Saturday, April 11, 4 p.m. at Unnameable Books in Turners Falls

The Infra-Ordinary with Lucy Ives

Could you create a clock or calendar using only household objects? What rich materials are present in your nightly dreams? When was the last time you thought about a magical belief you possessed as a child? Can you describe something you’ve completely forgotten? Participants will answer these questions and more in a relaxing 40-minute workshop for generating ideas, refreshing our memories, dissolving creative block, and engaging in imaginative self-reflection, all using the most basic materials we possess: our thoughts, recollections, and ties to our neighbors and immediate surroundings.

Taking inspiration from novelist Georges Perec’s notion of the “infra-ordinary,” or the multifarious and extraordinarily subtle aesthetic reverberations of the everyday, novelist Lucy Ives convenes an occasion to write together based on her new collection, three six five: prompts, acts, divinations. You will leave this gathering with several short written pieces, more than a few recovered memories, and many, many new ideas. All are welcome—long-time writers, beginners, visual artists, philosophers, seekers, gardeners, gleaners, menders, makers, and anyone who enjoys being surprised.

Free and open to the public. Unnameable Books is located at 66 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA 01376.

Sunday, April 12, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Clark Institute of Art in Williamstown

A multitude: Artists’ Book Day and the Art Book Expo, “Ordinary Magic: How Artists’ Books Transform Reading & Writing” (a talk by Lucy Ives), and ephemeral additions to the museum

This is siglio’s second year participating in the “Artists’ Book Day” Art Book Expo. It’s a tiny, fantastic fair. Fantastic, partly because it’s tiny, but also because it features our supremely creative Berkshire and Hudson Valley neighbors in publishing and art making. Early copies of siglio’s newest title, three six five: acts, prompts, divinations (an inexhaustible compendium for writing) by Lucy Ives with drawing by Nick Mauss, as well as the latest ephemera (a little gift when you buy a book) will be available at the siglio table.

Furthermore,

At 2 p.m. “Ordinary Magic: How Artists’ Books Transform Reading & Writing”

Novelist and critic Lucy Ives will give a talk on the ways in which artists’ books reconfigure both the act of reading and our relationship to “the book”: how we value, handle, and spend time with books. Closely examining both material and narrative aspects of specific works from the Clark’s artists’ book collection, she’ll offer a series of aesthetic lessons deriving from the artists’ interventions into the book form. For creative writers, visual artists, and curious readers who want to learn more about  artists’ books and what they might mean now in our digital age.

Also,

Ives has located various “prompts” for Clark museum visitors to encounter—by chance or desire—in specific locations in the galleries, offering creative ways to engage, ponder, imagine, and especially to write. Prompts available throughout Artists’ Book Day, writing materials on hand, if needed, with docents available 1-4 p.m.

Admission to the museum and all activities are free and open to the public. The Clark Institute of Art is located at 225 South Street, Williamstown, MA 01267.