Featured

Conversations with Alice in wonderland syndrome

Within this piece I am going to attempt to investigate the subject of Alice in wonderland syndrome, a rare disorder affecting perception. In order to do this effectively, I will first need to confront some concepts including what is perception? So that we have some sort of baseline understanding, prior to exploring what perception is like when it gets distorted. What are the different types of perception? And therefore, how AIWS(Alice in wonderland syndrome abbreviated) affects perception of the world.  

Jackson, A.E and C.A Federer. “The rabbit started violently and scurried away”, illustration from Alice’s adventures in wonderland, by Lewis Carroll.New York:Garden city publishing,n.d. From Alice’s adventures in Wonderland decoded, by David Day.

What is perception? 

Okay so what is perception? As I’m sitting here writing my perception includes temporality, my concept of time, spatiality, my concept of space and my surrounding area, and myself, my concept of my body and of all the experiences that make up my history, my imagination, my concepts, my thought processes, world view, learning, social context, role, and social status. There are two aspects here regarding the body, the mental processing of the world – how I see things – then there is the physical and sensory perception of the world, that includes my experiences within my body and through my body. 

 
Philosophers have been attempting to distinguish between the mind and body dualism for hundreds of years. The problem with perception is it is indivisible from the concept of self. Whilst many scientists and philosophers have tried to objectify the nature of perception, it is truly impossible to exclude all of the factors, or the multifarious variables that create the individuals experience of the world. 

Ralph Steadman, illustrator Alice’s adventures in Wonderland from the 150th anniversary edition of The Annotated Alice, Lewis Carroll. Edited by Martin Gardener, expanded and updated by Mark Burstein.

 
Upon reading The phenomenology of Perception by Merleau Ponty, Ponty attempts to explain that the empiricists view, a concrete objective or factual interpretation on perception was not enough, as it by passed all Human experience. As many of the sciences tried to objectify this concept; it would leave a shell-like representation of perception devoid of any meaningful relationships to being human. Whilst there is great need to clarify and simplify something as complex as perception, reductionism in a empiricists sense or world view, just leaves us with a too watered-down concept that bares no relationship to reality.  

 
Merleau Ponty combined the study of phenomenology with Psychology, philosophy and case studies of lived experience and attempted to highlight the specifics of perception through these means. So how is perception different from anything else? I saw a video about why writing is so difficult today (1.Link below), I think the analogy used within that video is pertinent here. In effective writing, many writers explore the idea that there are 2 separate people involved in that process. One is the hippy like, arty farty, creative person, full of inspiration and love with a fascination of the world (System 1). The other is like a miserable middle manager, asking what’s the point of everything? and what are you doing? Basically, functioning as the inner editor (System 2). I think our perception of the world is akin to system 1, our unconscious and tacit understanding of the world through our sensory experiences. Consciousness, I believe, is the part of ourselves that is self-aware or system 2, that middle management editor. 

Perception is a highly complicated subject that has only had minimal studies in the past, it’s still not that well understood. Often the easiest method to study something is when it goes wrong i.e. when people have a stroke, head injury, encephalitis, epilepsy or other health ailments that affect perception. 

Two of the health ailments associated with perception, I have a particular interest in are often linked 1) being; Alice in wonderland syndrome and 2) Being; Migraines. It has been suggested that Lewis Carroll may have suffered with both, which makes for interesting conjecture for whether Alice’s experiences in wonderland, where based on his own perceptual experiences? 

Migraines 

So, let’s explore Migraines first, how they work and what can happen. Interestingly in an article I was reading the other day, Migraines used to be considered a type of seizure back in Victorian times, which I never realised before(2 Link below). Migraines are not really that well understood regarding why they happen. They are a type of headache that has a whole multitude of other symptoms and effects ranging from something that can last for an hour, days or weeks. Often an intense headache accompanied by sickness, sensitivity to light and sound just to name a few of the plethora of symptoms. There are obscure types of Migraines like Hemiplegic Migraines (3 Link below) whereby the person experiences stroke like symptoms, including paralysis of parts of the body, speech is affected and the ability to communicate is often disturbed greatly. Whilst some types of Migraine are generally related to head pain, others have a preliminary factor, almost like a warning factor, called an aura. Aura’s can take many different forms, and interestingly are also the precursor to various types of seizure. Sometimes the aura, is just visual, a crazy display of light and zig zagging lines will start in somebody’s visual field heralding the onset of a Migraine, but in other cases sound can become heightened or there is a sense that everything becomes crystal clear, like super heightened senses. Many types of Aura are also attributed to epilepsy also as an aura before a seizure the famous ones being: Smelling burnt toast, or seeing flashing lights etc.

