Duration:
3 weeks
Nov-Dec 2023
Size:
5.9” x 9.5”
Advisor:
Rachel Silverberg
Read “Sidelined” here.
View a full PDF of the book here.
I altered the primary images in the book into ASCII art and incorporated sheets of vellum as a means of literalizing language’s abstraction of reality. Both ASCII art and vellum obscure, blur, or remove the detail of the visual content at hand. The use of prong fastener binding, varied column width, and a monospace typeface further emphasizes Jelinek’s diaristic, stream-of-consciousness tone.
Elfriede Jelinek’s poem “Contempt” is incorporated into the book via an orange vellum bookmark that fits into the spaces between spread columns as a reflection of its similarly pessimistic tone to the primary text, “Sidelined.” Her more compassionate poem, “Love,” is incorporated through the tail end of the book on vellum sheets that gradually envelop the cynical voice of “Sidelined” positioned underneath.