(1) We Are Reading [ Français ] [ Forum ]

We begin with almost nothing, just the act of reading.

Over the next few months, during the run of "Les formes du délais" and beyond, I'll be thinking through the act of reading as an artistic source. Gradually, this site will develop as a space for exploring what it might mean to read together, a place to share and exchange what we are reading.

I'd like to begin with an invitation. The most interesting and pleasurable book I've read over the last year is David Graeber's Toward an Anthropological Theory of Value: The False Coin of our own Dreams. David Graeber is a brilliant anthropologist, also an anarchist and activist, and his book is one of those where 100 ideas spin off every page. It includes lucid critiques of postmodernism, discussion of gift economies, a really interesting perspective on Marx (which caused me to spend the summer reading Das Kapital), a theory of social creativity, and countless lively anthropological examples. I'm still mulling over a small aside he made on the meaning of men's and women's fashion.

I'd like to invite you to read some David Graeber with me. I'll send a free copy of the book to anyone who wants one -- just write to me with your mailing address.

To sample a bit, you can download a pdf of one chapter which appeared in the online magazine The Commoner (it includes a quite interesting preface and political commentary written more recently). You can also download a pdf of his most recent book, Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology in its entirety (it's a lovely small book to carry around though, so having a physical copy is not a bad thing). I first encountered David Graeber through this article on Marcel Mauss and the French group MAUSS (available in French translation on this page -- scroll down).

If you're curious to know how all this might relate to art, at least to my artwork, you can find the beginnings of an answer here.

As for how we might communicate, I'll be building some tools on this site. In the meantime, just email me, either for a copy of the book, or otherwise, and I'll put you on a list for news as the site and project develop.

(2) And Now, a Conversation

Step One: Copies of a book are sent to whoever wants to read them (see above).

Step Two: We find a way to talk to one another.

The first tool I'm adding to the project is a discussion forum. All readers and interested parties are invited to join in the conversation. Whatever we make of Reading Between is something we will make together.