'Read and react' is a basketball offence invented by Rick Torbett. It is not a set or structured offence but a multi-layered framework for action by the players. I liked the name of it, and the idea of it, especially in relation to Dave Hickey’s great essay, 'The Heresy of Zone Defense', that we all read in the 90’s.
'Read and react' also fairly accurately describes my own working method. I read and react to a situation comprised of the following elements:
current mood; surface, including its size, weight, colour and texture; medium, be that fine-liner pen, very runny ink, blacklead pencil, crayon, pastel, or whatever; colour; the brush or whatever else I am going to use to put the marks on the surface; what I made last; everything else that’s already in the world.
The works published here were made over the years 2020-2022. It’s boring to say it I know but I’ll get it over with. Those were the first 3 years of the pandemic. The outside closed down and we were banished into our own interiors. Not very nice some of that time.
The book is set out in roughly chronological order. It starts with the densest, tightest and darkest, and ends with the loosest and least. There are several different series within the book and then there are a few works that kind of transition between the series.
Read and React! is, of course, a hopeful directive from me to the viewer. Every artist wants their work to be seen, and for the work to feel valid we need your response. – Julia Gorman
56 pages, 27 x 19 cm, softcover, Stray Pages (Melbourne).