What is Binding Talk?

Binding is a routine step that Bananafish often has to do manually in the process of independent publishing; Once we have books printed by Risograph, we use staples, a small, quite unobtrusive tool, to organize the scattered paper sheets. After the loose sheets of paper are stapled (usually with two staples on top and bottom, as it is for an exercise book), they become a booklet, a zine that can be sold and collected, a publication that can be redistributed, then forms a larger object and voice to broadcast.

Small but humble, we hope that Bananafish’s space will be like this magical echo created by staples, a place where ideas and feelings are gathered and dispersed, attracting more like-minded voices. Binding Talk guest could be artists, illustrators, designers, independent publishers, architects, writers or space managers.  Each issue will be carefully curated and organized after our long-term observation, appreciation and collaborations.  We believe what we are open for will finally interact with what Bananafish does, promotes and expects from different aspects or sides.

Binding Talk #1

Shao Wei was born in Jinzhou, Liaoning Province in 1989 and now lives in Shanghai. Now she is a freelance artist, illustrator and designer.

In 2015, she graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art in London with a Master’s degree in Communication Design, and her graduation dissertation work Blank City was exhibited at London Design Week at the same year. 2016, she published two independent riso zines “Exit” and “Tree Town”. “In 2016, her painting “In A Room” was exhibited at Beijing Design Week. Her research is concerned with the future relationships that cities, spaces, humans and nature could possibly present; and the existing relationships between architecture, art painting and fictional stories. Her work is expressed through painting, printmaking, paper publications, and writing.

HER TOPIC: Making Zine Is a Part of My Drawings

Since I started making works, I have experimented with many different visual languages, and now my works are mostly paintings, but ‘making a book’ is the method that I have been most addicted to. I say it is a method because in my works, it is the best tool for recording and archiving. Of course, when this method becomes a piece of work, it is the happiest moment. And ‘making zine’ is a more entertaining and a free process, low cost, small batch, and promotion way to let more people take my work home. I strive for the integrity of my workand the book often plays an important role. Since returning from London, I have completed three books, which in turn showcase exactly three different roles. I will share the role of zine in each of the works.

Ruohong Wu (Ru), from Qingdao, China, studied architecture in the UK and has a Master’s degree from the Architectural Association School of Architecture. She has lived in Rotterdam, the Netherlands for 12 years and is the co-founder of RUJA, an architectural design studio, and RUJIA BOOKS, an independent publishing house.

In her artistic expression she specializes in transforming flaws into new artistic paradigms, trying to translate certain imperfections of society into aesthetic values, and turning cultural conflicts into opportunities to create new languages in the field of art and design. Projects often involve abstract forms and shapes that challenge traditional craftsmanship and modern production processes.

RUJA BOOKS was established in 2014 as an independent publishing house to extend its personal creation in print outside of her architectural studio projects. So far, she has published several zines such as Bam Bam Bay, Chinese Games and Remmote Landscape.

RUJA BOOKS’ publications are disseminated by traveling around Europe to art fairs and art book fairs, exchanging ideas with the readers who come and go, and through this direct approach to art and publishing, gaining the trust of many people in the creative approach and aesthetics of her architectural studio. In further exchanges, her identity as an architect slowly emerged, and this intimate and intuitive way of communicating with people who loved their work made them willing to become clients of the architectural side of the work.

HER TOPIC: DIFFERENT LANGUAGES OF WORKING

Ru will share with us how publishing art through zine in different contexts has changed the creative process in some ways (she will give detailed examples of how this has changed). For her, independent publishing is the process of taking each of her own works, including architecture, art, poetry, etc., and making them into a publication. The book approach makes relatively esoteric works easy to communicate, and Ru believes that one of the important values of a work is to share it with the public. Making a publication is a kind of disguised dialogue between the work and the public.

José Ja Ja Ja , Spanish artist, works in the field of contemporary art, comics and children’s picture books. His illustrations have been published in The New York Times, Esquire magazine, editions Misma, Fulgencio Pimentel , kuš! Komikss, etc. He has also held solo and group exhibitions in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, etc. José has been a professor at the European Academy of Design in Madrid since 2014.

For the artist Jose, painting is a powerful tool that can convey information in a way that words cannot. It dates back to the earliest human pictographs on cave rocks. The desire to record is what drives his own work.No matter how much technology has evolved, the line is still the shortest distance between two ideas, and Jose’s work has a very personal character, with the line coming to life under his brush. The minimalist impression brought by the lines simultaneously draws the rhythm of life and breath, reflecting a world that is infinitely enlarged.

HIS TOPIC: Tell Stories from Small Memories

Jose will share his inspiration for his daily work with the theme of “Narrative Style Formed by Memory Fragments”, which he has been practicing and documenting for the past three years.

He will be talking about the American writer Williams Burroughs: William Burroughs is an American novelist, essayist, social commentator and storyteller. He is an avant-garde writer of the Beat Generation, whose literature has influenced popular culture. In 1975, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is known for his work “Naked Lunch”.

John Cage: the American experimental music composer, writer and visual artist. Since 1950, John Cage’s fame and influence have spread around the world. An iconic figure in “chance” music, he has been influenced by Far Eastern philosophy, aesthetics, and especially Buddhist Zen and the Chinese I Ching. And artist Matthew Barney. American contemporary artist whose work involves film, video, installation, sculpture, design, costume design, prop design, painting, etc.

For the architectural space he will share with you the design of the promenade in the British Museum and the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Our Binding Talk event also featured a live unplugged guitar performance by Wishbao, a musician active in the field of independent music creation. Wishbao studied at the China Academy of Fine Arts and then studied in Japan after graduation. During her second year in Japan, she extended her creativity from painting to music. For her three independently released demo albums, Wishbao has taken charge of all aspects from recording, singing to cover painting and design. Listening to XiaoXuan’s songs, you can not only hear the delicate and tender emotions, but also see the colorful images. Let every manic heart be smoothed and quiet. Please enjoy our Binding Talk at this very moment.

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