A RECONSTRUCTED UNIVERSE

I created an pop-up representation of Jorge Luis Borges’ The Library of Babel (1941).

BREIF SUMMARY OF THE THE LIBRARY OF BABEL

The Library of Babel is a fictional universe conceived as a vast library of interwoven hexagonal rooms. Each room contains the bare necessities for sustaining life and four walls of bookshelves. The contents of these books are believed to contain every permutation of 23 characters. Most of the books are gibberish, but occasionally a word, sentence, or even page of coherent text can be found. In this all too precarious existence, the inhabitants of the universe assign meaning to the chaotic order that surrounds them. Some are driven mad, believing that one book exists that provides the master key to the entire library, a voice of god. The story is testament to the dubious human experience and efforts to find our purpose.

HOLES IN THE PERMUTATIONS

The first page and cover illustration plays with finding meaning within a coded universe. The letters are indecipherable until the viewer pulls the tab right, revealing the hidden title and question “You who read me. Are you sure of understanding my language?”

By this art you may contemplate the variations of the 23 letters…

“In truth, the Library includes all verbal structures, all variations permitted by the twenty-five orthographical symbols, but not a single example of absolute nonsense. ….These phrases, at first glance incoherent, can no doubt be justified in a cryptographical or allegorical manner….No one can articulate a syllable which is not filled with tenderness and fear, which is not, in one of these languages, the powerful name of a god. (An n number of possible languages use the same vocabulary; in some of them, the symbol library allows the correct definition a ubiquitous and lasting system of hexagonal galleries, but library is bread or pyramid or anything else, and these seven words which define it have another value. You who read me, are You sure of understanding my language?)”

THE INFINITE BEEHIVE

The centerfold opens and expands to a hexagonal lattice, recreating the fabric of the universe.

 The Library is a sphere whose exact center is any one of its hexagons and whose circumference is inaccessible.

Illustrated Text:

“The Universe (which others call the Library) is composed of an indefinite and perhaps infinite number of hexagonal galleries, with vast air shafts between, surrounded by very low railings. From any of the hexagons one can see, interminably, the upper and lower floors. The distribution of the galleries is invariable. Twenty shelves, five long shelves per side, cover all the sides except two; their height, which is the distance from floor to ceiling, scarcely exceeds that of a normal bookcase. One of the free sides leads to a narrow hallway which opens onto another gallery, identical to the first and to all the rest. To the left and right of the hallway there are two very small closets. In the first, one may sleep standing up; in the other, satisfy one’s fecal necessities. Also through here passes a spiral stairway, which sinks abysmally and soars upwards to remote distances. In the hallway there is a mirror which faithfully duplicates all appearances. Men usually infer from this mirror that the Library is not infinite (if it were, why this illusory duplication?); I prefer to dream that its polished surfaces represent and promise the infinite … Light is provided by some spherical fruit which bear the name of lamps. There are two, transversally placed, in each hexagon. The light they emit is insufficient, incessant.

Like all men of the Library, I have traveled in my youth; I have wandered in search of a book, perhaps the catalogue of catalogues; now that my eyes can hardly decipher what I write, I am preparing to die just a few leagues from the hexagon in which I was born. Once I am dead, there will be no lack of pious hands to throw me over the railing; my grave will be the fathomless air; my body will sink endlessly and decay and dissolve in the wind generated by the fall, which is infinite. I say that the Library is unending. The idealists argue that the hexagonal rooms are a necessary from of absolute space or, at least, of our intuition of space. They reason that a triangular or pentagonal room is inconceivable. (The mystics claim that their ecstasy reveals to them a circular chamber containing a great circular book, whose spine is continuous and which follows the complete circle of the walls; but their testimony is suspect; their words, obscure. This cyclical book is God.) Let it suffice now for me to repeat the classic dictum: The Library is a sphere whose exact center is any one of its hexagons and whose circumference is inaccessible”

THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

I found a site that takes to heart Borges’ imaginary universe and strives to re-create the VIRTUAL LIBRARY online. I recommend excavating the library after reading the short story.

Jorge Luis Borges is one of my favorite authors, for his blend of philosophy, science and imagination. If you would like to check out more of his writing, I highly recommend Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges. 

“It’s there when we wake up and slips away when we fall asleep, maybe to reappear in our dreams. It’s that feeling we have of being anchored in a body we own and control and perceive the world from within. It’s the feeling of personal identity that stretches across time, from our first memories, via the here and now, to some imagined future. It’s all of these tied into a coherent whole. It’s our sense of self.” (Am I The Same Person I Was Yesterday? New Scientist, 2011, pp 41-42).

