ACROBAT READER
The Library of Babel
What does it mean to be an acrobat reader? Is it being so involved in the narrative you have to finish the story immediately? Is it the way you hold the book and explore the pages? Or is it a book that forces you to witness from every angle? In this project I will explore the story of The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges an Argentine writer in the 20th century. I chose this story as the vivid visualisations were intriguing, the constant repetition of shape and the idea of infinity was something that really drew me in and caused an instant reaction of mapping.
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The brief is to create three books from the chosen text, one with words, one with words and image and one with image alone.
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The hexagonal shape became an obsession to want to capture much like the narrators search for knowledge and truth. I also had an obsession with wanting one book to be a spectacle, a dynamic shape which would need constant movement by the reader. Circular binding was my main exploration resulting in an elegant book with a never ending line of text telling the story. However it is eternal (like the library) as it has no fixed beginning or end.
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The second book focused on different view points of the library. Information of the library was handed to an interviewee as they scribbled what they thought it looked like. I them redesigned the results and created the wordless book. The final book is a line of text showing the narrators twists and turns in the library and his life long search for a godhead.
2017
