5 minutes with

In planning “An incomplete map of everything,” a monthlong festival of sound, video, literature and performance at Links Hall, curator Mark Booth approached his project with the zeal of an explorer in search of new “landforms of an experimental nature.” Booth, an artist who teaches at the School of the Art Institute, invited 25 artists to take part in the event, which launches Friday 3.

How did you come up with the title?
It is an incomplete map of everything I have been thinking about and that is on my desk at the moment. Basically, I’m interested in work that deals with the quotidian aspects of life. All the artists are experimental yet accessible.
Who are some of the artists?
Christian Bök is an artist from Calgary who has written a number of really phenomenal books in the style of French author Georges Perec [who wrote a novel without using the letter e]. One of [Bök’s] books, Eunoia, is about the shortest words in the English language, and it’s beautiful thinking. All the artists share an interest in systems of some kind. Another artist is Ken Goldsmith, who runs UbuWeb [www.ubu.com], the best website in existence. He’ll read from Soliloquy, a transcript of everything he said in one week without any response [from other people].
It seems the works by the literary artists are meant to be heard.
Absolutely. There is writing that should only exist on the page, and it’s very apparent when that happens. But so much of the pleasure of the work presented here comes from oral presentation and delivery.—Ruth Lopez

“An incomplete map of everything” starts Friday 3.