THE NEW SELF

“Am I The Same Person I Was Yesterday?” asks the NewScientist in a thought provoking article in the Existential Issue discussing identity.  It is difficult to prove what the self is, where it is, and whether it is valid entity or a mere mirage. The self is described like a ghostly ameba that is everywhere (activating all spots of the brain) but cannot be found or corned in a room. It operates like a magician, “pulling the wool over our eyes,” by giving us the appearance of consistency but in truth, is always changing with our body and mind.

The New Scientist is an international magazine focused on the philosophical and technical implications of science and technology. ‘Am I the Same Person I was Yesterday‘ in the Existential Issue, explores the theme of self and its construction.

Although difficult to pin down, the self can be described as an entity constructed by the brain and processed in three interlocking parts:

1. The Physical Self: The sense of being located in a distinct body, in a distinct place.
2. The Psychological Self: The ability to differentiate between self and others, arising from personal experience and the autobiographical perspective formed in memory.
3. The Agent:  The feeling of being in charge and initiating actions. The liaison between the physical self and the psychological self.

The project that follows, tackles the conundrum of the self, the beheld trinity, and calls into question its solidarity in changing times. 

Notes from the article and early illustrations exploring the concept of self

DESIGN INFLUENCE

Designers research and imitate notable specialists in their field to expand their creative knowledge. This project was intended to develop my skills using a notable specialist as inspiration for my own work. I was asked to create an illustration that speaks in the language of a designer, but ultimately uses my voice.

THE COMPLEXITY OF SIMPLICITY

My design influence for this project was Max Kisman, a notable graphic innovator celebrated for his early computer generated typefaces and illustrations. I thought he would be fond of this article and it would be an interesting subject to try to tackle in his terms.

Max believes that design speaks clearest when simplified. He uses graphic symbolism and iconography to narrate complex issues in the world of politics and technology. Limiting himself to only a few colors and working within a two dimensional box, forces his work to be intentional and integrated. These tight compositions are offset by an iconic, crude style, featuring figures reduced to blocky forms cut out like paper dolls. His illustrations are simple yet dense, playful and poetic, and carefully intertwined compositions balancing opposites with concise precision.

ILLUSTRATION PROCESS

This was an interesting venture for me as Kisman and I have different artistic leanings. Kisman is more direct, limited, and his figures are cruder then mine. My work is more subtle, organic, and my images more visually dense. However, we both enjoy the process of weaving forms, playing with positive and negative space, and view image making like a puzzle, searching for the optimal, most connected composition.

Initial Studies of Kisman. Observing his style. Looking at how to combine and overlap images, exploring the theme of self in the New Scientist article.

REDUCE, REVIEW, REPEAT

Reducing forms to express complex ideas is more difficult than is appears. You can create complex images by manipulating and artfully overlapping visuals, creating a generalized form that describes more than one object visually. However, as forms are reduced, they become less definable and more open to interpretation. It can be difficult to control how an abstract form is seen.

When I showed my initial studies to peers, I discovered that my abstracted forms were often misinterpreted, confused or masked by unintended figures. In the beginning I was told my illustration looked like a hedgehog, later, I was told it looked like a fish with side burns. It was not until I showed my illustration to others that I became aware of some of these secondary distractions.

I found I regularly needed to ask others what they saw to objectively ‘see’ my illustration. In the beginning, I attempted to describe too much in a given image, resulting in at least one subject not being seen and others being compromised. About halfway through my development, I attempted to represent a clock and three heads in one circle, but was unable to find a suitable balance. The clock was never decipherable. I instead decided to depict a pendulum with the figures hands for the concept of time.

It was a struggle deciding which information was most important, what elements needed to be reduced or removed so the entire illustration could read better, while maintaining integrity with my conceptual goals and designer’s aesthetic.

Illustration Process. 1. Outlining Kisman’s images and playing around with form. Limited to three colors, exploring positive and negative space, weaving and reducing the image.

Final Illustration

THE THREE STRANDED SELF

Using the voice of notable graphic innovator, Max Kisman, the self formulates as a carefully intertwined balance of opposites. The red presents the calculated, agent mind. The white symbolizes the esoteric. The two come together to form a third body, facing forward. Its face confronts the viewer and challenges the concept of its own reality with one eye open and one eye shut. Its head hovers over the body as the container and categorizer of memories. Below, a pendulum swinging from white hands, questioning the consistency, time, and solidarity of its being. The eye of the self searches without rest, as it occupies everywhere and nowhere in lack of true definition within the form.

Illustration placed in article

REACTION

My illustration transformed quite a bit during this process. I feel my ultimate illustration did justice to the article, to Max Kisman’s style, and to my own artistic goals. Although the forms are more rounded than my influencer’s and include a frontal face (which he rarely depicts), my illustration could easily be mistaken as my influencer’s work. The result is thought provoking, playful and inviting. It was a fun exercise to get me out of my box and gave me an opportunity to look at my own self.  

