Creating an X-page

Throughout the course we will be writing in our notebooks as a means of concentration, of accessing other parts of consciousness, of recording impressions and sounds and images, of annotating, and of archiving. An x-page can be almost anything you want it to be, but here are some guidelines.

• your x-page should be handwritten (though it may include things taped, glued, or otherwise affixed) and should be in a composition notebook.

• it should be composed in ink or some other "archival" material. Pencil will rub away, so please don't use pencil unless you have a means of preserving it.

• your x page should have a title with a box, circle, cloud or some other shape around it for archival purposes (you'll be returning to these). It may be helpful to put the date on the page as well.

• your x-page should have four quadrants roughly in the shape of the letter x.

• each quadrant should be filled mostly with the quadrant requirements, but they may overlap

• quadrant requirements:

  • 1 should have an image, sketch, doodle (you don't have to be an artist, and you won't have to share them unless you are otherwise advised.)

  • 1 should have a direct quote from the text/discussion you are listening to/reading/watching

  • 1 should have questions or things you are wondering about

  • and the last section is up to you--it can be more drawing, more questions, words, collage items, color splotches, math equations, recipes, poems (!)--just about anything you want it to be

• the page should be completely filled--there shouldn't be any "white space" larger than a US quarter

• you should do your best to ensure that the page is not ALL drawing or all words, though some of you will naturally gravitate more to one than the other. A US dollar bill placed anywhere on your page should touch both text and image.

"….there are two working languages in human life. One is sort of top of the mind, what we're conscious of. The other is this unconscious stuff that we might not know about or have access to. The way we access it is usually through this thing we call 'the arts.' Unfortunately, that has gotten removed from the regular daily experience of human life. What I'm trying to do is to show that there is a way that they can come together, and that you can make things in a way that makes you actually feel alive and present." Lynda Barry

Example: