CROSSROADS
When I decided to make a book on crossroads, I resolved on basing my selection of texts on the essence of crossroads derived from two sources.
First, the word's definition as found in the dictionary:
1 an intersection of two or more roads
2 a point at which a crucial decision must be made.
Second, folk culture and mythology:
Here, crossroads represent a liminality, a place literally 'neither here nor there'.
Thus, a site where paranormal events and appearances can take place.
This book discovers six different intersections at the National Garden of Greece, where different protagonists of literature, music, theater, mythology and history appear; each one at a crossroads of their own (metaphorically, literally or both).
Those protagonists and the elements of their story, eventually create an ecosystem, a sort of timeless parallel universe in the National Garden of Greece, that one enters through the book.
The edition comes with bookmakers and a special diary, in which the holder can document the crossroads of his own life.
Chapter I, The people
Estragon and Vladimir stand beside a tree, eternally deciding that they should go but never actually moving.
Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett
Chapter II, The cat
Alice asks the Chesire Cat which road she should take, without going anywhere specific.
Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carrol
Chapter III, The music
Robert Johnson makes a deal with the devil at a crossroads to master the blues guitar
Crossroads, Robert Johnson
Chapter IV, The road
Jack Kerouac finds him self at the crossroads his journey begun
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Chapter V, The spell
An ancient Greek spell is pronounced at a crossroads
Chapter VI, The end
The Button Moulder comes to collect Peer Gynt's soul. After Peer asks him for a second chance, he instructs him to meet him at the next crossroads
Peer Gynt, Henrik Ibsen
Design
Although the texts I chose are relevant to crossroads in one way or another, I wanted to visualise the theme of crossroads as a liminality, where paranormal appearances can take place. That is the conceptual vehicle which allows the protagonists to appear at certain crossroads in the National Garden.
To that end, I chose transparent paper for my illustration, so that the readers witness both the actual crossroads and their transformation to the location (the locus) of each text.
The illustrations themselves have symbolic characteristics
and the photos are in black and white, in order to create an atmosphere of mystery. One can notice certain references, like the themes of Magritte, which aim to further combine elements of the art world, that all meet at the crossroads of the National Garden.
and the photos are in black and white, in order to create an atmosphere of mystery. One can notice certain references, like the themes of Magritte, which aim to further combine elements of the art world, that all meet at the crossroads of the National Garden.
THANK YOU
