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– With a brief deviation from the author’s book genre, what makes the book interesting to you as an object? What value do you give it?
– I am fascinated that the book has a lot. First, a text that provides knowledge, information or stimulates the imagination. The book, no matter what genre it is, interests me for its visual value. I really do have books at home that appeared on the shelves precisely because their visual aesthetics fascinated me. It is a pleasure to turn them around, explore. Sometimes such books are not even read because they are published in a language I do not read.
– The author’s book is a visual work of art that combines not only the genres of design and art (graphic design, illustration, graphics, photography), but also literature. What opportunities for self-expression does the creative process of the author’s book offer you? What are the challenges?
– This genre is close to me due to its shape, because when creating a book I have a lot of space for self-expression: each flap can become a separate work, I am not limited to a sheet of paper and I can examine the selected topic as many pages as disclosure is necessary. There is also a wide range of options for combining one tab with another, such as using page overlays or choosing pages of different formats. Printing techniques are also important, especially for multi-copy copyrighted books, as the desired effect can be created using different printing techniques, and sometimes even original notes and other items. Furthermore, the sensory side of the book, which is revealed to the viewer when it is turned, is also important. Creation can be improvised by choosing from a wide range of differently textured paper, and the special binding, which only fits the book, also enriches the work.
I discover many creative possibilities, and challenges generally arise when the idea of a book requires certain technological solutions. You should get in touch with the printers and find out what would help them to implement them qualitatively, and often, if you can’t find them, you have to adjust your idea.
– Has the synthesis of the visual and literary arts in the creation of the book “Self-portrait” expanded the contexts of your work?
– When creating this author’s book, first I started collecting material (photographs) and then I wrote in my own words the memories inspired by the selected photos and only then I began to think about how I should “transmit” everything. The photographs collected, supplemented with texts, determined that the format of the author’s book was the most appropriate to reveal this content.
There are also cases where the text is completely unnecessary, apparently it would only hinder the disclosure of the desired topic.
However, it is also the case that when collecting visual material for an author’s book, there is no text, therefore, it stimulates interest in literature, the topic of which corresponds to the topic of future work. This greatly expands the creative process and the project suddenly takes on a completely different shape after a literature review. There are also cases where the text is completely unnecessary, apparently it would only hinder the disclosure of the desired topic. Each piece is unique.
Highlights: All components are important when creating an author’s book, from text, image, publication format, paper texture, to binding and printing techniques.
– Did you seek a balance between a visually developed narrative and a story told in a literary language when creating? Is visuality always more important to you as a graphic artist?
– In some cases, I use words, not only in this but also in my other books, more as visuals, compositional details. This is especially evident in this author’s book: the words are incomplete, they are not always read, and the texts are mixed. He did not intend to leave all the textual content, such as photographs, of course. My goal was to create an emotion: to portray a self-portrait through the phenomenon of memories. However, I realize that viewers often try to read the words in the book. The vague, hard-to-read text sparks your curiosity, attracts attention, and encourages more active participation in work.
– It is interesting that his work consists of 8 (15 x 10 cm) individual parts, which form an author’s book.
– In this case, the format of the book is 15 x 10 cm, since it corresponds to the size of the original childhood photographs stored in my family’s photo albums. While collecting material for this author’s book, I reviewed many photos. So the idea came up to try this unconventional book format.
– You mentioned that when creating books, you like to search and discover new technological solutions. What printing techniques did you use to implement the idea in this book?
– I used three different printing techniques to print photographs and children’s texts: screen printing, digital printing and reproduction (an image printed with an inkjet printer, used as a graphic cliché, transferred to new paper, obtaining the desired colors and textures, aut . Past).
I printed the silkscreen and reprinted the flaps, so I was able to freely manipulate paint “spills”, colors and various layer overlays.
Having chosen to use a raster in a resolution (a set of systematically arranged dots or discontinuous elements that form a sign, aut. Past), I tried to convey three different visual plans as three different levels of memory clarity. Silkscreen and reprint printing produce different rasters, while digital printing overlaps evenly, in contrast to the raster used. It was also possible to extract a different shine of paint in this way, which sharpened and strengthened the separation of several planes.
– You illustrated the author’s book with photographs of childhood. Why did you want to go back to the past?
– Before creating the book “Self-portrait”, while still studying in the Graphics Department of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, I read a lot on the subject of memories. I was particularly interested in the phenomenon of false memories, which I met in detail with the research of psychologist Elizabeth Loft and neurologist Oliver Sacks. This led to the exploration of the memories themselves, and the closest evidence of these memories are the photographs of childhood.
I consider that this self-portrait should be repeated periodically every approximately ten years.
– In the text, you also tell your childhood sharing memories. Is it a desire to preserve your memory?
– During the creation of the book, very different thoughts arose about the authenticity of memories. Perhaps some of the memories are just accounts of certain childhood photographs from today’s perspective, therefore they were created the moment the photograph was viewed. Although I wanted to capture original memories, there may have been intentions to capture and preserve those events, I must admit that these memories were inevitably influenced, “stifled” through a series of various life events at the time and, in my opinion , newly created stories.
– Was maintaining your authenticity, both visually and textually, when telling your story not your goal?
– Authenticity is important to me. The original material, both photographs and recorded souvenirs, is original. However, in the process of creating the book, I felt free and intuitively composed this material, I applied unexpected colors, I did not avoid the illegibility of the text, so the final result is different from the original material.
– However, there are not many photographs or text in his book “Self-portrait”. It tends to leave a lot of unfilled space on the pages, which is interesting due to its minimalist aesthetic: colors, layers, textures. Are these unfilled pages pauses, defaults?
– All fins have printed photos, but in some cases only a very enlarged fragment of one or the other photo is used. This makes the image abstract, minimal. These spaces are children’s events that I vaguely remember or no longer remember at all.
– What kind of me did you discover when creating this book?
– When creating a self-portrait through the theme of memories, I had to summarize certain stages that had already taken place. Such a “review” was positive for me, encouraged me to get to know me better, and stimulated new creative impulses. I am considering that such a self-portrait should be repeated periodically every approximately ten years.
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