The Notebook Project
The Notebook is a black 6" x 4" artist’s sketchbook Isabella Stefanescu kept from 1992 to 1998. The drawings and notes were made in Paris, Kitchener, Burgundy and on trips to the United States. The drawings were made in ink or pencil with washes and watercolour, and collage were added later in a process of elaboration or erasure.
The Music was created specially for this project by Nick Storring and includes manipulations of the recorded text of the notebook and ambient sound from the studio. This is a piece of electro-acoustic music (that is, music written to be played by speakers) and the way the piece sounds depends on the page of the notebook one is looking at and on the pages one might have looked at before.
The Interface is the work of Rob Gorbet who took the problem of flipping pages of a high definition projected image of a notebook and brought it back to the tactile manipulations of ordinary objects. One of Rob’s aims was to keep the interface transparent, so the user does not notice the complicated underlying electronics.
The Animation necessary to turn the pages of the notebook is the creation of Nathan Saliwonchyk, who was also invaluable with his advice on software and hardware.
Credits:
Notebook: Isabella Stefanescu
Music: Nick Storring
Interface: Rob Gorbet
Animation: Nathan Saliwonchyck
Still Photography: Robert McNair
Stand and copper bowls: Two Smiths (Sandra Dunn & Stephen White)
Photo Documentation: Anuta Skrypnychenko
Special Thanks to Anne Marie Donovan, Allan MacKay, Douglas Scott.
KW|AG thanks the Brush with Art Visual Arts Fund and The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation for their support towards The Notebook Project. The artists thank the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund for its support of The Notebook Project.