Alice in wonderland syndrome 

There is a link between Migraines and AIWS, so what is Alice in wonderland syndrome?This excerpt is taken from the Wikipedia page: 

‘Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS), also known as Todd’s syndrome or dysmetropsia, is a neuropsychological condition that causes a distortion of perception. People may experience distortions in visual perception of objects such as appearing smaller (micropsia) or larger (macropsia), or appearing to be closer (pelopsia) or farther (teleopsia) away than they actually are. Distortion may occur for other senses besides vision as well.  

Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS) is often associated with migraines, brain tumors, or psychoactive drug use’.(4 Link below)

 As you can see by this description, AIWS is very much linked to visual and sensory perception. Upon reading a publication on the website, Neurology and clinical practice, there was a very interesting quote about the symptoms of AIWS(5 Link below):  

‘What these symptoms have in common with each other is that they constitute distortions of sensory perception rather than hallucinations or illusions’. 

This is an interesting distinction as it pinpoints the distortions are specifically to sensory perception and this distortion of actual perception rather than a fabricated or recreated reality (Like hallucinations). What fascinates me here, is these experiences obviously affect the reality of the person experiencing them, whilst not changing the outside world.   

As someone who has suffered with Migraines my whole life, I know how frightening the experiences can be. My Migraines have changed over time with them getting progressively weirder as I have got older. Last year I read “ The Phenomenology of Perception” by Merlaeu Ponty(7) and the most meaningful quote from this I took away was this:  

‘We must live things in order to perceive them’ (6) 

This quote defines so much about us as human beings, it also states a lot about society and culture to me, as its very often the case that if someone has no knowledge of a particular ailment from personal experience, their understanding and therefore empathy towards that person is affected. I always remember when I first dislocated my knee, for the first time I was noticing how many others were on crutches. It’s a similar experience for someone who is pregnant, they will suddenly become aware of all the folks that are pregnant too. So, our perception is largely a reflection of the life we have lived and the sensory experiences within that life. 

Tarrant, Margaret Winifred. Tiny aliceat glass table, illustration from Alice’s adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. London:Ward,lock & co.,1916. Courtesy of the Thomas Fischer Rare book Library, Toronto. From Alice’s adventures in Wonderland Decoded by David Day.

Conversations with Alice in Wonderland syndrome… 

The concept of there being an ailment that is similar to Alice’s perceptual experience of the world, sort of blew my mind. As anyone will be aware from my last blog post, I am dyslexic and I had been posting my last article on various dyslexia pages on Facebook. To my utter joy and elation, I had a lady respond to my article. This particular lady was not discussing dyslexia, she suffered with AIWS.   

 ‘I’m not dyslexic (my daughter is) and I actually have a condition called Alice in Wonderland syndrome. This condition is the result of having a very rare form of migraine that resemble a stroke. . I see things that aren’t there, I hear and smell things that aren’t there. Some things can look exceedingly massive and other things exceedingly small. My legs feel super long as if they are forcing their way through the floor and my hands look as big as the coffee table. Food doesn’t taste like what it actually looks like (coffee tastes like water, cake tastes like fish, fish taste like bacon) I get confused and hallucinate too as well as exceptionally vivid but ridiculously strange dreams. Lewis Carroll also suffered from Hemiplegic migraines and the books are fictional but based on his experience caused by the migraines. This part of the migraine was eventually called Alice in Wonderland syndrome.’ 

I contacted the this lady, Louisa Hewett, in order to have a conversation about her experiences with AIWS.  

Fway:  Thanks for reaching out, I am utterly fascinated by your condition. It must be bonkers having to deal with so many weird symptoms. Are you aware they are happening?  

That’s my struggle with Migraines. I don’t know when I am having the prior symptoms  

 
Louisa: it’s is bonkers. Most of the time I’m aware it’s coming but I’m not always aware that what I’m saying doesn’t make sense.   

