When you think about it, dust jackets are pretty absurd. What purpose does it serve, except to cover up what’s important in a book? A dust jacket, the plastic sleeve that covers the book, isn’t even meant to protect the book itself, but to cover the cover, which covers up the book.

“In the vintage book world a lot of the value is based on what the condition the dust jacket is in,” said Joel P West, a 24-year-old high school graphic design teacher from San Diego, Calif. and graduate of Point Loma, who also happens to make really good music. “If the dust jacket is well-intact, then the book is more valuable,” he continued. “Then what people do is put a plastic sleeve on that protects the dust jacket, which is made to protect the book … which you never see.”

These are the things West thinks about. Maybe it is the reason why he is breaking the musician mold and challenging the makeup of the music industry.

West is not your typical musician. Content with his teaching career and happy to make music on the side, despite his insatiable ability to create vulnerable and passionate songs, West views himself as just another guy who plays guitar.

“I think we are all made to create things,” he said. “I don’t think everybody needs to necessarily write or paint, or do things formally in art. But I think we are created to make things, rearrange things, color things … whatever.”

“Dust Jacket” is West’s most recent creation. A full-length record of songs he created over the summer, “Dust Jacket” features West’s vulnerable songwriting at its finest.

But the project is unique because it challenges the structure of music making and distribution and encourages people to rethink the boundaries of the creative world.

“I think it devalues (art) to place people as either artists or not artists,” said West. “For artists to have a scale of whether or not their stuff has value depending on whether or not people have paid for it … I think that screws up the whole system.”

So, instead of having people pay money, The “Dust Jacket Project” requires anyone who wishes to receive West’s new record to submit some form of their own art. People have sent photographs, poems, stories, and songs of their own. Any piece of art created by the individual gets them West’s new record, for free. West started the project in mid-September and has received almost 500 submissions in its 2 1/2-month existence.

“The whole idea of the project is anonymous,” he said, explaining that he wanted to give people the opportunity to use art to share things in an honest way.

“The reason I have kept it anonymous is for both sides of the spectrum,” he continued. “One side because people wouldn’t want to do it if they saw their name … but even more so, it’s for preventing people from exploiting exactly what I’m speaking against.”

West explained that people will often ask to have their work linked to a personal Web site. To West, this defeats the purpose of the project. He won’t send his record to submitters until he explains that their work will be posted unsigned. After the explanation, all artists have agreed, and West is yet to turn anything away.
With “Dust Jacket,” West succeeds in drawing attention to the absurdity of artistic classification. He hopes he can inspire everyone to more honestly approach the creative world, and realize their ability to create, whether or not they consider themselves an “artist.”

“Honesty is contagious,” he said. “It spreads appreciation for what we have and encourages confidence in our unique attributes. Perfection is not found in flawlessness, but rather in the collection of honest people who each bring unique experiences and perspectives into the whole.”

West hopes that “Dust Jacket” allows people who would otherwise not share their art, to do so. In so doing, West believes more creators will genuinely appreciate other people’s creations.

“When somebody is willing to see things as they really exist, particularly when one is honest with themselves, they leave the limits of their expectations and start seeing the beauty of fullness,” said West’s explanation of “Dust Jacket” on his Web site.

The “Dust Jacket Project” is an innovative and intelligent attempt to break people out of their musical boxes, from a freethinking, 24-year-old high school teacher who happens to write really good songs. Even though West has no plans to take his music full-time and is content to create when he sees fit, it’s safe to say that if he ever makes the move, he will be sure to mix things up in the music industry.

With his reconstructive mind and poignant music, West is a voice more people should hear, with a message more people should believe.

For more information about the Dust Jacket project visit Dust Jacket Project Site, Myspace, or Joel P West Site