Who Am I?My name is Chris. I have been collecting comics since 1983,and reading them since at last 1977. I have been trained as an actor,a radio producer,a graphic designer,a web designer,and,most recently,a librarian. I have been doing graphic design and layout for various comic book related publications for TwoMorrows Publishing since 2001 and am currently the designer for Roy Thomas' Alter Ego. In my main occupation I serve as Digital Resources Librarian at the Flaxman Library at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. You can contact me at chris@chrisdaydesign.com | So this Saturday I will be done with this phase of the great Summer ’11 Weeding,and there is a big post 0r two in the journey of the last few weeks. But not for this morning. For this morning,a quick reminder of why we do this…  Just one more book,that's all I want... Warey Myers Decorative Arts “The Basement Stacks” “Books breaking through the (faux) wall downstairs,referencing the “basement stacks”every library has. In this case it’s as if those stacks had been sealed up during some remodel,and are anthropomorphically breaking through,referencing the old library,history,roots,poltergeists… Created for the VIA Advertising Agency,which recently renovated and moved their offices into the old Baxter building,which served as Portland’s public library from 1888 until the 1960s.”(via Boing Boing) [Well. I wrote this post in August of 2010. Enjoy!] Another recent find online. “The Ark”,designed by Rintala Eggertsson Architects,was a project for the Victoria &Albert Museum,and is nestled in the stairwell leading to the library the Museum. A two-story, immersive bookcase. Now I know another thing to keep in mind when I build my dream home. 
Originally found via www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/ More information,and many more photos from the blog Design Boom And a video of the construction of the project. Rintala Eggertsson Architects –‘Ark’construction from Architects Build Small Spaces on Vimeo. It’s the book store and the library on the second floor,so we wanted to connect those two parts of the museum with a book tower so that you could read the continuity from the stored books to the books that are sold and become eventually a part of every people’s life out there. The tower is a bookcase in itself,the first thing you meet is the white backside of the books and they don’t reveal themselves until you get to the inside where you get the spine of the book. I think it is important for us to show that architecture is not a mystical thing but it’s about putting one stick on top of the other like every small child does in the beginning of their life. Dagur Eggertsson
Well that declaration of content didn’t work. But here is the first of a few short entries for you. First,enjoy this weird photo (no idea what the provenance is). UPDATE:Well know I do know what it is. “Olivier Charles creates his vision of the Stockholm Public Library, a virtual world of Architecture and CG Art.” Thanks Dad! 
I look at my books as being sculptures of books. They’re regular books,too,but they’re also sculptures. Douglas Coupland
It has been a busy five months,and I hope to post a real post in the near future with things I’ve learned,steps I’ve taken,and other important things. But in the meantime,here are a few important links I’ve discovered over the months,mostly through Twitter. 
First a few “books”and “book collection”related links:
Continue reading Long Time Gone:Some Quick Links  In the words of Jon Bongiovi:“Oh,oh. We’re half way there. Oh,oh. Living on a prayer.”They were wise words in the 1980s and they are just as wise today. I started this blog back in February to track my journey of examination and elimination. Now,four months later this blog has seen some more reflection,some bellybutton gazing,some sharing my home with visitors from Comic Book Resources,and lots and lots of photos of books and bookshelves.
The last month has seen fewer blog entries as I have been working over time on the process of actually getting rid of these belongings that I’ve been examining for so long. I first mentioned the great Weed back in earlky March (see “Weeding Round One“) and even after making the decision to get rid of these items,and pulling all those books and comics,I still had to do something with them. So it has been evenings full of photographing and organizing and grouping and describing and listing on Ebay. At first it was incredibly daunting,but luckily I found a piece of software that made my life a little easier. But now I’ve got new auctions going up five nights a week,with anywhere between 60 and 100 listings up at any given time. It’s taking up a lot of my free time in the immediate,but hope to be through the busy period within the next month and have that much more of my life back. Continue reading Memorial Day Process Report I think this is the start of a regular feature on PN6700:Temptations. No matter how much you want to stop buying,sometimes they make something so beautiful it is hard to say no. At least in this case I have said no so far:  Photo borrowed from the Drawn &Quarterly Blog No,I am not linking to a picture of a lady (publisher Drawn &Quarterly‘s publicity assistant,Claire Bennett). Rather,to my shame,I am sharing a photo of the two fine publications she holds in her hands. One is the preliminary cover for a collection of George Sprott:(1894-1975) ,the serial by Seth that recently ran in the New York Times (I think? whatever periodical has been serializing Daniel Clowes,Jamie Hernandez,and the other guys). The other is The Collected Doug Wright ,a collection of work by the celebrated Canadian cartoonist. For many more pictures of this book visit this entry on their blog. I mean,look at these pages. I don’t know Doug Wright from Adam,but this is a beautifully designed book. Once upon a time I would have pre-ordered that without even thinking twice. But the new me just made a note of it on an Amazon.com wish list and will think about it when it comes out. I do love the size,though. Looking through the rest of the blog (at http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/blog/) D&Q seem to be using it a lot. Why does the pusherman have to have such sweet,sweet smack? So,after a request in my comments,my father,John Day,was kind enough to take photos of the completed “basement of bookshelves”. You can visit the entire Flickr Photostream at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikoday/sets/72157615600681785/with/3370449266/ But I wanted to share a few prime pieces here. (All comments by John Day).  