It’s very strange.  

 
Fway: When did yours start?  

 
Louisa: was terrified when mine started, but I’m not scared now, just seriously pissed off at how debilitating they are. I was 14. I’m 47 now.  

 
Fway: Bloody hell. That’s a long time! Mine only suddenly changed a-few years ago. I have always had migraines, as a kid, it was the vomiting/dark room sort – lasting a week. As a teen, fainting was added into the equation. Then in my 30’s, suddenly I would lose time. Not know what I was doing. Drop stuff. Have black outs. And have very quick funny turns- speech would go slurry, feel like I’m slowing down, like being switched off. I slump, I can hear, but I can’t speak or move. Like sleep apnoea, when you’re awake.  

Louisa: THIS!!!! I honestly believe you have hemiplegic migraines have periods where I get AIWS, then the pain starts, then I’m totally paralysed. I cannot move. I cannot even open my eyes . I am hyper aware of everything around me . A bird outside sounds like I’m sat in the middle of an iron maiden concert .my house could be on fire and I would know but couldn’t move a muscle.  

Fway: Yes. Sound is enormous. Overpowering and crippling. Often if someone speaks, it makes me want to vomit- because it shudders through me. My senses are normally massively heightened before.  

 
Louisa: I absolutely get you ! Alice in Wonderland syndrome is an aura I get. My husband says I look and sound as if I’m on a massive LSD trip.  

 
Fway: Wow! That’s amazing  

 
Louisa: Do you sometimes get all your symptoms but not have severe head pain?  

 
Fway: Yes. Infact, they fractured off from each other. One used to definitely follow the other. Now, not so much. I’m often left stuck in the aura stage? Where I don’t know what’s going on, until after  

 
Louisa: Me too! Although I’m aware of what’s going on most of the time. But can’t do anything about it !.  

 
Fway: When did you find out you had AIWS? What were your symptoms? And how long did it take to diagnose it?  

 
Louisa: I found out I had AIWS when I was in my early twenties. It took years and was such a relief to know I wasn’t losing my mind. The symptoms are seeing things that aren’t there, things including my own body parts look either huge or far too small, . My legs feel far too long and as if they are being pulled through the floor by my heels. I feel confused. I smell things that aren’t there, yet I firmly believe they are. I can also smell things that are not there and I have a permanent exceptionally heightened sense of smell. This never ever goes away.  

 
Fway: What is your weirdest experience so far?  

 
Louisa: I have so many weird experiences but the strangest was when I was pregnant with my daughter. I felt unwell and went to bed. I saw my husband walk past our bedroom door and go to our son’s room… Wearing clothes he hadn’t been wearing five minutes before. He had waved at me as he walked past. I was weirded out and went into the hall but he wasn’t in our son’s room. He then appeared behind me, wearing the clothes he was wearing last time I’d seen him. He could not have gotten passed me, gone downstairs and changed his clothes because I’d have seen him and the whole thing took just a few seconds.   

 
Fway: do you have any warning signs before you have an attack of AIWS? And how long does it last?  

 
Louisa:  Mostly there is no warning, but sometimes there is. My AIWS is an aura, it’s what I get as a precursor to getting a Hemiplegic migraine. When I get AIWS I know I need to act! The AIWS can last for half an hour right up to a day or two.  

 
Fway: Have you ever connected with other folks that suffer with AIWS?  

Louisa: Not really. People think I’m barking mad and making it up! Trust me, I’d rather not have it!  

 
Fway: is there anything you can do to reduce symptoms? Eg I suffer with Vertigo sometimes, which needs medication. Can they help your symptoms at all?  

 
Louisa: The only thing I can do is follow my hemiplegic migraine protocol. Nipping the migraine in the bud can slowly stop the AIWS. Other times I follow the protocol and it just keeps going, even if I’ve stopped the migraine from progressing.   

Fway: What would you say is the most confusing or disorientating part of this condition?  

