Exchange Sketchbooks

Up to six of the collaborative sketchbooks will be exhibited in the Honan Allston Branch of the Boston Public Library. I t has been a nerve wracking process for me. Submitting six books that represent hundreds of hours of work by several artists over a period of a year and a half, uninsured venue, weighing the conundrum of how to list the artists, whether to just list everyone and leave the provenance unclear, or to put specific artists with each book. To try to make it easier to keep track of the books, i gave them titles from the interior pages, but that was a unilateral decision made in haste at the next to the last moment when I realized that if it is difficult for me to keep them straight, how could the curator explain which had gotten in? In the end Ronni said they would all go in, so I sent all six. It was interesting to me that the more the books became part of another intent, that is, to share them with the outer world, all these concerns came up about preciousness, loss creative property... as I lost control of them, handing the box to the postal clerk, I actually asked her if she thought the address was clear. The less control I had, the more solid they became. What if they were lost/ What if someone just stole all of them? or only Jessica's? Now they are supposed to be in Boston and I can check the delivery online.