Opening Day - The Book Report: The Art of Reading How to Read a Book

Daniel Yovino's The Book Report opened today with the artist on-site to meet and greet the office community--fielding questions about analytical and other non-fiction reading, illustrating helpful steps with his quietly waggish how-to storyboard.

About the show:

1940: Simon & Schuster publishes How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler.
1972: Adler re-writes an updated version of How to Read a Book with quiz show celebrity Charles Van Doren.
2008: Renée Green recommends How to Read a Book for her seminar Spheres of Interest: Experiments in Thinking and Action.
2011: Daniel Yovino delivers a lecture about How to Read a Book called The Art of Reading How to Read a Book.

The Book Report: The Art of Reading How to Read a Book is a collection of Daniel's lecture notes, reference books, and writings from the presentation. Although Daniel is not an avid reader, he hopes that visitors will take away a tip or two for reading books, non-fiction in particular.

From the artist:

How vexing is statement-writing? It is easy to feel as though I have to summarize my thoughts completely, and that task becomes more difficult as I live longer and complete more thoughts. Of course, I am probably making a mountain out of a molehill––which, by the way, sounds like an artistic project in itself. ("I make mountains out of molehills. . .")

Sometimes it helps to take things literally. I pay attention to ideas, suggestions, expressions, jokes, etc, no matter how distracting. I tend to begin new projects by imagining a parody, and my sources are often educational in nature. I often approach the lecture format because I see it as a challenge in many aspects. In particular, the learning process forces me to present myself as a teacher. Always flirting with failure, I am willing to lead both by example and non-example.

About the artist:

Daniel Yovino explores methods of personal productivity through mimicry and parody. He graduated with an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and received a BFA in Painting from the University of Central Florida. He has exhibited in venues including CityArts Factory in Orlando, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, and Koret Education Center at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His work can also be seen at danielyovino.com.

Daniel lives and works in San Francisco.

Join us on Friday for an evening opening with the artist: April 29th at 7 pm. Drop us a line if you'll be coming by.