 
Louisa: Nowadays I’m used to it and will stop and think ” ahhh, that’s not really there, or no my hand really isn’t the size of my head ” even if it feels that way!  But in the early years it was very frightening indeed. However, it’s being in public when it hits that I find disorientating. People might notice I’m not right or babbling or appear like a drunkard. Trying to tell them, no I’m not drunk, I’m unwell and could someone please get me an exceedingly strong coffee and some painkillers is impossible. Getting abuse for being drunk in public when I’m desperate for help is disorientating and frustrating!  

 
Fway: What insight do you feel it gives you? As you experience perception in a very alien way- compared to most people’s understanding, how do you think that’s changed you?or what has it done to alter your perception in the long term?   

Louisa: Perception to me is a curious thing. I will often see things and wonder if I’m seeing things at that moment in the same way as everyone else. And those famous words, curiouser and curiouser are me when I see things and people tell me they are seeing things differently.  

I feel as if I never take things for granted and worry that one day, I will fall into the hole so far that my perception remains in the other dimension permanently.  

In conclusion, I find it fascinating that so many aspects of our normal everyday perception of the world is dependent on our senses and yet those senses can, occasionally deceive us. The nature of this can completely question the nature of reality, for anyone who suffers with conditions like this. It also outlines how different and distinct each individual’s perceptual experience of the world can be. Outside of specific health conditions, we can see this when various meme’s about colour differentiation started to happen, whereby some see green and gold and others see blue. Another example of altered perception could be considered a more psychological disintegration from self, would be something like Body Dismorphia, whereby the persons perception and conception of self-differs from reality. 

Links:  

(1) Why writing is hard? Youtube video by Damien Walter: 

Why is writing hard? 

pastedGraphic.png

(2)A very interesting article about types of seizures, aura, Migraine and Epilepsy. 

https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/types-epilepsy-syndromes/temporal-lobe-epilepsy-aka-tle

(3) An interesting and informative description of Hemiplegic Migraine’s 

Hemiplegic migraine – The Migraine Trusthttps://www.migrainetrust.org › about-migraine › hemi… 

(4) The Wikipedia description of AIWS: 

Alice_in_Wonderland_syndrome  

(5) Neurology Clinical practice website: Alice in wonderland syndrome A systematic review: 

(https://cp.neurology.org/content/6/3/259)  

(6) Merleau Ponty, The phenomenology of Perception: 

P340, Line 8. 

(7) The Wikipedia page about The Phenomenology of Perception by Merleau Ponty: 

Phenomenology of Perception – Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Phenomenology_of_P…  

 (8) For a more in depth study of The phenomenology of Perception: 

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/merleau-ponty/#NatuPercStruBeha

First 2 images are from:

Alice’s adventured in wonderland Decoded by David Day:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjoyIPqr-DvAhVLgP0HHZ7-BaAQFjAAegQIBBAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FAlices-Adventures-Wonderland-Decoded-Carrolls%2Fdp%2F0385682263&usg=AOvVaw3bBlbhN5Av_72bJS83x-Kv

3rd Image is from: 150th Anniversary deluxe edition, The Annotated Alice, Lewis Carroll. Edited by Martin Gardiner, expanded and updated by Mark Burstein:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjP8svKsODvAhWn8LsIHV_WDiEQFjAAegQIBBAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FAnnotated-Alice-150th-Anniversary-Deluxe%2Fdp%2F0393245438&usg=AOvVaw3xhTcPgvppIwdnzVNHeVEz

Featured

Alice, Dyslexia and I.

When I was a child, I was terrified by Alice in wonderland. It was confusing, weird and it made no sense. As an adult re-reading it, I had the dawning realisation that the world of Wonderland, was a pretty similar experience to having Dyslexia. All of a sudden I could relate to this text in a whole new way. As my experience of the world, is similar, confused commuincation and weird incomprehensible exchanges with people. For Alice, it was the effect of being in Wonderland that made her feel ” Not herself, you see” whereas for the Dyslexic person, that’s where we are already.

I have noticed, through social media and websites the overwhelming need Dyslexic folk have, to find their ability to communicate. It is a very strong desire, that goes beyond a normal person’s understanding. I have likely spent much of my lifetime trying to explain what it’s like, as is likely the case for most people with Dyslexia. Finding your voice, if you have no words, seems like an impossible task. I’m going to attempt to describe what it’s like, trying to work with dyslexia , wish me luck.

