Narrative Books
Mixed Media including: Yarn, Thread, Soil, Salt, Wood, Paper, Transparency, Ribbon
Using the source poem “I Am Vertical,” authored by Sylvia Plath, narrative books were each developed with different objectives in mind as methods of visual communication. By deconstructing the text into word lists, underlying narratives of despair and nature were revealed, which manifested across multiple solutions to mirror the source text. The focus of the book development conceptually centered around Plath’s thoughts of despair and the natural world. Each emphasizes her unraveling, though typography development: from using text constructed of substances of the earth, to hand sewn, frayed thread. It was integral to ensure each of the narratives had a natural or organic quality, to further emphasize the poem and Plath’s desire to “be one with the earth.”
Below are the featured executions of the five narrative books.
Create a New Story
Using words from the poem, a new narrative was composed mirroring a literal “unraveling.” Enhancing the typographic message, the embroidery sewn remains frayed reflecting Sylvia’s unstable state throughout her life.
Tell the Story without Text
Jacob’s Ladder has many different meanings, ultimately depicting the ups and downs of life in a literal and figurative sense. Given this format, wrapped up in a child’s toy of the same name creates quite the juxtaposition of imagery. Using gravity, the book itself “flips” using gravity. The form matches much of the duality of Plath’s story and the metaphor for life and death.
Tell the Story with Text Only
The use of organic materials for this part of the project was a result of the examination of Plath’s writing. In the source text, she emphasizes the “soft brown earth,” so it was compelling to literally utilize soil as a storytelling vehicle. The statement composed with both salt and soil, both organic materials, emphasize a visual that mirrors the written words.
Tell the Story from a New Point of View
An underlying component of language is that we interpret the narratives in a linear fashion. Plath’s narratives are many emotions and feelings she experiences: mad, sad, happy. In this narrative book, the idea of being able to layer the different visuals upon one another. Emotions are experiences through a spectrum and have a variable nature to them. This book will not be bound by creating sequence, but rather layered to combine into a single image that the viewer initiates.
Give Context Through Place
The goal of this iteration of the narrative was to utilize context to add to the narrative. The word “disappear” was created in the same color knit yarn and added to a garment. The garment was then placed in a closet; a place that feels very intimate as a collection of personal belongings.
