suggestions. I expected that since I had visited the print shop numerous times over the past few years and always found the same excitement from staff and volunteers. Some of my former students have been here as well as other artists I know.
MM: Everyone was open, so thoughtful and supportive of Convergence from the very beginning. The answer to my question was usually, “yes.”
Is collaboration a normal part of your artistic practice? If not, how did it inform this work?
OS: My art practice has a good deal of collaboration at various points but I'm always open to collaborate. One has to be open to that. No major or minor project ever gets done without some collaboration. For my book Ingrid really helped me determine page size and even the screen printing technique we're using for the unique pages. Leah's input on book design was really good in letting me see what the possibilities were very quickly. Both were excellent to work with and I hope that I have been the same.
MM: My daily studio practice is very solitary so over the years I have found opportunities for collaboration that draw me out of my hermetic habits. I am fortunate to be part of some engaging artist and writer collectives (Shoutouts to: Viridis Art Collective, Cabbage Palm and H/Ours Collective) and those human-artistic intersections offer a welcome injection of different perspectives and energies. In 2019 I was one of several artists to collaborate on a performance piece with Sook Jin Jo, a highlight of my year. Convergence will include an original musical score composed by Tessa Brinckman to accompany the book. It’s the first time I will have music created specifically for my work, and I am thrilled with the process.
What was something unexpected that came from the residency?
OS: Again, the screen printing technique that really looks like my watercolor collages. The result has been astounding.
MM: The absolute pleasure of creating an artist book. It has come together so well, it is beyond what I had hoped and I suspect there will be more to come.
Would you have made this book without this residency?
OS: Actually, I had some of the pages designed (laser cut page), but I wasn't totally sure about the format until starting to work with Ingrid. So, yes, I would have made something though not nearly as fantastic as what is coming to fruition.
MM: Perhaps, but it was because of some generous conversations with Ingrid that I even considered this project a possibility at this point in my practice. The Existent Books residency—the technical skill of the studio—made the format and structure of this project possible.
With Knight’s support, we were also able to offer the artists critical feedback from two curators at major local institutions, Amy Galpin, Chief Curator at the Frost Art Museum, and Rachel Gustafson, Assistant Curator at the Norton Museum of Art.
In addition to the upcoming book launch on October 14th, we also have talks planned with each of the artists. Join Ingrid Schindall for a conversation with Michelle A. M. Miller on October 15th, 6pm and Onajide Shabaka on October 22nd, 6pm on instagram live with @isprojects.
For more information on Existent Books, our semi-annual publishing initiative which started in 2014, check out our recent blog post, where you’ll learn about the project’s origins and previous participating artists.