Georgia Retyped, Tim Youd’s exhibition at the Atlanta Contemporary is part of the artist’s 10-year project of retyping 100 novels. Youd had typed 81 novels by the time the exhibition opened. During the first two weeks of the current exhibition, Youd retyped Tayari Jones’ An American Marriage in the gallery on three typewriters: a Smith-Corona Silent, a Smith-Corona Flat Top and a Smith-Corona Silent Super, bringing his count to 82 novels retyped.
Youd retypes the entirety of his source texts on a single sheet of paper backed with another sheet. Going over the same sheets repeatedly creates a minimalist blackened rectangle on the top sheet, whose partner is the embossed relief that records the pressure of the keys on the second page.
Youd retypes books in geographic locations related to them, sometimes at historic authors’ homes. The works at the Atlanta Contemporary are related to the South: The retyped novels (and one screenplay) are by Carson McCullers, James Dickey and Flannery O’Connor. Youd retypes the books using the same make and model of typewriter that the author used. By retyping An American Marriage in the gallery, Youd is connecting to a living Atlanta writer (Jones grew up in Cascade Heights, graduated from Spelman College and currently teaches at Emory University). Jones used three different Smith Corona typewriters to write her novel, each typewriter having a different voice, and Youd is following suit.
