Unpacking the meaning of OUTSIDER

"I often say to people that artists' books are sort of a step-child of contemporary art. They are highly respected for the most part, but as gallerists fear not being able to sell them, they have much more limited channels of circulation, and consequently, less viability economically....... I think artists will make artists' books because it is not a choice…they can't help themselves." (Lorenz, Angela. 2014)

Angela Lorenz is one of many artists who make books, something which has been going on for many years. I will explore the history in a later blog.

By introduction, this blog is about recording making and designing artist books and the value of self-publishing. The task for this particular set of work is to make a book with 16 pages exploring the theme of THE OUTSIDER. One of my aims will be to look at OUTSIDER ART, who the artists are in connection to this aspect of art and what they achieve and why.

Before I look at this, I want to outline my initial thoughts about Outsider, just to see if any of these initial ideas come into fruition. By writing them down, it gives me chance to stand back and analyse whether sparks of imagination come.

But first what is the Oxford Dictionary's definition of outsider:
1. A person who does not belong to a particular organization or profession.
2. A person who is not accepted by or who isolates themselves from society.
3. A competitor, applicant thought to have little chance of success.

Challenging myself, I decided to draw my ideas rather than write them down:

 



It was very useful to draw my ideas - especially the last one. This can't be explained. By simply turning a letter round speaks volumes - dyslexia, not quite right etc. I may well turn this into a simple book as a practice for my stitching.

Ideas I am going to pursue for now:

The INSIDE OUT idea - looking at ordinary pieces of food/objects and putting what should be in the inside on the outside. I have bought a kiwi fruit, pepper and purple cabbage to start with.

The queue ideas - looking at different queues and putting an odd one out in there. But instead of making the outsider feel uncomfortable, my outsider will be happy about it. ie. a row of pregnant women with a man.