In Defense of Useless Projects
I made a website to try to explain myself
One of the hallmarks of my book report project is that it is difficult to explain. Or, better said, I am not very good at explaining it (not for lack of trying!) yet. It is really the kind of thing you have to see in person.
[Note: Usually, when someone says something like this to me, I'm kind of rolling my eyes on the inside. Ooooooo, your work is sooooooo complicated that it defies explanation. So, for the record, it’s not that my project is so complicated; it’s just that I’m still working it out.]
My project is a book. About another book. It's also an exhibition. And an event series. Colin helped me make this website to tell the story of what it is. Ta da!
This site started as just a Google Doc with pictures from my phone. In general, I’m very into formats that combine image and text (The New York Times does this kind of thing very well), and I’m always looking for ways to execute simply.1 I found this template that already existed (thanks Quinnton Harris!) that I could just dump the text and images into. I feel pretty pleased with this thing, both because it came out pretty much the way I wanted it to and gave me and Colin and opportunity to collaborate on something more formally and gives a pretty good sense of the vibes of the project and is not just a website trying to sell you my book.
Making this was also a way of practicing (“Do nothing, in real life, with other people.”). The other people being Colin. But the other people also being various people who I asked for feedback. Asking people for feedback on a thing and offering feedback on their things is an excellent way to cultivate attention and to find potential collaborators.
For a long time, before I decided to actually print my book, I considered distributing it one on one in perpetuity, in essence asking for feedback forever. I have found that people pay a different kind of attention to a thing when they have agreed to offer feedback on it. It’s very different from someone saying, “I liked your book” or not saying anything at all. Given how limited the audience for this project is in the first place, the whole feedback forever thing seemed like it could be a reasonable distribution strategy.
This site is solving a kind of practical problem for me and was fun to make, which feels like a bonus. Now instead of trying to explain the project and feeling badly for my inability to explain it "correctly", I can just send someone this link and hope for the best. I hope you like it.
I don’t know if there’s a name for this style of visual essay, but I thought you might be interested in seeing a few others:
Robin Sloan’s “tap essay” Fish
Sam Anderson’s Walnut and Me
Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman’s home tour!
Maggie Rogers’ adaptation of a commencement speech she gave for NYU