Firstly, I know that most people’s version of dyslexia is completely different, like everyone else, we have strengths and weaknesses. I will try to explain mine. So, I don’t have a problem reading, well, I say that, for many years I would have the words jumping around the page, almost like a conveyor belt, or when you delete a line of text on a computer, it is a similar thing I experience trying to follow the lines of text in a book. I’m slower at reading, as I often want to understand every word and its context. I love reading though, so maybe that’s why I don’t notice my problems with that so much.

Speaking is a separate and distinct world to writing, or the written word. Speaking, I have body language, gestures and other intricacies that can be used to help to emphasise or explain my point- However, my confidence, even with this was shocking. I managed to survive my Degree without speaking. Speaking is still a preferred method of communication to me, I would likely have more hope of communicating my meaning, if, I have a listener who is willing to listen and understand that what I mean, may not be immediately apparent and it may take a little while to get there.

Writing is wonderland to me. Most people wouldn’t know I was dyslexic, until they have the arduous task of helping me to fill in a form, proof read or occupy the same space as me, as I try to write. A recent example would include a job application that took me a week and a half’s work, where someone else could likely churn out a form like that in a matter of hours. Getting words or explanations out of my body, is much like getting blood out of a stone. It is extremely difficult to articulate what exactly happens, or what I mean.

My mind can only think of texts like ‘The diving bell and the butterfly’ or ‘From me to you’ whereby the main character is locked in, in some way, physically disabled or incapable of communication. I am always trying to create new analogies to explain it to someone else, so they can understand why it’s such a subject for me. One I recently used, was the idea of sexual frustration. Imagine, that your only means of communication was sexual frustration. That internal build up of energy, frustration, desire and want. Then think, that feeling is your only means of communication. Words, don’t exist because you can’t pin them down. The frustration clouds your ability to even think what it is you are trying to say. You are literally navigating blindfolded, dumfounded, mute and with nothing except this absolute NEED to be ABLE to communicate .

Now think, that is your starting place, every single time you attempt to communicate written words. I have no doubt, that some of that is panic, brought about by the years of frustration and association with that feeling. But, it genuinely never ceases to blow my mind, how consuming it is and how much it affects everything. If you consider the purpose of communication for human beings, it is the most crucial thing, we need to be able to communicate our thoughts, idea’s, views and feelings. So imagine a world, where you can’t?or you struggle? Then imagine how opposite the rest of society you are?how that effects your ability to get a job?Write Essay’s?Fill in forms?

I love words, I love other worlds, I love books, I read a lot. My knowledge is often innate, but imagine folks reminding you, that knowledge is only relevant, or real, if you can communicate it? What if you can’t? how do you find a way? the world of the visual is much easier for me to communicate but, its words I want to be able to use. Us human beings are so weird really, as we often do things like this, focus on the one thing we can’t do, I think it is likely part of our nature.

Having such a heightened sense of words and their meaning, makes all their uses so much more powerful. I can see when I read things, how people use words, I can understand the use of punctuation etc if it is presented within a joke, or a Meme. However, the act of writing itself, I have zero association with that and any other form of communication. Therefore the act of me writing, is a totally separate and distinct world. I am unaware of all grammatical issues, as I am struggling to think of the words I need to explain myself. The act of attempting to explain myself, sends me into an equal tailspin. My particular type of dyslexia has massive problems with my working memory, so much like Alice, ‘Was a different person’ this morning, is ever relevant. If you have problems with your working memory, this is the glue that binds your short term memory with your longterm memory. It is also the stuff you need to do small, everyday tasks ( all the little jobs that drive people bonkers, like remember to buy milk, bogrolls etc)

Daniel Britton designed the font to mimic Dyslexia

Having no memory for Names, words eluding you, sort of sets you up in a version of Wonderland perpetually. Breaking the chains, is super difficult, that’s why I am doing this. I found a designer, Daniel Britton (1), who has done a copy of Alice in Wonderland in a text font, that was designed to mimic the difficulty faced by someone with dyslexia reading. Whilst it doesn’t’t recreate the frustration and upset caused by a lifetime spent unable to articulate yourself, it does make the average reader take as long to read as someone with dyslexia would. I find this project fascinating. I almost wish, as a child, I had tried to explain Alice in Wonderland then- it would be so interesting to see an unedited dyslexic child’s reaction to this text.

