What Is a Book: Scatter & Gather
A book is a seed of knowledge, a vehicle of information. Seeds disperse through the wind, similar to how teachers disseminate knowledge through various means to their audience. People receiving this knowledge gather it, similar to the process of teaching and learning, giving and receiving. The book carries thoughts and ideas from an author to the reader. The book is a bridge between the author and the reader to facilitate the conversation. A book as a vehicle emphasises that it does not fixate in a permanent place. Books travel from place to place. It can be in a library yet it can still be moved. It can be in a bookstore and still be purchased to be a possession. In essence a book is never stuck in one place. The very reason they exist is exactly to carry the words within to the hands of a reader and to let the reader feel the pages and consume its contents. Books provide an intimate experience by invoking the human senses, from seeing the physicality of it to the sense of touch when interacting with it. This builds a deeper connection and the experience with a book becomes memorable every time one engages with it.
Each individual signatures are representative of a seed packet that usually contain seeds. The method of revealing the contents requires the act of dispersing the “seeds” before gathering them and consuming the information. Hence the title, Scatter & Gather. The book has no order and the individual seed packets can be placed in the cover in any order.
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