Lenkiewicz - bringing all the information together

[Site Admin]

I have spent the past couple of days pondering recent activity on this site, and wondering whether there is a better way of bringing together all the information on Lenkiewicz that is on this site.

We already have a lot, but much of it is tucked away in dusty areas of the discussion forum and is perhaps not that easy to locate or browse. So, could we present it better? Could we make it easier to contribute additional facts and information?

One possibility I am currently looking at is the creation of an online 'book'. This would be a collaborative project, where all users would be able to contribute facts and information. This would bring a structure to the information available on this site. Think of it as a Wikipedia devoted solely to Lenkiewicz.

So, what do people think? Is this something worth pursuing? If so, what sections would you like to see in this book? Sections for biographical information, projects, exhibitions, stylistic information, influences, library, other?

Basically, any thoughts at all on this idea would be welcome!

If you do like the idea, I am happy to accept any plaudits, if you think it's a total non-starter, I had best point out that it originally came from Jack! 

[gbl]

I think the addition of more information would be a good idea.
Any additional facts/info on works/biography etc. would be good.

However, I think a 'wikipedia' style set-up, could be open to misinformation being added (former RL students trying to boost their profile, in particular).

PS:
On the same subject; when you click the 'about Lenkiewicz' button, then the 'Biography' and 'projects', it just leads to 'page not found'.

[Site Admin]

On the same subject; when you click the 'about Lenkiewicz' button, then the 'Biography' and 'projects', it just leads to 'page not found'.

Thanks. Now corrected.

[member555]

I fully support this idea. As pointed out, there is always a risk of abuse, but the opportunity of building such a treasure-trove should not be missed.

[member555]

First, many thanks and congratulations to Dave for starting this (and to Jack Sparrow for initiating it). Could be the best thing that's happened to lenkiewicz.org since it started. And could mean a lot for how ROL is viewed in times to come.

Thanks Dave for wanting my comments, and for considering them of sufficient interest to want them submitted here. A fairly lose collection of initial comments are collected below.

On my screen, only 60% of the width is used, there are wide blank bands on either side of the page. Any chance of adapting the site for different screen resolutions? I use 1400 x 1050 pixels.

Introduction: too early to comment.

Biography: The section entered under Biography is an excellent introduction, and is well placed there.

I think the Biography section should be much expanded. This is the obvious place to try to assemble biographical data for ROL. I envision a chronologically arranged series of sections: His ancestry; His childhood and immediate family; His school years; London years; Cornwall time; Plymouth up to Vagrancy exhibition; and then suitable portions up to his death. Interspersed with these should be travels abroad - in my view the importance of these for his artistic development (and for his personal life) has been almost completely neglected.

Other biographical data that would be interesting to have here are brief data on his children and their mothers, whether wifes or not. I am aware that some of those data may be sensitive, in which case it should not be included other than as, for example (fictional): "In 1988 Robert got a daughter with one of his companions (who wishes to remain anonymous)."

A sideline: There is so much interesting going on with regard to his descentants. I saw recently that Thais (whose full name appears to be Scarlet Thais Aurora Lenkiewicz) plays and sings  in a band called The Great Dictators. And 18 year old Isaac Lenkiewicz calls himself "Illustrator/ blahtoonist" and draws cartoons and has artistic ambitions. All this is freely available in the Internet.

Projects: This is where it gets really interesting. Either on the section itself, or through a link, the list for the Project exhibitions should be made available in their full extent (either duplicating the info elsewere on the lenkiewicz.org site or replacing it). There should be sections on when and, if known, why ROL conceived each Project, all the confusing a posteriori changes and assignments, and of course, discussions on how to interpret the meaning. Since it will be impossible for everyone to agree on the latter, a Wikipedia style editing might not work for that part, but perhaps each member could be allowed his own comments. There would hardly be more than a dozen or so, probably much fewer, not too many people are that concerned with interpreting ROL's Projects.

Those are my comments so far. I will be happy to add whatever I can to this book. It has the possibility of becoming the single best source for info on ROL anywhere. So I hope many others will contribute as well.