There are many, who don’t believe that dyslexia even exists? I think that one cuts the deepest. Trying to explain to any poor sod that helps a dyslexic person by proofreading, that you don’t miss punctuation on purpose, that you know verbally what punctuation does however, none of that knowledge exists when you write? it sort of sounds bonkers. I know how difficult it is to explain it, let alone for someone else to understand.

A few years ago at Fabrica gallery in Brighton, there was an exhibition called “Care(less)” by Lindsay Seers, this was a virtual reality art piece. You entered the premises and it was explained to you what would happen, you were sat down and a headset was placed on you. The experience was supposed to resemble what it is like if you are experiencing dementia. It was a 15 minute long virtual experience. I wonder if anyone has attempted to replicate what it is like to experience Dyslexia? I know Daniel Britton’s piece goes some way towards this, but this is a 2d experience, I would be fascinated to see if there are any more immersive projects on the horizon.’Care(Less)’ was incredibly powerful as it attempted to connect with our sense of empathy, through the mental projection of someone else’s experience. This also reminded me of the empathy box, in Philip K Dick’s film Bladerunner. I think this device was in A few of Philip K Dick’s books.

‘Care(Less) at Fabrica Gallery

This would be an amazing tool, for human being’s to get a very real idea of what it’s like to really experience the world through someone else’s eyes. I have always been fascinated by the idea of this, as often, reality is created by our experience of the world. So without certain experiences, many will never truly understand what Dyslexia Wonderland looks like, or Lupus Land, or depression. I love the fact that Daniel Britton created this font, it goes some way to explaining what the experience of Dyslexia is like. However, it is unlikely that anyone who does not suffer from it, can ever truly understand the level of the effect it has on your life.

What is your experience of Dyslexia? How does it affect you? What does it impede? What are you brilliant at? I would love to hear other people’s experiences, just to see if they are similar and how? or different and how?Please leave comments below, I don’t think you have to have a WordPress account to leave a comment.

You can find a little more about Daniel Britton’s font here:https://www.evertype.com/books/alice-en-dyslexic.html

You can find out more about the exhibition at Fabrica Gallery here: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Fabrica+Careless+Lindsay+Seers&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Here is the video experience of the exhibition:

https://youtu.be/oRJHSQ94PZo

Featured

Alice, The Sick Rose and illustration..

The Sick Rose or; Disease and the art of medical illustration by Richard Barnett.

Following on from reading Alice Curiouser and Curiouser, with its conceptual failings and generalised disdain, I decided to potter on and pick my next book to read. I had wanted to read The Sick Rose since I bought it about 1/2 years ago at the cataclysmic event that our little high street (George Street in Hove) had recently acquired itself a Waterstones, which on first glance doesn’t seem that exciting- contextually I don’t think we have had a new specialised interest bookshop in George Street for some time. Anyway, I digress, this beautiful book was waiting, so I thought- it’s time.

Book 2: on the adventure…

The captivating and beautiful front cover.

 If you have read my previous post about Curiouser and Curiouser, you will know I was cataclysmically disappointed with the content of the written parts of the book. I was also in the process of considering why, I felt so disheartened after reading it.The Sick Rose by Richard Barnett explores the subject of medical illustrations in Victorian England, so it seemed an apt thing to follow Alice Curiouser and Curiouser. Barnett’s’ book rather succinctly and beautifully transported my mind into the era before photography whereby medical illustrations where one of the only available visual methods to learn about Anatomy, health conditions and ailments.

Richard Barnett managed to totally shift my perception to what a perfectly written and conceptualised book looks like. From the aesthetic understanding via typesetting, layout and images to the stunningly written historical, cultural and social context provided.This book literally blew my mind. It was everything I wanted from a book. 

Image 1

I have to say that before this point, I had never given much thought to the process of production of illustrations. Whilst this book is scintillating for many reasons, my initial fascination surrounded the process of production compared to now and also the contextualisation of how important illustration was both culturally and socially.