THE ART OF TYPE

Typography, the style, appearance, and arrangement of printed matter, can be likened to body language for the written word. In regards to communication, it is reported that only 7% of the message comes from the literal word. About 38% comes from tone and 55% from body language. How does this translate to the visual representation of words? Typography not only establishes the figure of the word, but helps create the mood, as well as cadence of conversation. This project tests the limits of typography by rendering the message via form alone.

CHALLENGE

Express the definition of the word using only typography.

DEFINITION 

pro-pin-qui-ty // n. 1. Proximity; nearness. 2. Kinship. 3. Similarity in nature.

PROPINQUITY is the state of being close to someone or something. It can mean physical proximity, the psychological kinship between people, or a similarity in nature between things. In social psychology, the propinquity effect is a leading factor in interpersonal attraction, describing the tendency for people to form bonds with those whom they encounter often, as well as share and reflect characteristics (as in like-attract-like).

PROCESS

1. I researched existing fonts on the web that articulated the definition of closeness and could be used for inspiration.

2. I manipulated these fonts by stretching, playing with kerning, baseline, and form to make them my own.

(These early experiments I felt didn’t quite get to the essence of the definition and were limiting in form and layout).

3. I went back to the drawing board. With pencil and paper I was more effective at altering and playing with layout options.

I began by dissecting each letters into its component, geometric forms (circle, lines, U’s, diagonals, etc.), observing the rhythm of the word. I played with the concept ‘like-attract-like’, and connected letters with similar features such as those with tails (p-p-q-y) and those with bowls (p, o, p, q). With each iteration I looked for ways to condense the word. I began wrapping the word around itself, as if each letter was a magnet pulling on its neighbor.

Using a rectangle base, I squeezed the letters inside, using the same visual language of straight lines to create each form. After flipping a couple of letters (‘p’ and ‘q’), joining the tilde on the ‘i’s, and defining the ‘y’ with the tail of the ‘t’, I was able to create a word that almost perfectly mirrored itself across the vertical axes. I then outlined the letters, defining the letters in the negative and bonding each letter to its adjacent. In the final product, each letter touches and defines its neighbor, creating a perfectly bonded word with not a breath of space, perfectly expressing propinquity.

A SURPRISING TWIST

As first glance, the word appears as an indecipherable maze, with no goal or coherent path. With determination, the viewer adjusts his perspective. A letter peaks at him, defined within the outline. Slowly the word emerges from the negative, the viewer forms a kinship with the shape, unable to separate from this newly defined image. 

AWARDS & RECOGNITION 

Propinquity was selected by international jury as one of the top 25 graphic design pieces of 2013. It was featured in  Creative Quarterly Issue 29, and Creative Quarterly 100 Best Annual 2013 (featuring the top 100 artists, designers and photographers of 2013).

Creative Quarterly 100 Best Annual 2013

Creative Quarterly Issue 29

“I NEVER WANT TO BE LEFT IN A ROOM WITH A MONKEY”

In case you were wondering, the project that was chosen over Sensitive Sniffles was a portrait of an ape-like monster. In the same nonsensical evening Sami found her nose watering, she admitted to me a fear, that she never wanted to be left in a room with a monkey. And like before I was on the floor laughing. (That said, monkeys are strong, erratic animals, so the fear was valid however amusing.) The absurdity and realism of the experience produced the creature that followed.

MONKEY PLAYS JOKER

Monkeys, although adorable, are a crude version of ourselves. Smart and powerful, they pose a threat to our own security both physically and symbolically. They are caricatures of men, representing our most despised traits. They are the jokers and the politicians. They have demeaned an entire race. Yet, they still have a foot in  idealized nature, in a purity we often feel detached from. This concept of the monkey as a phantom of ourselves, the animal inside we can’t escape is where I found twisted humor in Sami’s comment.

RENDERING

Preliminary studies of horrified apes

Creating the face: A composite of layered blind contour images

Charcoal drawing and oil paint on gessoed masonite, 18″ x  24″. 2011

THE MONSTER

The drawing is designed to be disorienting, in your face, comical but frightening. The colors are bombastic, clown-like, broken and compartmentalized. The piece is tight and feels a bit claustrophobic. There is an underlying tension created in balanced opposites. The face is both abstract and illusionistic, shallow and deep, geometric and organic. Within the chaos a fractured image of a phantom emerges.

ONCE THE BUDDHA WAS A MONKEY HAS BEEN FEATURED IN:

Creative Quarterly 100 Best Annual 2013

Selected by international jury as one of the top 25 Fine Art  pieces of the year, featured in Creative Quarterly’s 100 Best Annual, honoring the top 100 artists, designers and photographers of 2013.

Creative Quarterly Issue 29

MSU Exponent, Featured Student Artist. April 4, 2013

Vox Populi 2012 (M.S.U. annual juried exhibition) *Received an Honorable Mention