Tag: art

Interview: Pamela Breitberg captures nature’s beauty and shares it on a blog

Posted on by Team Blookup

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so imagine a blog full of photographs! Today we have the chance of interviewing Pamela Breitberg who is going to tell us about her blog and her passion for photography!

– Tell us a little bit about yourself : You, your passions, your hobbies, your projects…
I am recently retired from teaching. I am a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) who taught science lab to 1st through 8th grade elementary students in the inner city of Chicago. Prior to that I was a professional portrait and wedding photography.

My “hobbies” are being outdoors: walking and biking, and photography: micro, portrait style and candid all which reinforce my appetite for learning. My passionate hobby is nature photography which I share through this blog and various books. The blog is a way for me to share the wonders and beauty of being outdoors observing nature. I am an avid reader as well. My blog has stimulated desire to research while I try to include some scientific or folk information on species in my images.

Projects, at the moment, are on hold while I continue photography as a method to stop and reflect on God’s gifts and wonders. The past few years have been stressful with health issues and passing of both my parents; being outdoors and photography has been a blessed self-therapy. Giving is the best therapy, it has been said, and so my blog is my venue for giving. I am touched each time someone “likes” or comments on one of my posts.

Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg

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– What is your blog about and why did you want to address this subject when starting it?
My blog is photography, primarily of plants and animals in the United States’ Midwest. I now spend some of the year along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, so I’ve begun to include images of that nature. My writing includes scientific information, folklore and personal observations and experiences. Occasionally I add photography tips as well.

I originally began my blog to share my photography with my parents who lived 300 miles away. It has been a surprising thrill to discover that my blog is read worldwide. Now that my parents are no longer reading the blog I continue to share my images and thoughts with the many followers of my blog; what a wonderful vehicle to share my passions. I feel as though I know some of my followers as I read their blogs and we share common interests in nature and photography. It is sharing that gives back indeed.

Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg

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– Why did you want to turn your blog into a book?
BlookUp intrigued me because it was an EASY way to turn my blog into book format and have a hard copy of my work. It’s always nice to physically hold a book and browse through it. The hard copy is for myself. I took advantage of the e-book format for sale because it’s affordable for readers and is more environmentally friendly (less use of paper).

Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg

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– How did you find out about BlookUp? What did you think about the making process of your blook?
I saw the ads for BlookUp while on WordPress, reading others’ blogs.  The process of making the books via BlookUp were painless and straight forward. I made two volumes to make each book more manageable in size. It was very easy for me edit out any posts that I did not want to include.

Pamela-holding-her-blooks
A happy blook owner!

Thank you so much Pamela for this interview! Don’t forget to check out her blog to see more gorgeous photos!

The Parthenon of Books, Art vs Censorship

Posted on by Team Blookup

It has been over two weeks since Documenta 14 officially started in Kassel, Germany. The people visiting the city for this 14th edition will have a chance to see a temple, similar to the Parthenon of Athens except that this one is made out of books!

Parthénon-Livres-Construction
Volunteers helping for the construction of the Parthenon of books. Credits John Macdougall – AFP

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The artist behind the Parthenon of books Marta Minujin, famous in the south-american pop-art scene, wanted her creation to be a symbol of resistance against all forms of censorship; which is why only books that have been censored or banned at anytime throughout History have been used for its construction. Students from the University of Kassel helped the artist by picking 170 different books out of 70 000 (You can find the lists here)and asked for people to donate copies of the said books. Moreover, the location of the temple has not been chosen randomly since it is being built at the exact same spot where the nazis burned books of Marxists and Jewish authors in 1933.

Parthénon-Livres-Pilier-Dessous
The artist refused to use any book encouraging racial or religious hatred such as Mein Kampft or others. Credits John Macdougall – AFP

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The Parthenon of books required the crazy amount of 100 000 books for its construction and is identical in size to the original one in Athens. Each book is put into a plastic bag in order to protect it from the weather. At the end of the event, the staff will be giving away all the books to whomever wants one. 

– Update – If you want to know more about the books that were used for the Parthenon of books we invite you to visit Documenta 14’s website where you will find the list of banned books.

Parthénon-livres-nuit-face
Credits – DPA

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Source

Event :”Literature Vs Traffic” in Toronto

Posted on by Team Blookup

Today we’re going back in time !  For those who, like us, have missed an impressive and ephemeral artistic installation. The one that illuminated and animated downtown Toronto during the night of October 1st, 2016.
 books-street-hagerman-toronto

The anonymous group of artists Luzinterruptus took 12 days and gathered 50 volunteers to cover Hagerman Street in downtown Toronto.All done with nearly 10,000 books, all donated by the Salvation Army. Among those, some were surprisingly old and were part of private donations.

books-lighted

The main event in the streets of toronto

The installation, named “Literature vs. Traffic”, had already been illegally carried out in Madrid and New York. This time it obtained the authorization of Melbourne to perform there. The artists were invited to the event “Nuit Blanche Toronto 2016” in order to reproduce the experience.

