This small book is the first in a dialogue I began many years ago with the poet closest to me, Osip Mandelstam.
His "Conversation about Dante" begins with the best definition of poetry imaginable—one played out through the instrumental means of language and emerging only in the moment of reading and experiencing.
This passage of explosive, rhythmic prose is poetry in itself—and I present it as poetry.
Parallel to Mandelstam's is my text, a second voice, branching out and complementing what the first sings.
Along with the text-as-text, the book contains text-as-pictures—visual poetry in its purest form, playing parallel to the words, interweaving with them right in the middle of a phrase.
In this book, three typographic portraits come into play for the first time: Mandelstam's Prose, Mandelstam's Life, and, to some extent, Mandelstam's Poems.
These fonts are precisely portraits of OM. "To overcome innate awkwardness with innate rhythm." "Look how my jacket bulges." "My dandy, I'll throw back my head"—from restlessness and apathy to lofty order and solemn seriousness—all this is in the letters, if you look closely.
I'll venture to say that no one but me could have created such a book, good or bad.
To do this, you need to be equally proficient in book form, easily create illustrations in a wide variety of, sometimes unexpected, techniques, freely construct any font, be versed in visual poetry, and, finally, be an experienced storyteller.
Why the small format
This is not a picture album or an "artist's book." It's a book for reading. Therefore, it is made comfortable for the hand and the eye. It is important to me that the reader-viewer-reader focuses on the meanings, metaphors, and movements, and not on the quality of the paper or the tricks of the printing. Paper and print are the best I have, out of respect for the subject matter.
Why mailing lists
I would very much like subscribers to receive envelopes containing the book by mail. The Alcools book-newspaper mailing list (https://yurigordon.livejournal.com/tag/alcools) is an experience of a very special communication established between the author and each subscriber. Many recipients of the Apollinaire project have become my friends, and not just online.
Where to watch the full book
On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUfHeq2BM4&t=4s
In a detailed page-by-page analysis, I reveal all the secrets of this book.
Except for one, which only subscribers will know.
I'm looking for interlocutors for a complex, lengthy conversation about the interactions of words, symbols, meanings, and gestures.
Join us.
The book was published on December 19, 2017.
PS. One of the illustrations has eight variations. They are shown in the preview.
Each subscriber can choose which one appears in their copy. To order a specific image, please email.
