lex libris

The Latin term † EX LIBRIS means "From The Books."
This series of works is born of that; Born of the Written Word and the Printed Page.

y Body Bleeds Black Ink. Yo Sangro Tinta Negra. This is a return to form, a return from whence I came. I'd like to welcome you back old friend; it's been much too long and I've sincerely missed this exchange. This year marks the 5th year since the inception of my online voice. 5 years is an eternity by memetic standards, and the fact that this continuum of mine continues to stream content into the ether is commendable by any measure. Forgive me as I needed to step away to undergo a metamorphosis of sorts. During my absence I've prepared many heartfelt offerings for you. I sincerely hope you'll have a look and bask in the splendor.

he written word has always been near and dear to my heart... Yet, when I say "The Written Word" I refer not only the poetic flow of prose, but also the actual rhythm and color of the printed page. Derrida's interpolation of the printed word and the "Signals and Signifiers" which give life to letters on a page provides the basis for Deconstructionism. Reading into text, or rather reading between the texts has unveiled a great deal about the human experience. Reading the actual shapes and negative spaces of the letters which comprise the words, which comprise the sentences, which create the narratives unveils something wholly different. There is an underlying visual language which exists inseparable from the written word.

As it stands, some say that images work via a second communicative system, one fully as expressive as natural language, but separate and structured independently of it. Others find visual and verbal meanings more dissimilar than similar, with the visual lacking a kind of determinacy for which verbal language seems better suited. Whether or not images are inherently more polysemous than words, it's apparent that both are semiotic systems of near infinite depth which allow us the ability to communicate the most profound concepts and emotions imaginable.

Of importance to me is the conscious interaction of these two semiotic systems. What happens when the explicative and illustrative are overlaid in synergistic glory? What meaning is then read into a text merged with image... Does it become more image than text? If a Written Language collides with a Visual Language is not a new language formed? I hope these works may at least allude to a new language, a new and honest voice - a new voice for me.