Many readers will be aware of the 1000 journal project which is a bit like sending out a message in a bottle. For those who are unaware of it, the project involved 1000 journals real, physical book kind of blank journals were released into the world in the summer of 2000, by graphic designer Brian Singer who goes by the name “Someguy”.
The idea is that people who find a journal add something to them. It can be a story, a drawing, a photograph, or anything really. Then they pass the journal along. The website describes the project as “…an ongoing collaborative experiment attempting to follow 1000 journals throughout their travels.”
In many ways the project has become a little like a social experiment as although the journals are being tracked on the website many have not returned. Andrea Kreuzhage discovered the stories and set about finding out what had become of them and made a film out of it. A Synopsis of the film on the 1000 journals film web site reads
1000 Journals is a film about people whose lives are touched by 1000 traveling journals. These blank journals were released into the world in the summer of 2000, by Someguy, a San Francisco based artist. Some people found a journal, or got it from a friend or stranger. Some signed up on the web and received it in the mail. Some wrote in them, others doodled, pasted in photographs, or added artworks. Some kept them. Some passed them on. There are no rules, and no one really monitors these journals and their movements. And yet, they are connecting tens of thousands of people worldwide, provoking and inspiring them.
In September 2003, one of the 1000, number 526, returned to Someguy, filled. What happened to the other 999? This film tells their stories.
On You tube I came across an interview with project organiser “Someguy” at AFI (American Film Institute) Fest 2007
And an interview with Andrea Kreuzhage director writer and producer of the documentary film about 1000 journals project.
If you want more information about this film the 1000 journals film site has the story or visit the 1000 Journals Project and the project continues at 1001 Journals Project in which you can participate by adding a journal, by contributing to one, and check out the 1000 journals blog
There’s also the 1000 Journal Pages, which is a bit different, in that it’s a compilation of pages by various artists, and has no “live” component like a video. Even so, i’m VERY proud to have one of my journal pages in it, as is one of the pages from a member of the original Fabric Artjournals group!