Humanity’s history of mapping the cosmos is as long as our margin of error in explaining the universe is wide. We have been wrong about so much so often and so staunchly stubborn in admitting our errors. But we have also produced works of immeasurable beauty in giving form to our awe, however rooted in illusion, and continue to dwell in awe as we struggle to reconcile conflicting explanations and pursue the truth of our origins.
In A Graphic Cosmogony (public library), twenty-four of today’s most celebrated illustrators and graphic artists each take seven pages to tell their version of the story of the universe’s origin and how our world came to be. There are unusual takes on traditional creation myths like The Book of Genesis (who needs Adam’s biologically suspect rib when there is Eve’s true-to-life vagina?), imaginative homages to evolution, gorgeous interpretations of Japanese folktales, and all kinds of fanciful alternative mythologies that fuse the playful with the profound.
by Maria Popova
This book is absolutely curious, fascinating and inspiring. Some of the artists tell the story based on myths or religious stories. Some of them just made up the story of creation, ignoring the previous versions. Some of the comics have dialogues, while some of them only have images. The audiences have to use their eyes to catch the information and imagination to understand the comics. It is a lot of fun to me. I think just because I could not fully understand, or I am not sure if I am right, these comics are so attractive to me. I wonder how this may help my work.
Apart from the stories, I love the colours and graphic elements as well, Luna in particular. From the start to the end, the story of Luna goes through full of hope and wonder to sadness, then end in peace. As I am not going to create realistic landscapes, maybe I can add some graphic and geometric elements to my ceramic.
The following story shares similar idea with mine. In my imagination, the universes are like the Russian Dolls, one covering the other. Somebody's world is another's petri dish.
This book allows me to understand how other artists' imagination about cosmogony. Comic is something that I grew up with, which consists part of me, influencing the way I think. I began to think instead of text description, perhaps a comic put beside my work can help me express my idea during the show. I am planning to draw one and see how it goes.
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