Richard Barnett could literally write and contextualise, like I could only dream of. Above here Barnett starts to explore the concept HOW the process of drawing bodies was done. You can see here ( Image 1 above) some of the problems entangled with a field of science being incorporated with a field of Art, how to objectify the bodies within the illustrations and detach them from subjective style. Some of the methods to homogenise these human failures, included woodblocks (Much like what was used in Alice’s illustrations) and often, like Grey’s Anatomy the removal of colour created a more clinical view.

This short piece of text below, from the following page of the book, fascinatingly made me realise the massive chain of people involved within the process and production of illustrations. This quote doesn’t include the fact that the scientist conducting the study was considered a totally separate entity and or the methods which they used to “acquire” the bodies in the first place.

It was fascinating to consider a world without photography. Imagining the significance of signage, imagery and illustration from this viewpoint and realising the heightened importance of all these things. For us folk from the 21st century, from a purely experiential view, it is very difficult to conceive of a world with so little imagery and yet, this was the world prior to Alice.

In a literary sense, Alice likely had a similar impact to – The Wizard of Oz- with that seminal moment of everything turning into colour- from a world of only black and white and shades of grey in the past. With Alice, it was more likely to be its irreverence to traditional language and the literary exploration of nonsense that had the power to create a paradigm shift, like Oz, before and after that event.

“So herein lies my interest, I have a fascination with the world, before Alice-or-what lead to Alice, Alice’s world itself- and how the world changed as a result.”

In a post-pandemic world, Alice’s world seems even more relevant than it has been before, with a majority of individuals lost within a solipsistic vision of reality whilst enduring very new versions of communication with other humans. Being plunged into a world non-tactile in nature, whereby no mixing is ok, using app’s like Zoom, staying indoors and isolated I would say that we have all been plunged into a very similar, very unusual version of reality.

My interest is specifically placing Alice within the context of now, through various explorations of other subjects, people inspired by Alice, the legacy, Reality & Fantasy worlds and how they meet in 2021. This exploration will be from an angle of introspection to externalise interpretation and translation done by multiple artists, literary figures, philosophers, comedians etc.

Coming from an angle of Art, theory, critical thought, words, fun and contextualisation I want to attempt to circumnavigate the “predictable” relationships with Alice, like whimsy and Disnification. I will be studying the subject by reading around the edges of Alice to develop a broader understanding of the significance of this piece. Many of the articles and Books about Alice have quite literally left me wanting more, more in-depth, more insight, more relationships to different subjects. I want to quite literally investigate Alice’s world, much like theorising behind the world of the matrix- There is much to be gained within the depths of wonderland or Underground.

Why? I hear you ask? Because it’s interesting. The whole subject of Alice is fascinating, however, it feels like many skim the surface, missing the juicy stuff, in preference for scandalous revelations about Carroll. As someone who is dyslexic, I feel I have often experienced the world as Alice does. Lost in a confusing space of communication that often does not hit the mark. So personally this is a project to develop that sense about communication with words( which is not my forte)and attempt to understand the world a little better, with Alice’s help.

Eventually, I would like this project to evolve into a book, encompassing all the playfulness of the original, but with an intellectual, cultural exploration for us oldies. In truth creating, hopefully, the book that would captivate Alice herself- with pictures and conversations.

https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Sick-Rose-Richard-Barnett/9780500517345?redirected=true&utm_medium=Google&utm_campaign=Base1&utm_source=UK&utm_content=The-Sick-Rose&selectCurrency=GBP&w=AFC7AU9SDQQBMBA8VRSB&pdg=pla-293946777986:cmp-10333021322:adg-104437772098:crv-443151537351:pos-:dev-c&gclid=Cj0KCQiAv6yCBhCLARIsABqJTjYHvyq_HLwiGs9cJACe2uRcS_vVQJDOZ57c6j91HROsBpzhzyjzXV0aAlEAEALw_wcB
If you wanted to purchase a copy of Richard Barnett’s book, you can find it on Amazon or any other reputable bookseller. I would say this book is fascinating if you have an interest in medicine, illustration, history, interesting imagery, research or any combination of all those subjects.

 

Featured

Alice Curiouser and Curiouser…

Edited by Kate Bailey and Simon Sladen

As an Artist, I have always had a pre-occupation with the subject of Alice in wonderland, but I realised recently that I hadn’t read it for some time. After waiting 4 long years, I had been massively looking forward to the Alice in Wonderland exhibition at the V & A, sadly it was postponed due to Covid. Thankfully I follow one of the Artists involved in the exhibition, so you can imagine my utter glee when the book to the non-existent exhibition appeared. As is the lockdown way, I illicitly purchased this bad boy in the dead of night. And so began my re-ignited interest….

