1000 Journals

 

Andrea Kreuzhage

Director Statement

 

Director Statement
When I was reading about the return of Journal 526, and then saw scans of its pages posted online, I became nearly obsessed with the whereabouts of the other 999 journals. In the following weeks, I did little else but analyze the 1000journals.com site for clues. What happened to them? Why did this one come back, but none of the others? The research took me deep into the Internet. Connecting the dots from link to link, I discovered a subculture of mainly autodidact writers and artists, who were forming collaborative communities around creativity. Heirs to traditional mail art, these people were using the Web to connect and speak with each other, but were sending around books, journals, artists trading cards, cameras, collection boxes, and any other kind of artifacts: sometimes organized as Round Robbins, where every participant got to keep one collaborative edition, but mostly unmonitored, counting on generous creative "donations" of time, effort, and love for a global community spirit.

The events following September 11th, 2001, put this on fire. Worldwide, people were feeling a deep need to connect, to write their own history books, to make their voices heard. Participants in these collaborations were less concerned about ownership than sharing and the chance to take part in something no single person could achieve alone. They took the risk of collaborative black holes, of objects getting stuck along the way; to possess and consume wasn't the goal. This was all about creating and sharing.

My goal for this documentary is to instigate collaboration and free exchange. The 1000 Journals Project inspired hundreds of people to start their own traveling journals, and so will this film. The 1000 Journals Project inspires tens of thousands of people to draw, write, make collages, ask and answer questions, and gives them an opportunity to see and experience what other people, the world over, contributed. This film will help keep this dialog alive. This film will give many more an opportunity to see inside these journals, to hear these voices, and to experience this unique, collaborative exchange.