MYST ICVI LLE
There is a town near upstate Pennsylvania that if you imagine looks a lot like any New England town. But this place might as well be another place in the universe. The pride of this small town is Main Street with the Monumental Library, Corner Drugstore with it’s delicious fountain drinks, tree-lined street with park benches for people watching, water fountain in a turn-a-bout and even those quaint little clothing stores. One day seeking a new adventure you decide to take a ride on your bike. As you start this bike ride you go beyond Mysticville’s beautiful Main Street passing Glenda the librarian on the way out who waves, “Good Luck!” Other friends wave and you roll out of town including your best friend Molly in the Coffee Shops-A-Lot at the end of town. You start to grow nervous as you embark on your journey. The wind starts to pick up as the road beneath you narrows slightly. You still feel the pavement radiating summer heat and you continue on your ride. You have never really traveled far from home before so your anxiety is peeked. You pass the last church on the way out of town with it’s ancient tombstones of the towns founders and your ancessters.
You notice street signs have disappeared as you are out in the country now. You admire the rolling grasses in the distance and wildflowers by the side of the road. As you ride on passing a car you notice the road has narrowed to a point only one car can fit on the pavement. You find this very odd indeed and start to get nervous. You ride up through another town and notice the buildings, school, main street and shops take on a pinkish hue. You feel a tingling sensation down your back as tension releases and you are pleasantly surprised at your own ease of the situation. You notice people on the sidewalk and in the shop. A man kissing a woman. Children running and giggling down the sidewalk. A balloon tied to a mailbox. Something is different. You notice the children are giggling at you. Thinking nothing of it you continue on. An hour passes by quickly and you seem to have ended up where you started. You see Glenda waving at you down the street, she asks, “How did it go?” You wonder as you look her in the eye, “I’m not quiet sure.” You dismount your bike leaning it against a bench. Everything seems normal and okay. And yet things haven’t changed.
You look down to see what book Glenda is holding but you can’t make out the title. It’s backwards! You reach for a pen to sign an autograph for the parade of people that have gathered and Glenda exclaims, “I didn’t realize you were left-handed.” You’re not left handed, you’ve been right-handed your whole life! The town council convenes a meeting to discuss what might have happened to you on your journey. Others in your town vow to journey beyond Main Street and when they return strange things have occurred to them as well. The cyclists that started out left-handed are now right-handed. Another strange occurance, doctor’s discovered their hearts are on the right side of their bodies instead of the left! Each person that leaves Mysticville returns as a mirror image of themselves. Soon many more people in Mystiville make the trip past Main Street and now there is a large ratio of mirror people. It has become a phenomenon of national proportion as surgeons are beside themselves. Now couples are marrying mirror people in mixed marriages. They begin to wonder what their children will be like. What will become of Mysticville?
The theme was The future in 2022. My initial responses were typographic as where my interests lay at the time. It was only until I came across Xaviar Antin’s Just In Time project I came up with more ideas. My project “needed meat” as Can said. I have failed many attempts at projects only to readjust my design paradigm which has been a challenge and welcomed struggle. The groundwork for this project was worked and reworked at least half a dozen times. What if, I printed my book through a continuous loop on one printer? What if I split the colors and printed the book on top of itself? Seemed feasible, right? Well no, not exactly. My version is layered 4 color & black and white prints using a HP Inkjet 1310 (probably early 1990’s model) Canon Inkjet (2006), Laserprinter and Xerox machine. My method was to print several 4 color process book and manipulate the black and white books by running them through the Xerox machine many times. I’ve learned to go with zany ideas, experiment and move outside my comfort zone. This process takes quiet an adjustment to just let go and let be will be.
The Shape of Space by Diana Lowrie