Letters of E.B. White attempts to embody the confusing and often times frustrating effects of memory-based disease through visual and linguistic systems of degradation. It does this by creating a reading experience that degrades over time, forcing the user to engage with the publication in a much more sensitive and considered way. It ultimately aims to create a reading experience that visually represents memory loss in a way that is nuanced, restrained and empathetic. I have used White's letters and photographs as the foundation of my work, as he had passed away from a memory-based illness. The letters and photographs within the publication can be seen as containers of White’s memories, and serve as a meaningful foundation to explore the onset of his disease.
Letters of E.B. White was born out of my frustrations surrounding current depictions of memory loss, as they generally relied on an aesthetic trope I have defined as the ‘fade’, where objects or people are depicted in a transitory state between opaque and transparent. Although these forms of communication are valid and effectively illustrate memory loss, they do not engage on an empathetic level and utilise the potential of visual communication as an emotive tool. Rather, these forms of communication rely on commonly used visual motifs that only engage at a surface-level, and offer no actual insight into those experiencing these diseases. This work offered an alternative approach that used empathetic and experiential methods to communicate these concerns visually and in a way that ultimately offered a richer and more nuanced understanding of memory within the context of memory-based disease.As an educational tool, Letters of E.B. White aims to raise awareness of memory-based diseases and its effects on language and perception by allowing the reader to experience its symptoms within the form of a publication.
Initial Experimentation
Some initial experiments around experimental screen printing.
Photographing experiments around manipulating typography and photography through water.
Photographing experiments around submerging and erasing imagery and typography.
