A C T I O N / S C R I P T E S S A Y I N G E S S A Y S : A P R O J E C T

This case study examines the role that documents play in the production
and reception of “meaning”, specifically in the context of contemporar y ar t,
performing conspirational scenarios within the structures of
professionalism in the creative industries.The study will culminate in a collaboratively-
developed archive of documents, distributed and circulated through Free Press, which
employ the methodology of “action scripting” as a form of “stage directions” for
potential public readings. I am seeking collaborators to reflect on the reversal
of the relationship between script and action, between “original” and “copy”, as
well as on the nature of documents, asking “what events do documents trace?”
and “what events do documents produce?”. “Action Script” is the programming
language of vector-graphic softwares like Flash. Like other programming
languages it textually defines the parameters for “complex action”. It utilizes
one-directional commands where the script defines the action. What if this
one-directionality could be reversed – i.e. if the action could also define
the script? You go to the grocer y store and receive a receipt itemizing your
Readers wanted to explore the possibilities of the essay form. What forms can the essay take and how can such texts be read? What is an
essay and who is essaying and where? What kinds of knowledge can be produced? What is lost and gained in moving beyond conventional
discursive approaches into using visual and textual material, the space of the page, variations of typography and design?
C A L L F O R R E A D E R S
This project is looking for readers to collaborate on producing new texts out of such explorations. It will involve the collaborative reading and
discussion of historical forms - such as fluxus scores, alternative music notations, conceptual ar t, concrete poetr y - but always with the aim of
producing new writing. Readers do not need any familiarity with such texts, but an interest in different forms the essay might take is essential.
Precise terms of collaboration to be agreed through discussion, but the intention is for writer and reader to each produce a written/spoken/
event-based text out of their distinctive roles, whilst acknowledging a cer tain fluidity and overlap will necessarily result (writers must read and vice versa).

C A L L
purchases. You apply for a job and send along a CV that presents your THE ONE-TO-ONE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE
accomplishments. You are researching and find a transcription of an inter view.
You are invited to take par t in the The One-to-One
In all three cases, documents are acting as traces of specific actions/interactions.
Correspondence Course. On the course you will be
All these documents are scripts, offering the performative parameters to restage
sent letters, one per day, for 12 days; the letters are
the action that originally produced the text. Similar to the Borges stor y, “The
in sequence; each letter contains an image or word;
Garden of Forking Paths”, a narrative exists within multiple worlds, each moment
the sequence forms a rebus; the rebus takes the

F O R
of its imaginar y course through time leading to forks in the road in which new
form of a question. You are tasked with answering.
“actions” can be staged, leading to new “scripts”: “Almost instantly I saw it – the
garden of forking paths was the chaotic novel; the phrase ‘several futures (not all)’ C A L L F O R R E A D E R S
suggested to me the image of a forking in time, rather than in space. A rereading The course presupposes interactions. The
of the book confirmed my theor y. In all fictions, each time a man meets diverse first is the recipient’s subjective conception of
alternatives, he chooses one and eliminates the others; in the work of the vir tually formal and semantic relations between epistles, a
impossible to detangle T’sui Pen, the character chooses - simultaneously – all of them.”

C A L L F O R R E A D E
This study seeks to collaboratively research and produce a wide range of
documents that are intended for specific forms of action, as well as various
actions that produce texts: CVs, por tfolios, market analysis,
manifestos, legal texts, transcription logs, inter views, education/grant applications,
adver tising slogans, meeting protocols, instruction manuals, recipes, programmes/
schedules, advice columns, etc. I would like to expand the critique of organizational
structures that mediate knowledge and “meaning” within the context of
contemporar y ar t, taking into consideration the shadowy existence of actors in the
field and the specific documentar y material they produce such as, for example, ar t
consultation firms, ar t fair logistics, jur y deliberations, funding schemes, NGOs
and their hidden agendas, private mailing lists and intellectual proper ty law.
Once an action enters the realm of textuality, it becomes inscribed, at times
guted of meaning, at other times invested with an aura of significance. Through
the documentar y chain that this study aims to collect, the unstable relationship
between text and action solidfies into a single image: the spectacle of accumulation.
READERS
cognitive engagement with the rebus. The course’s
R S peculiarity is that, as fragments of cinema and
epistolator y literature, the images and texts
offer a cummulative, durational experience
extending in time far beyond their original contexts –
the recipient has days to consider what would, in their
normative states, be available for a fraction of a second. F R E E P R E S S
The first interaction being vir tual and unaccountable, A collaborative project between seven ar tists/writer s exploring
however, the project asks for a second: a response economies of ideas and alternative modes of
to the question and an asser tion of the recipient’s dissemination and exchange.Each Free Press writer has produced
agency in actual space. The response is asked for a case study detailing how they would like to interact with a reader.
within 12 days of receipt of the last episode of the
Choose a scenario to respond to. Email or send a shor t
course. The recipient’s response, in whatever form
paragraph explaining why you would like to be the reader for that
it takes, will ultimately be presented along side the
letters of The One-to-One Correspondence Course par ticular scenario. Also include your name and contact details.
as an ar twork and private conversation made public.
Email your application to tradeunionar t@gmail.com or send
to Plan 9 Bridewell Island Bridewell Street Bristol BS1 by