Luzinterruptus confirms that in 5 years “The meaning of this piece has not changed as the battle between pedestrians and vehicles still goes on in most of the world’s large cities and it is hard to find real, workable solutions. Despite the efforts on the part of some cites to reduce downtown traffic, they can only go as far as to create a Car-free day ! All to have an idea as to how we would live without them”. The collective adds on its website: “We want literature to take over the streets and conquer public spaces, freely offering those passersby a traffic-free place which, for some hours, will succumb to the humble power of the written word”.

books-street-hagerman-toronto-floor

Hagerman Street was closed for one night and replaced the come-and-go of cars by hundreds of pedestrians ! All moving between illuminated books, resulting in a magic and impressive ballet. Passers-by were free to consult the books at their own pace. They were also allowed to choose the ones they would take home in order to preserve a small piece of this lively and interactive work. It took them only 10 hours to empty the street almost completely. They finally, in the early morning, gave back the road traffic.

books-street-hagerman-toronto

Who knows, if this event comes back in a (very) distant future ?! Perhaps one day there will be blooks among a myriad of other lighted books!

books-photo-smartphone

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Source article – Photo credits: Lola Martínez

Interview: Art in various forms with Kathryn!

Posted on by Team Blookup

Did you miss us? Because we did! December was a pretty crazy and busy month at BlookUp ! But we won’t let it go (don’t sing it) without an interview!

Today, meet Kathryn.  A multi-formats artist and explorer, always on the road searching for inspiration, weirdness and crazy stuff! And don’t forget to click on the images in order to see mork ore Kathryn’s work!

 

First, tell us about yourself: You, your passions, your hobbies, your projects…_____________________________

I’m American-born but found from my first international traveling days during college that I prefer being an Earthling to thinking of myself as strictly attached to any particular location or group of people. I love where I grew up on the Pacific Northwest coast of the US (near Seattle) and the culture there very deeply, but there are fabulous people, adventures, landscapes, and cities to be found everywhere I’ve been. So my concept of Home is portable and relates to where I’m happy, where I find the essentials for that happiness, like good company, welcoming surroundings, fine architecture, great food, magnificent scenery, superb music. As these are all among the things that give me my greatest joys, they all eventually find their ways into the blog. There I’m able to share my unique and idiosyncratic way of viewing and enjoying my life with my readers.

Kathryn's famous colored glasses!

Kathryn’s famous colored glasses!

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What is your blog about? Why? Do you have other blogs? If so, what do they talk about?

Art Colored Glasses (artcoloredglasses.com) is my only blog, and serves as my personal art-and-writing journal. My clever husband suggested, after I’d stopped teaching those topics at university for nearly two decades, that since I finally had the time and energy to return to making art and writing poetry and essays for my own enjoyment, I should document the process. Blogging is clearly a convenient way to capture my progress and share the end results of my daily creative work. The site is named for the old expression about seeing the world through “rose colored glasses”—the notion that everything is tinted with an idealized point of view reflects my belief that we all see our experiences through unique lenses, and I try to share that sense in both my factual and fantastical posts.

Kathryn's Educative Art, fishes and pencils

Kathryn's Graphite Muse Practice

Some drawings practiced with graphite.

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Why did you want to turn your blog into a book?

Online documentation in the blog served to keep me motivated and preserve a sense of purpose in my artistry, and it certainly offered a new and supportive community of readers and fellow bloggers and artists. But it, like all other technological resources, comes with no guarantees of perfectly eternal archiving. And it’s hard to curl up in bed with a blog the way that a physical book comforts me! So I wanted both the backup of a concrete object and the pleasure of leafing through a real book that I can carry nearly anywhere with me.

How did you find out about BlookUp?

I stumbled across a reference to BlookUp online when I was searching for alternative ways to publish more of my ‘regular’ books (not blog-sourced).

Kathryn's Tuna Salad & Cheese Biscuits

Well, cooking is a art form, they say! Experiment Kathryn’s tuna salad with cheese biscuits!

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What are the positive and negative points of the making of your blook?

The two things I would most like to see added to BlookUp’s offerings are rather simple matters of scale: I’d love to be able to easily change the size of both text and visual images to more closely reflect the ratios and relationships I work to achieve on my blog. I don’t use a blogging platform with complete autonomy in that regard; I have no desire to learn to write code or spend hours tweaking the positions and sizes of every single element I post, when I’ve already spent so much time on making and posting the artworks and writing the content, so I’m glad to use a platform that has very simple templates. But I chose the blog template I do use in order to get a particular layout and I can alter the look of it somewhat to suit the day’s offerings. If I can balance the visual layout in similar ways for my blook, it will be that much more a perfect companion to the blog.

Having said that, I’m delighted with the blook, and the ease of the process by which I can have it made. It’s a tremendous help that the content is downloaded directly from my blog, so I don’t have to cut and paste the entire thing from scratch (or, worse) to retype every word and re-import every picture). I do like being able to design and use my own front cover, which reflects this being a record of an artist’s blog. Also, the blook’s paper quality, its crisp and clear printing and accurate color capture, and the ability to compile a section of my years of blogging output into one compact archival resource all make me very glad BlookUp is available. It will take me a number of blooks to archive over 1600 posts, but it’s always good to have a new project to challenge my creative impulses, and even better when the end result is so attractive.

Do you enjoy the final result? What do your family and friends think about your blook?

Everyone’s impressed with this project!

Kathryn's Blook front cover

Kathyn’s Blook cover! There is a very nice touch to it, just like best-sellers in libraries!

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Would you recommend BlookUp?
Absolutely! I already did, and I will again. 🙂

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Thank you, Kathryn, for this interview and for allowing us to share your thoughts on BlookUp! We wish you a (late) Happy Birthday and invite all our followers to visit your blog in order to wish it to you as well!