Three bookshelves of science fiction. So,after the previous tour,I wanted to go back and share details of some of the sections and shelves in my library. The original photos give you an idea of the size,scope,and arrangement of what I have gathered over the years. These should give you,and me,an idea of the individual elements and what some of these things mean to me,and what mean nothing to me anymore. I’m going to break these up by section,so lets start with the bookcases in the library and office that cover my independent comics,as well as the 1980s collection.  A collection of Grant Morrison books,including the runs of Doom Patrol,The Invisibles,and Seven Soldiers. The real pride here are the Titan Books Zenith collections from the late-80s. A real ground breaking work from early in his career that is so tied up in rights dispute who knows if it will ever be collected again. So,to help you understand the scope of my mission,I should first give you a quick tour of the “collection.”I’ve done this in the fashion of the Shelf Porn collections from Robot 6,the Collected Editions Message Board at the Marvel Masterworks Resource Page,the Comics Journal Message Board,and elsewhere on the web. So let us walk through the various shelves in my world,with some slight commentary as we go. These are selected photos,and there will be a link to a full slide show at the end.  We start our tour in the living room with the "Public Bookshelf."I've long obsessed over which books to position as the public face of my collection. The books that people could judge me on:both for my excellent taste and for my not being a hip,sexy comic reader. It is something I've thought about ever since my first apartment in 1994. Continue reading Shelf Porn:A Short Tour 
I used to joke about having OCD,but there are people in this world whose lives are crippled by that affliction. I used to joke about being “addicted”,but again I have know people who have struggled with the actual disease and know it should never be applied to this. I have fought over the definition of geek versus nerd (and true to form,know that only I am right). But in the end,the only truly honest statement can be: My name is Chris… and I have a ridiculously stupid number of comics. Twelve book shelves filled with graphic novels. 25 to 26 “short boxes” of comic books. Ten to twelve short boxes of comics related magazines (which are at least legitimately work related). Various other pieces of sequential art scattered elsewhere around my house. The look on the faces of the movers when they showed up at my apartment in Rhode Island to move me will be forever scarred into my soul. When I was in college and was just starting to actively build a music collection,my roommate (who had the same compulsion) turned to me one day,pointed at our respective CD collections,and said “Those there,those are our cars.” Today I look around my apartment at my books and think “Those there,I don’t even want to think of what those are.”  So I know I have a problem. I knew I had a problem even before the economy started to go to hell in a hand basket and everyone started questioning what disposable income meant in a world where essential income was becoming scarce. I need to step away. To pull back and regroup. To better define why I buy,and what I buy,and why I keep it. To figure out what is route gathering and what is collecting for enjoyment. What is the difference between reading something once or treasuring it forever.
And that’s what I hope this will be. My semi-public therapy sessions as I try to work through in my mind what brought me to this point and where I want to go from here. I also hope it will be a way of celebrating what I love about comic books. I know there is a reason I have these things,beyond nostalgia or misdirection of sexual energy,and I want to better understand that. I also want to celebrate the collected edition,the graphic novel,the tradepaperback. I want to share “shelf porn”,an internet meme of photographing the way you display your books and comics to the world. I will share my own and direct you to others.  Of course all this is in theory. Every other web project I have started is currently languishing,but I am serious about this effort of self-examination and change and I hope that this method might allow me to think it through and make permanent,positive change.
So a bit of philosophizing and self-examination… a bit of anti-materialism possession reduction diary… and a bit of I don’t know. And now,on to the shelf porn… Coming Soon to PN6700-PN6790… - The Public Face [or Wanna Come Up And See My Kramer’s Ergot]
- Genetic Origins [or It’s All Mom And Dads Fault]
- Completeness [or I Swear I’m Not A Collector]
- The Librarian [or Collecting for Posterity]
- Re-Reading
- Nostalgia
- The Fix
- The Library
- My People
- Obsessing Over Format
- The Love of Look
| PN6725-PN6778?According to the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) system Graphic novels and comic strips are classified in the PN6725-PN6778 range,arranged by the region or country of their creation (not publication) then double-cuttered by main entry (usually author,then title). For more information on "Cataloging Graphic Novels" checkout this presentation by Georgia Perimeter College. |
