Jess Sutherland interweaves the visual and literary arts through her independently published, collaboratively conceived zine, Gnossienne. Among original contributions by local practitioners, there are experimentations with reference, interpolation, and reproduction, playing with what it means to experience art through writing and vice versa.  

Sutherland will make use of the residency to work towards Gnossienne’s second issue.  

Thematically, the second issue of Gnossienne will be dealing with the idea of 'surface' but more so with, to borrow from Mallarmé, the prismatic subdivisions of that idea. I like it as a catalyst for ambiguity, thinking of a thing that is in equal parts tangible, actual, hard, existent, accessible, grounding, bordered and boundaried while also dealing in veneer, appearance, illusion, hollowness, artifice, and facade. 

A thing both porous and impenetrable.
– Jess Sutherland

Parallel to this process, Sutherland is interested in researching the antecedents of Gnossienne – art and literature periodicals such as Staffrider, Snarl, Pumflet, Chimurenga’s The Chronic, Toilet Paper and more. Looking to A4 Library’s archive of books and ephemera, she hopes to expand her conception of the potential of the zine/journal.

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The Library residency offers practitioners time and space to pursue their particular research queries and interests, working in and among our expansive collection of publications and miscellaneous printed matter. Residents have access to all our books and ephemera, the collaborative assistance of Daniel Malan in the role of librarian, and the support of the curatorial team over a two-week period. A4 is interested in sharing modes of research and investigation with our community, exploring ways of showing practitioners' process. We encourage residents to ‘think out loud’ via marginalia, recording their meanderings through books, essays, excerpts, and images, making the often opaque work of research visible. Towards the residency's end, practitioners are invited to develop a small programming component or engagement with the library's users and invited guests.