Cross-pollination

Afterimage, Nov-Dec, 2005 by Amber Hares

Although keeping a journal is like flossing for many of us, consistency plummeting by day eight of our routine, it holds a universal interest: the cartoonist, the chemist, the cabbage-hater, and the cat lady unite. But it's not only discipline that deteriorates with time. According to Orbiting the Giant Hairball (1998), a book about creativity, by Gordon MacKenzie, as referenced on the 1000 Journals Project's Web site, a classroom of raised hands will result when a group of kindergarteners are asked if they are artists; only one-third of six graders will respond in a like manner; and by high school one is unlikely to receive an affirmative response at all. In an effort to alter this, Brian Singer has not only fashioned a space for people to share their creativity but has also facilitated an experience intended to inspire creativity.

Singer, a graphic designer based in San Francisco, California, launched the 1000 Journals Project in August 2000. Inspired by the candid conversations that occur on bathroom walls, Singer sent blank journals adrift into the world with a small request, as noted on the inside of each journal's cover: "Take this journal and add something to it.... Anything goes." When finished, contributors (identified by first name and location on the project's site) are asked to scan their entries if possible then pass the journal on, as the experiment is ongoing and has no set completion date. Entries include penciled poems, snapshots, receipts, apologies, doodles, smashed insects, wallpaper, origami, feathers, and thread. Nothing sacred, just ordinary magic. Jason from Holland, Mississippi, includes a post-it note in journal #701 that reads: "Jason, call your mom. [signed] Liz." In the entry titled "Librarian Art" in journal #550, Michaela from Sunnyvale, California, writes, "I've been deaccessioning books from the library. Poor neglect ... Weeding.... When I was little, I'd look at a dandelion and think 'pretty flower.' But my mother would pull them out by the roots. Now I get to choose."

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Accounting for the high probability of estrangement, Singer passed out one thousand journals: "The sheer enormity of the idea seemed perfect. One thousand journals sent into the world ... what's going to happen?" The first hundred journals were given to Singer's friends and co-workers and left at random places in San Francisco; 600 were distributed to those who requested a journal through the project's site and the last 300 travel from person to person, following a signup list. Three years after the project was launched, journal #526, having traveled to thirteen states, Brazil, and Ireland, was returned in a purple velvet bag. Singer recalls the homecoming:

  If you could have seen me, I'm willing to bet there was a huge smile
  on my face that stayed there for quite some time.... I sat down and
  page-by-page flipped through and read the journal. It was a relief to
  see one complete, to know that this project I started, all the energy
  I put into it, was a success.

Though #526 is the only journal that has returned to date, details of the whereabouts of the other 999, along with comments from the participants and scans of the journals, can be tracked on the project's site. Singer, who imagines that fewer than fifty journals will return, plans to exhibit the journals once he receives a sufficient amount of them. In the event of an exhibition, the journals will be available for perusing; white gloves will not be required. In fact, he hopes to have the viewers contribute: "[The journals] are never really finished, there's always more room."

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The project, popular by instinct, gains momentum. A documentary on the project by filmmaker Andrea Kreuzhage is scheduled for release in early 2007. Kreuzhage, who said she worked like a private investigator, tracked down over four hundred participants, locating over one hundred of the journals. "I noticed that we all are somehow connected," said Kreuzhage, "And those strange, wonderful connections encouraged me, and kept me going, in this sometimes frustrating process." Beginning in January 2006 the film team will travel to Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, and across the United States to meet with many of the project's participants and transcribe their stories to film.

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The collaboration has been an inspiration for many, and as such, a success. "So many folks have e-mailed me, telling me how much they enjoyed the project, and how it has inspired them to start writing again, break out their easel and paints," reports Singer. For Shinta, a participant from Jakarta, Indonesia, who contributed to journal #896, the project has encouraged her to share her art with others. Another participant writes in journal #988, "What did I learn? To let go." No rules, no hierarchy; every participant is an artist, according to Singer. It's an experiment in cross-pollination, triggering scribbles and raised hands.