The Hybrid Book

I am back from my last public presentation commitment for the academic year. I was on a panel at the Hybrid Book Conference at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. It was a satiating three days for a hungry visual artist. There were two exhibitions and a quite large artists’ book fair attached to the conference. The visual stimulation was overwhelming. My Pentax has died on me, so I have not a single picture to show for it.

I was the very last panel speaker for the event – a schedule I have had before at conferences. It’s a tough spot to be in. You never get relief from the performance anxiety that comes with public speaking. You have to follow everyone else – in some cases quite brilliant speakers. And finally, if anyone on your panel runs over their time, you get cut short. With all that said, I think it went well. My panel was called “The Reciprocity of Books and Digital Media.” I spoke about “the artistic subversion of mobile technologies in the creation of book-like experiences.”

I didn’t get to see much of Philadelphia, but the train station and arts district were impressive. I’m looking forward to getting to spend more time there at some point in the future. Well, it’s back to work – teaching an online class, continuing projects started on my sabbatical, finishing my daughter’s school year and all the other odds & ends that are begging for attention.

*The Amazon Kindling is by Rob Cockerham and Windell H. Oskay. You can read all about it here and see more images here.