The Limits of Books ~ Assignment 1

The first project we have to do is to make a book, and the book that I choose to do is
An Atlas Belonging to Orpheus
There is a description about this Atlas: "Bound in a battered and burnt, enameled-green tin cover, this atlas is full of maps of Hell. It was used when Orpheus journeyed into the Underworld to find Eurydice, and the maps, as a consequence, are scorched and charred by Hellfire and marked with the teeth bites of Cerberus. When the atlas is opened, the maps bubble with pitch. Avalanches of hot, loose gravel and molten sand fall out of the book to scorch the library floor."

Generally, it is a map of Hell that used when Orpheus journeyed in hell to find his lover Eurydice. In order to start, I first imagine how I feel about the Hell and what it should be look like. The Hell should be multi-leveled, and there is a hole in each floor suggests that people fall from this hopeless hole. (Actually, in the real world, a small town of Darvaz in Uzbekista got an enormous big hole there which is called "The Door to Hell.") Also,

the hole is getting bigger in each level; it is a metaphor of human's sin/crime when it goes bigger and more serious, and sinner fall deeper to the level of Hell. You won't necessary know how big/deep the hole is when you are falling (doing crime) until the day you were in Hell and looked back what you had done. There are overlapping holes going gradually small and there is only a Light of Hope on top. (For the material, I choose foam board since its thickness can create deeper depth for those hopeless holes.)

Basic on this concept, I use the famous Dante's Inferno as a reference for the map of hell and there is a very good web site with detail description about each circle of hell (for those who are not familiar with Dante's Inferno) http://www.wolfram.demon.co.uk/rp_dante_hell.html . Also, I decide to get different materials (colors and textures) according to the description of each circle. There are 10 circles in hell and the book would finally come up an unlucky number 13 pages in total including the rest like the cover.

Finally, the atlas that belonging to Orpheus is done.

It starts with its enameled-green tin cover. The horrible face creates a thrilling feeling that would reveal it is a book about devil or hell. (The green cover will glow in dark too.)

Also, there are some scratches marked by Cerberus at the back. (I would like to make it battered and burnt at the beginning, but seems like it is already looked good so far and I can't bear to ruin my baby.)

Then, inside the book, there would be some textures like sand paper, stone, or metals placed at the back of each pages; therefore, the readers can actually feel each circle of the hell when they flip through the pages. (Sometimes the loose stone or molten sand would fall out when the atlas was opened and it just liked what had described about the Atlas. Also, the maps might create some bubble sound since the whole book is made of foam texture.)

Last but not least, there is a significant design, and that is a mirror will be placed at the last page when Orpheus finally come to the last circus. Since I feel that those circles of hell are all about human's sins (ethic, negative emotions or acts and desire), my idea of this mirror is used to reflect one's behavior and helped people to look at themselves and ask a question that is "have you commit those crime/sin?" (If the answer is no, you may leave the hell; if yes, you must be careful then.) Also, in the fable aspect, the Satan used the mirror to reflect the sunlight and cheated Orpheus that made him believed he had returned to the ground and it led him to turn back and see Eurydice. However, according to the deal that Orpheus had made with the evil, he should never turn back his head and see Eurydice; otherwise, Eurydice will be gone and fall back to hell again. Depends on this logic, I put my surprise at the end of the page. When you close the book and turn it upside down, Eurydice will show up (and a little Light of Hope from the ground). So, unless you have finished the journey in hell, or else, you won't see Eurydice.

Overall, I feel glad that I can follow those great ideas I had though of and apply it on this atlas. Also, I feel happy about I can find a book shelf that is best fit for this evil book.