F R E E P R E S S A R E : D A V I D B E R R I D G E T U E S D A Y 9 J U N E 2 0 0 9
R A C H E L L O I S C L A P H A M K A R E N D I F R A N C O ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Successful reader s will be informed by Tuesday 23 June 2009
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A D V E N T U R E S T O R Y ( F R E E P R E S S G A M E ) T I L L P O E M S
I’m interested in the notion of agency, how our acts have repercussions or influences; a chain of knock on effects. What is the agency of the In a free press, readers do not simply buy and so receive pre-
reader? How much are they in control of how they read and how much are they under the subliminal influence of the author. Take C S Lewis, fabricated, finished products, writing or meaning. Rather, the reader
whose ideal reader would perhaps be both a child who would take on the fantasy and adventures of Narnia and carr y it on in their own games and physically scripts her own meaning, herown writing - in and by the act of
playtime, and on the other hand a well behaved Christian child who would take on the moral meta-narrative. Here we have two forms of authorial reading – understanding and improvising upon – pre-authored products.
inter vention. Could we compare these to non-instrumental (e.g. psychogeographical) and instrumental (e.g. propagandist) inter vention? In As a Free Press project, Till Poems reads between the lines of reading:
Thomas Pynchon’s ‘The Cr ying of Lot 49’, the unsuspecting anti-heroine Oedipa Maas comes across a series of clues and cr yptic messages that lead it is reading as understanding, interpreting a language and its signs. It is
her to uncover a secret postal ser vice, an underground system, that functions not for over tly political aims but for society’s outcasts, conspiracy reading as a productive act, an act in which one can infer, substitute or
theorists and fugitives. These clues lead to her travelling across countr y on a bus trailing a secret postman. This underground system is a free press, replace meaning in systems. The project challenges you to do a big shop
a means of distribution and dispersion that relies on community, secrecy, romance and a high level of suspension of disbelief on the par t of the in your local supermarket or store. By placing your shopping onto the
reader. Exploring agency and inter vention I will set up a meta-narrative that to be read requires the active engagement of a number of readers. conveyor belt in a specific way, you will make sure the receipt spells out
Some who are ‘secret agents’ following my agenda and helping to install the clues, others who are ‘double agents’ adding their own twist to the words of your own making. Reading the receipt down instead of across,
work that I have to uncover and some who are genuine readers, detectives out to follow the clues and find the route to the exhibition/ar t work. your choreographed shopping will say something more than the items
ever intended. In that moment of improvisation and exchange, your act
C A L L I N G R E A D E R S ( T H E R O L E S ) : of shopping becomes porous: a space you the consumer can inhabit,
Reader a. – Secret Agent (acting under the writer’s agency, being a henchman) Reader b. – Double Agent (the critic setting up their own manipulate and occupy. It is a space where the consumer is equally
counter-narrative to disrupt the intended readings of the work) Reader c. – The Detective (reading to uncover the clues in the work productive as the producer, the reader equally productive as the writer.
– you will be sent on a journey – perhaps physical to uncover the location and meanings of the work). Who should apply? Ever feel that This project will be decided in dialogue with you and defined by your
you have been specially chosen to complete a series of tasks? That you are a chosen one? – You are Reader A. Ever feel like you are the actions. The resulting receipts could be published as shor t poems in a
chosen one? That any tasks you complete can be set by only yourself?– You are Reader B (Disguised as Reader A). Ever get the feeling that Free Press publication. The words contained in the receipts could form
there is more to ever yday occurrences than meet the eye? That a life-changing myster y is just around the corner? – You are Reader C . a collaborative script, itself a future call to action and future readings.
Photographs of shopping items could be pulished as a latent text or sculpture.
H O W T O A P P L Y
C A L L F O R R E A D E R S
To apply to be a character in Adventure Stor y please let us know the following:- Whether you want to be Reader A or Reader C (if you
