Universal Scrapbooks Project

This is part of my Dream Archives Project. In this project I take ‘dreams’ to include:

a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep *a strongly desired goal or purpose *hopes and aspirations *fantasies or daydreams *Introduction**

A scrapbook is a blank book or album in which various items (i.e. photos, newspaper clippings, pictures, momentoes, etc.) are collected and preserved. These days, it is often done artistically, incorporating ready-made decorative products and serves as a creative outlet as well as a means to preserve memories. In its most common form, people (usually women, specifically mothers) scrap about their children, recording their progress as they are growing up. These days, more people also scrap about themselves as well as about various other topics. Some people use scrapbooking to create visual journals – using words and images as a means of creative expression.

As digital photography became more and more popular, digital scrapbooking emerged in the early 2000’s and continues to grow bigger. Just like traditional scrapbooking, there are corresponding digital products to create digital scrapbook pages. Digital scrapbook pages can be printed at home, or printed and bound as professional looking photo books and a variety of print products from companies such as MyPublisher.com, MyKoloAlbum.com, Shutterfly.com, etc.

Recently there is a growing number of scrapbookers active in what’s known as ‘Hybrid Scrapbooking’. Basically, this involves creating scrapbook pages by utilizing elements and techniques from both traditional scrapbooking and digital scrapbooking. This hybrid fever has developed further to include ‘Hybrid Crafting’ such as custom card-making, gift-making, calendar-making, etc.

One of the many interesting tendencies I see in the scrapbooking world – traditional, digital and hybrid -  is that there is a prevailing fondness for everything old and vintage. As such as there is a great number of products with retro/classical/vintage styles and various tools to ‘age’ your photos and pages making contemporary pages look like they come from the distant past. There is a juxtaposition of time frame and realities here. When photos taken in, say, 2006 are made to look like something taken in the late 19th century, it’s as if the memories were ‘preserved’ in the wrong time frame. When new photos are made to look torn and worn around the edges like old photos, it’s as if a separate ‘past’ or ‘history’ has been invented – one that has nothing to do with the actual (new) photos or the event and time captured in these photos. Thus, the authenticity of the photos became ambiguous.My project will make extensive use of this ‘Hybrid Scrapbooking’ format because of its perfect mix of old and new; reality and make-believe; past, present and future; tradition and technology – it represents the blurring of boundaries between what is real, what is imagined, when is the past, when is the future – akin to what we often experience in dreams.

People across different personal backgrounds, cultures and geographical locations might share similar dreams. Something that is regarded as personal could actually be more widely shared. Dreams are like instances of collective hidden consciousness where past memories, the present, and hopes or fears for the future are juxtaposed and transformed to either further hide or reveal our innermost selves – from the trivial to the substantial.

By using the scrapbook format, which is often seen as a mere housewives’ hobby craft, to create art, I wish to both undermine this false dichotomy and bring art into the daily lives of ordinary people. These scrapbooks, created with both manual techniques and digital technology, bring together old, manual craft traditions with modern technology; they bring together past memories and hopes for the future; and they bring together the personal and the public concerns of the participants. They connect people by revealing a glimpse of the hidden collective dreams they might have unknowingly shared with each other however diverse they might seem on the surface.

The juxtaposition and the blurring of boundaries between what is real and what is make-believe in these hybrid scrapbooks is a perfect reflection on dreams themselves. What is real, what is make-believe in the dreams you have in your sleep? Which is the realistic, which is the fantasy in your dreams for the future? The way people share their scrapbook pages online through the internet these days reflects on how the personal becomes public. Public Participation

Participation from people near and far will contribute to the diversity and the notion of ‘authenticity’ of the project. The contributions of the public – be it in the form of objects, verbal feedback, and other kinds of reaction – will supplement my own material for this ever-evolving project.You could participate by contributing an object that symbolizes a particular dream you would like to share with me. This could be dream in any of its meanings (dream you have in your sleep, dream as in a strong goal or desire, dream as in hopes and aspirations, or dream as in fantasies or daydream).These ‘dream-signifier objects’ could be as simple as a short note describing your dream, a photograph or a picture, an actual object, a digital representation of the object, a poem, or even a single word, etc. You may include a photograph of yourself along with some personal information you are willing to share with me for this project to provide background for your ‘Dream-Signifier Object’, if you wish. Please let me know if any personal information submitted are to be kept confidential or if you don’t mind them to be made visible in the Universal Scrapbooks.The Dream-Signifier Object could be anything. It doesn’t have to be something that you made yourself although some people did send me something that they have lovingly made specific for this project. But there are others who just sent scanned images of actual scrapbook pages they have previously made.  There are also those who sent me some found objects and store-bought objects that they think best represent their dreams. A few individuals told me stories: about their aspirations and about some dream they had. There are a few poems too! The majority sent in digital photos by email – which I will print out later. It could be just about anything, really! Postcards are welcome too! What yours will be?

So, are you interested to participate?

Then find your ‘Dream-Signifier Objects’ and get them to me!

You can send in your contribution in two ways:

a. by email to fhung [at] liefhung [dot] com with ‘Dream-Signifier Object’ as the Subject (or just click here ). If you are sending digital files, please make sure that the resolution is good enough for printing (minimum size is 1.3 MB or 1600 x 1600 px).

b. by post : contact me and I'll email you my address in Hong Kong. There is no maximum size for this although small and light-weight items are preferable as they can easily fit into the scrapbook pages. I will take photographs of any items that are too large/bulky or heavy and use the photographs for the scrapbook pages instead.

Lastly but not the least, I would like to thank KOLO for their generous support for my Dream Archives Project. They’ve been providing me with their archival quality Havana Boxes that I’m using for the Portals and they are providing me with a couple of their new, archival quality Kaji Albums for the Universal Scrapbooks as well – the perfect scrapbook album!

I have always been a fan of their elegant products so I feel honoured and grateful for their generous support for my projects. It’s hard to tell what I like best about their products: their classy look with minimalistic design, their scrumptious color selection, the craftmanship of their products, their sheer functionality, their archival quality, or their superb durability? I guess all of these qualities combined in every single piece of their products is what hooked me right from the beginning. As I’ve been using their products more in ways that are not usually dealt with them, I came to appreciate their qualities even more. Like when I discovered how the Havana Boxes is almost indestructible when I made the ‘ Impediment‘ piece. You can read the story here at koloist.com. You’ll find a lot of interesting things to read and see there as well!

Now, let’s gather your ‘ Dream-Signifier Objects’! I look forward to receiving them! Thank you very much in advance.