Book one: On the adventure of re-finding Alice

(Link is at the bottom to purchase)

A large part of the book is devoted to the illustrations by Kristjana S Williams. Williams’ work centre’s around old illustrations from multiple different formats, architectural drawing books, Catalogues, Pamphlets, old books, and basically any and all formats used to document illustrations from the past. Kristjana, categorises them all, cleans them up, stores them in photoshop and recreates wonderful scenes like the explorations in this book”Alice: Curiouser and curiouser”.

This is not the only way that Kristjana works, she also makes highly bespoke hand made pieces where by the parts are cut by hand, coloured and re-configured. The overall effect is that of a multiplicity of worlds all situated at the same time, through this complex juxtaposition of multi generational illustrations. There is an innate timeless quality regarding the style of the illustrations because of their diversity but the colour palette itself very much represents now, situating her work very much in the 21st century.

Believe me when I say, these small scale reproductions really don’t do the images any favours, if you are a bibliophile like me, I definitely recommend getting the book (No I’m not sponsored, I just love books).

Whilst Kristjana S Williams work, is jaw droppingly amazing and its rather marvellous to see some other treasures in Alice Curiouser and Curiouser relating to original snippets of the Alice in wonderland book, including some classic film posters and reference to various films and plays. The majority of the content of this book, is rather unfortunately, mostly about Carroll. Whilst there were some snippets of interest, the majority of the content in this book just left me feeling like- was that it?

I was genuinely expecting the conceptual exploration of Alice to be as tantalising as the aesthetics of the book. Yet, after reading it – it was sort of an anti climax. Like skimming a stone across the surface of the ocean, that’s about the level of depth involved within this book. Just a side note to readers here, I’m quite a non critical person, so if I do criticise , that’s a big deal.

The experience of this book just sort of got me thinking, what is it specifically it was lacking?Why did I feel this way?it’s such a beautiful book, why did I feel so helplessly wanton afterwards?This was the start of my cogitation. The beginning of me starting to think about what it was lacking, which immediately got projected onto all the books I read after it.

I am aware that it is highly likely that a large part of my brain was missing the experience of going to the exhibition itself, further exacerbated by the immense loneliness of a continuing lockdown. So this was clearly part of my disappointment. However, it had started my mind in a very specific trajectory, what is it that makes a book interesting to me? What does it need? and how does that need to be articulated to gain my attention?

Was and am trying to formulate what would be the perfect book about Alice for me, firstly by figuring out the things I don’t want in it. So Alice Curiouser and Curiouser most definitely started something, a shift, a desire for more that is the reason for my beginning this blog to both extend and explain my interests but also to clarify my dyslexic mind into some sense of order regarding the perfect Alice book.

Again, the link if others would like to purchase:

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomsbury.com%2Fau%2Falice-curiouser-and-curiouser-9781838510046%2F&psig=AOvVaw1ajTVhKTq-Q5H_6koAjQSW&ust=1615330406582000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAMQjB1qFwoTCOiHoezkoe8CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

Featured

Alice in wonderland in philosophy:

This one is on its way I am currently reading it….

Just incase anyone else is interested in also perusing it….

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FAlice-Wonderland-Philosophy-Curiouser-Blackwell%2Fdp%2F0470558369&psig=AOvVaw0Mp0bGLX-mAZQ1GWuabr_o&ust=1615329752753000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAMQjB1qFwoTCJin9bXioe8CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

Featured

Alice’s adventures under ground

Amazingly I never knew there was an original transcript actually written for Alice Liddell, the little girl that Alice was based on- or should I say the story was created for her. I am still amazed I hadn’t heard of it. I actually found it much less sinister to the Alice in wonderland I knew from my childhood.

I would thoroughly recommend reading this original piece, you can find it through Amazon and various other online book sellers. It is also available on project Gutenberg online for free, it is a beautifully handcrafted item, handwritten and illustrated by Carroll himself…

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19002/19002-h/19002-h.htm