are intending to be Reader B, then apply for A under a pseudonym) - Where you are based* - How far you are prepared to travel. *We To par ticipate, you will need to do a big shop at a supermarket or local
will never divulge your contact details to other par ticipants and whilst there is an element of the unknown, this is in relation to the ar twork store and be willing to go out of your personal comfor t zone in order
created/ways of viewing localities and never in relation to non-mediated contact between par ticipants. If you apply for these roles, you will to be creative in an ever yday act. You will want to create your own
receive instructions that will explain your first moves in the game. This work follows in a tradition of inter vention, geo-caching and treasure hunts. unique shopping experience and in doing so, contribute to an action
text, score or script. Ideally, you would be creative and have an interest
W H A T W I L L H A P P E N ( T H E C O N C L U S I O N )
in activism, ar t and be keen to explore individual agency in the acts of
Readers will be selected and matched up by their geographical locations. Reader A and Reader B (disguised as A) will follow instructions, create ever yday consumption and reading. It would be good, though not vital, if
and document inter ventions and relay journey information to Reader C . Whether Reader C follows the intended path or a subver ted narrative you enjoyed ar t/writing, poetr y, experimental novels, scripts and plays..
depends on whom they receive their instructions from. All inter vention works, journey narratives and clues uncovered will be collated and
re-worked to form a detective stor y made out of these real life adventures. Each par ticipant’s works will be credited to them in the final
publication and they will become at once characters in a novel and its co-authors. Adventure Stor y will be a real-life myster y conceptually
exploring notions of agency and ar tistic inter vention. The star ting point from which all instructions will ensue will be the first paragraph/chapter
of this stor y (written by the Free Press writer) which sets out the task of creating an ar twork in an urban environment. As the Free Press writer
receives information back from the Readers, she/he will incorporate this documentation back into the narrative (think W.G. Sebald writing and
images, think Paul Auster and Sophie Calle, think trash detective novels and ar t journey writing such as Smithson’s Tour of the Monuments of Passaic).
T R A N S I T
I offer the reader an exercise in truth and deception. I offer you the
oppor tunity for ar tful manipulation and skillful honesty. I offer you an
excuse. You offer me a reason. The writer will send the reader a set
P R I V A T E C O L L E C T I O N S
of excuses. The reader will respond with a set of reasons. The two
Reader/s wanted to collaborate on a project that will explore the subject of collecting - from collections of ar tists narratives will be fused, manipulated and altered by the both the
working with an ‘archival impulse’ to personal collections of ephemera. A postal correspondence will take place star ting with reader and the writer. Decisions will be made, actions will be taken,
an inventor y of the collections held by the writer - the reader will respond similarly and the correspondence shall build into a
conclusions will be drawn, consequences will occur, stories will be changed..
collection of collections, taking inspiration from Aby Warburgs’ Mnemosyne Atlas, drawing on and connecting all the
interests of the Writer and the Reader. This project will conclude with a publication documenting this exchange and the eventual outcome. C A L L F O R R E A D E R S
C A L L F O R R E A D E R S My ideal reader is someone who is interested in
To par ticipate you must be - compulsive, obsessive, excited by discover y, a visitor of libraries and museums, an amateur sleuth, taking a leap outside of their ever yday life, using a slight shift in
photographer, an occupier of reading rooms. Have an interest/obsession with collecting – books, photographs, music, postcards, old tickets, flyers, perception to affect change in their environment and that of the
letters, religious marketing, proposed designs for shopping centres, stationar y, collage.Must have access to a typewriter. Love of science fiction/fantasy/ writer. A reader who is interested in collaboration and where the
comics, the work of WG Sebald, store front facades and window displays, Fassbinder,Tarkofsky, typefaces, layout design, office organisation, clip ar t, graphs. roles of writer and reader touch, overlap and flow into each other.