Tim Youd is a performance artist who retypes novels onto one double-layer sheet of paper with the same model typewriter as the writer may have used, in a place associated with the novel or the writer - for instance, an Underwood Universal for "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner at Faulkner's home in Oxford, Mississippi; on a Royal Quiet Deluxe for Charles Bukowski's “Post Office” at the U.S. Post Office Terminal Annex in Los Angeles; or Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” at the Union Stock Yard Gate in Chicago. He's somewhere in the mid-70's, I think, of his "100 Novels Project".
I saw him doing his retyping back in 2013, and it's always stayed with me. I was surprised and impressed that he had created a way to read with intensity, discipline and focus; and celebrate the process, energy, and legacy of extraordinary writing by making it tangible and immediate. Plus, what an awesome gig.
He's worth a google for his view into these habits of rich and famous writers, or just cult-famous ones. His comments on what he's learned are interesting, too, especially the part about being a good reader, and the influence on his writing.
Visual artists do the darndest things.
I really, really like Ursula Le Guin's schedule and process. Thank you for that. It's approaching 8 pm here as I write this comment, so I'm adopting it, at least for tonite.
That is so cool! I will look up Tim Youd; I bet I can find him on YouTube even if he's no longer doing them in person. Ursula Le Guin is very relatable in my opinion; who among us doesn't have a part of the day when no one should talk to us. For me it is the afternoon between 2pm and 4pm, unfortunately falling in the middle of my workday. I'm afraid I'm absolutely useless at that time.
Tim Youd is a performance artist who retypes novels onto one double-layer sheet of paper with the same model typewriter as the writer may have used, in a place associated with the novel or the writer - for instance, an Underwood Universal for "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner at Faulkner's home in Oxford, Mississippi; on a Royal Quiet Deluxe for Charles Bukowski's “Post Office” at the U.S. Post Office Terminal Annex in Los Angeles; or Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” at the Union Stock Yard Gate in Chicago. He's somewhere in the mid-70's, I think, of his "100 Novels Project".
I saw him doing his retyping back in 2013, and it's always stayed with me. I was surprised and impressed that he had created a way to read with intensity, discipline and focus; and celebrate the process, energy, and legacy of extraordinary writing by making it tangible and immediate. Plus, what an awesome gig.
He's worth a google for his view into these habits of rich and famous writers, or just cult-famous ones. His comments on what he's learned are interesting, too, especially the part about being a good reader, and the influence on his writing.
Visual artists do the darndest things.
I really, really like Ursula Le Guin's schedule and process. Thank you for that. It's approaching 8 pm here as I write this comment, so I'm adopting it, at least for tonite.
That is so cool! I will look up Tim Youd; I bet I can find him on YouTube even if he's no longer doing them in person. Ursula Le Guin is very relatable in my opinion; who among us doesn't have a part of the day when no one should talk to us. For me it is the afternoon between 2pm and 4pm, unfortunately falling in the middle of my workday. I'm afraid I'm absolutely useless at that time.