Imagine, Observe, Remember - Peter Blegvad

Imagine, Observe, Remember by Peter Blegvad / ISBN 9781910010259 / 250-page paperback with flaps from Uniformbooks (UK) / Over 250 illustrations in both colour and black and white, printed on four different paper stocks

I finally imported some copies of this wonderful book. I think illustrators in particular will love it.

***

“Forty-five years ago, when I began doing comparative drawings of things imagined, observed, and remembered, I was an illustrator looking for a story to illustrate. Something with a beginning, middle and end. ‘Imagine, Observe, Remember’ is what I came up with. It began as a way to think about illustration. It became a way of using illustration to think about imagining, observing and remembering. It’s a kind of phenomenology project, a way to look at different ways of looking and seeing, using the means at my disposal, using myself as subject.”—Peter Blegvad

When one looks into one’s own interior there is always mental imagery. Imagine, Observe, Remember looks at the looking we do with the mind’s eye, offering practical exercises for the development of this mysterious faculty. The book is also a memoir, a portrait of the artist as he develops his craft from what is possibly his first drawing to his current status of seasoned practitioner. It is furthermore a series of meditations, observations, quotes, images and instructions that will constitute a valuable resource for artists, writers, teachers and any reader who agrees that the uncharted wilderness within is worthy of exploration.

Peter Blegvad is a musician, songwriter, artist, writer, teacher and broadcaster. Born in New York, he lives in London with his wife, the painter Chloë Fremantle. He has been making music since the mid-1970s with Slapp Happy, Faust, Henry Cow, John Greaves, the Golden Palominos, John Zorn, Andy Partridge and others. As a broadcaster, he created many dozens of ‘eartoons’ (audio cartoons) and several radio plays for BBC Radio 3. His comic strip, The Book of Leviathan, is published in the UK by Sort Of Books and is also available in Mandarin, Cantonese and French. In 2000 he was awarded the Ordre de la Grande Gidouille by the Collège de ’Pataphysique, Paris, and in 2011 was elected president of the London Institute of ’Pataphysics.