∴Serial Music Update #5∴
Over the course of 2024 I’m putting together 12 photo booklets featuring pairs of images made here in Korea. I’ll release one a month from the start of 2025. This project is called Serial Music.
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We’re creeping up on mid-July, and the end of the year (and this project) is in my sight. I don’t know how it is for you, but when a deadline draws near I tend to get these little bursts of energy. In July it went how it always goes:
Hey, deadline’s coming → nononononono → C’mon just do one whole thing today → *designs, prints, staples, cuts* → Hey, not bad for a rough DIY booklet! → You deserve a chill → *week passes* → Hey, deadline’s coming → nononononono…
That’s how I ended up with a test copy of Serial Music: Volume 1
I’m going to dive right in to the technical stuff. This is 46 pages (40 pages of images, two pages of text, and then the cover (2 inner, 2 outer). I designed it in InDesign, and then worked out the not very straightforward way of rearranging the page sequence so that the correct pairs would be side by side once collated. If for some reason you want access to this information, here’s the tutorial I followed. It links to a script you can install in the program that does a one-click reordering for you.
Once everything was ordered and printed, I folded each page individually using one of these fancy ice-cream sticks my wife has. I then stapled the pages together using this heavy duty stapler thing (also my wife’s) and trimmed the edges of the paper with a blade1.
This is the stapler side-on:
Don’t you think it kinda looks like…
Anyway, in my last update I spoke about potentially printing this whole project myself. I’m still in two minds about it. If I go DIY, I will print on my inkjet printer, to which I’ve been forced to concede certain paper limitations. The paper with the widest colour depth and deepest black point I’ve found is called Doosung IJ Hybrid. It’s locally produced2, and has a nice rigidity and a bit of texture to it. The paper does have a vaguely matte quality to it though, which is not what I initially had in mind. I like it, and I think it will be usable for projects in the future, I’m just not sure it’s right for Serial Music.
So, I’ve mocked up a quick test file of just a few photos representing the different colours and brights/darks that will be in the project, and I’ve sent that off to be printed on different tech. I’m expecting it to be a somewhat slicker feel. Once I have that in hand, I will know If I’m going to pursue printing myself, or if I’ll be merciful on Future Chris and send it out.
Finally, I’ve been working on the sequencing for the images. I’ve never made 12 sequences at once before. One of the biggest challenges is just to find a place to put all the little contact images I printed.
I’m trying not to put a ton of pressure on the sequencing. This project was, after all, born out of me trying to find something new to photograph, and so therefore trying to treat imagery with equality. Nevertheless I’ve worked out a gentle flow by giving each spread a loose connection to the one that precedes it. These sequences will ultimately get reordered a few more times until I’m happy with them, but here’s an example:
I’ve spent so much time with this project in my head, I began convincing myself it might never make it onto paper. I try to be mindful of when my thoughts tell me I can’t do something, and I’ve become a bit more sensitive to why that happens. I think it’s like a secret way to give myself permission to stop trying. Putting a project like this out into the world summons some insecurities in me about what I sense as my own limitations. Is it good enough? Is it cool enough? If I convince myself I can’t do it, then I don’t have to do it and I can avoid putting something out by which I can be judged.
That’s why I made it public that I was working on this project. I knew these thoughts would come, and I wanted to commit myself while I was in the halcyon days of my youth and confidence. Past Chris pulled a fast one on me.
The moment I saw my DIY version in hand I knew I’ll make it to the end of this project. I’ve still got a lot of decisions to make, and a ton of work ahead of me, but come 2025 Jan 01, I’ll be there at the post office, with (fingers crossed) a preordered booklet or two, thinking about everything that went right.
I hope it’s open.
Cheers,
Chris.
The blade’s mine. Hey, I grip my own skateboards!
I like the idea of using Korean paper for Korean images.