Drawing on Surrealist practices of automatic drawing and collective creation, participants will generate imagery through intuitive mark-making exercises and collaborative exchange. This workshop will use art-making to investigate how physical tools can influence the marks we create. Working collaboratively, attendees will respond to each other’s marks, creating layered conversational books that serve as a record of the time together.
Unexpected objects, such as a fork, roll of tape, and cheese grater, will be provided and participants are encouraged to explore how these can become drawing tools. No prior bookbinding experience required; all skill levels welcome.
Ben Denzer is an artist, designer, and publisher. He is interested in books, the physicality of images, revealing processes, playing with value, focusing a view, and finding moments of humor. Denzer studied architecture and visual arts at Princeton and received an MFA in graphic design from RISD, where he made a thesis book physically larger than the RISD library. An assistant professor at Parsons, Denzer has been an artist-in-residence at Mount Auburn Cemetery, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and the Center for Book Arts. He is a current NYPL Picture Collection Artist Fellow. Along with his studio practice, Denzer is the editor of Process Pamphlets, designs and publishes books under the imprint Catalog Press, and is a frequent visual contributor to The New York Times.
Recommended for adults and teens. Space is limited and RSVP is required.
This workshop is designed in collaboration with the Center for Book Arts.
Center for Book Arts promotes active explorations of artistic practices related to the book as an art object. Founded in 1974, Center for Book Arts is the oldest nonprofit dedicated to uplifting and furthering the book arts and book art through education, preservation, exhibition, art-making, and community building.
Accessibility
American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and live captioning is available for public programs upon request with two weeks’ advance notice. MoMA will make every effort to provide accommodation for requests made with less than two weeks’ notice. Please contact [email protected] to make a request for these accommodations.
The entrance to the Creativity Lab has a power-assist door. Seating options include chairs with backs.
For more information on accessibility at MoMA, please visit moma.org/Access. For accessibility questions or accommodation requests, please email [email protected].
The Adobe Foundation is proud to support equity, learning, and creativity at MoMA.
Major funding is provided by the Agnes Gund Education Endowment Fund for Public Programs, the Jeanne Thayer Young Scholars Fund, and the Annual Education Fund.