Persons of Note - Memory Palace by Hari Kunzru, Missed Opportunity

Memory Palace got recommended in my first tutorial for persons of note, and I took it out of the library right away. I did read through it briefly, but at that time I was in the very beginning stages of my responses to this brief, and I feel like I perhaps didn't invest enough time into looking at other work. I was more looking into Jarry's writings and ideas and trying to process them myself in order to make sense of them and give my own interpretation, and in doing so I missed an opportunity to be inspired by some very exciting work.

The actual book didn't really excite me that much, but maybe I just didn't give it enough time. HOWEVER, flicking through again today I discovered the section at the very back, which was Illustrator Robert Hunter's portrayal of the project behind the book, in the form of a wordless graphic novel. And I was instantly intrigued.

I am so inspired by the sequencing and layout of this book. Stories are weaved in interesting ways, using symmetry with the frames and shapes used. The different shaped frames are also used to tell a different part of the story, to have a slightly different angle within the same context. 

The black and white aesthetic is immediately striking, the strong black shapes and forms along with more detailed textured areas. There are also little hints at diagrams and scientific drawings linking different parts together; strong lines and shapes. These are not confined by the frames either, they spill out and morph into other frames and images and timeframes. All are really interesting ways to tell a story without words.

I feel like in this project I could have employed more of a balance and relationship between scientific drawings, shapes and also more figurative images. I could have weaved a story (or at least roughed and tried to) using similar techniques. But then maybe it didn't need anything figurative and my diagrams were enough...