Ektopia

The first thing I should say is that Dialogue - The Fine Art Of Conversation, compiled by Mark Murphy and published by Murphy Design, is that it’s just about the best, and most surprisingly enjoyable, books that I’ve ever read. Strong words I know, but heart felt and honest.

So, what’s the big deal? Well, regular visitors here may, or may not, have worked out that, over the last couple of years, I’ve become increasingly interested in art. It all started with character design, then a rekindled love for graffiti, then illustration and even some fine art. However, I’ve never claimed to understand it all, I love most of it on a superficial level, how it looks, and that’s normally just fine for me. Sure, I get some of it and sometimes I’m genuinely moved my some art but I lack the kind of vocabulary to describe it and sometimes the imagination to work out what the pieces actually mean. I understand that you don’t have to understand paintings to enjoy them but understanding them augments the pleasure that I get from them.

That’s what I love so much about Dialogue. Here’s a book that invites 65 artists to take some kind of found or cherished note and create a painting based on it. It’s all about the relationship between the lost art of letter writing and visual story telling. Each of the artists include the found artifact as well as some form of introduction to their actual painting. Sometimes these are quite abstract, some are simply explanations to accompany the paintings and others are very enlightening, open and genuinely moving.

There are too many to discuss in detail but it’s worth mentioning Bob Dob’s piece. I mentioned his work a few months back and said, “Each and every picture just leaves you wanting to know the story behind the unique characters.” Well at least I know about ‘Punk Rock Blues‘ now. A simple rejection letter written from Fat Mike from Fat Records! Brilliant. Headcase Design’s ‘The Properties Of Chromosome 16,’ is also great. Completely different in reasoning as well as style. It’s a superb piece of information art based on a spam email about KFC’s Chickens! Dan Page’s painting, called Heatbreaker Red, also has to get a mention. It’s based on a ‘Dear John’ letter from Red to Blue…she’s left him for Yellow!

Sometimes it’s nice to be spoon-fed new tastes, it can make things more palatable. I know that there are many of the pictures that I may have just glossed over in this book if it were not for the introduction given by the individual artists. Some of these intros are so personal that you could easily feel voyeuristic if you hadn’t already been made to feel so welcome. In fact, you kind of feel honoured to be sharing some of these stories - letters from parents, friends and even strangers that were never really meant for public viewing.

Dialogue has not only been an enjoyable read but also a kind of teaching guide for me. It’s taught me that there are stories in every painting and that each one is worth looking at a much deeper level before writing them off. It’s made me appreciate fine art to a higher degree and to broaden my horizons as an art lover. I’ll also accept that sometimes I don’t understand paintings but that it doesn’t mean that I should give up on them. For instance, Sarajo Freiden based her painting on a doodle that her late father had done while on the phone to her during one of her travelling adventures. Now, this is the point for me, here’s a painting that on the surface I may have ignored. Now here I am with the page open and looking at it in wonder! Maybe it’s the wrong way to look at a painting but it’s worked for me. Maybe I’m missing the point of the book. I hope not because I love it so much. However, if I am I may be able to enjoy it on a whole new level in the future, who knows.

This hard bound, archival book volume weighs in at 318 Pages, it’s Smythe Sewn and features over 65 original paintings and 65 found letters “representing today’s most imaginative, visual story-tellers of today.” Get your copy direct from Murphy Design.