Scrapbook (a visual essay)

Abstract: Working with a range of material (objects, ephemera, texts) characteristic of a scrapbook, Carson & Miller will produce a visual essay that investigates the experience of reading such matter in this often underrated and undervalued form. In this context the notion of reading (and, subsequently re-reading and mis-reading) will be utilised to explore the construction of narrative and the manner in which such narratives can present misleading, misinterpreted or inaccurate accounts of ‘things’. In doing so, such accounts can produce a multiplicity of new narratives. To develop this idea visually Carson & Miller will harness the tradition and format of a scrapbook. Scrapbooks imply the creative use of material which would be valued differently (or indeed undervalued) in other contexts; the inclusion of scraps in the scrapbook claims that which is defined as ‘scrap’ as valuable and worthy of possession. In essence a scrapbook brings together disparate material and is often constructed according to its own internal ordering and logic; sometimes things are related by type, sometimes unlikely objects are combined or juxtaposed in fortuitous encounters. Such fortuitous encounters tell their own stories but also produce new narratives through generating new combinations of significance (Allmer iv). Résumé: Le matériau de base de Carson & Miller sont les divers objets, tant visuels que textuels, qu'on trouve dans un "scrapbook" (littéralement: album de coupures ). En réutilisant ces objets, les artistes produisent un essai visuel sur l'expérience de lecture de ce type d'objets dans un genre souvent méprisé et peu pris au sérieux. En l'occurrence, la notion de lecture (mais aussi celles de relecture et de lecture erronée) sera utilisée pour investiguer la construction du récit et les manières dont de tels récits peuvent aboutir à des représentations trompeuses, mal interprétées ou inappropriées des "objets". De telles techniques de représentation peuvent produire une multitude de nouvelles formes de raconter. Pour le développement visuel