Graylight

Graylight by Naomi Nowak, 138 pages

Graylight is a graphic novel that was left on one of our tables. What really caught my eye was the coloring and art not just on the cover, but inside as well. The coloring throughout has that muted tone, as if it was being seen though a gray light. This makes the book look like the memory it is suppose to be.

Graylight is about a woman who looks back to a certain event in her past as the cause of her condition today. It has a plot that jumps around a bit and can be hard to decipher namely due to lack of explanation. But while some may find this detracts from the overall readability, I actually enjoy it. It really conveys that this is a memory with all of the gaps and disjointedness that we experience when trying to recall events.

Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg by Catherine Craft, 145 pages 2013

      One of the things I love about being a floater on the second floor is that I get to spend a lot of time in the fine arts room, and get to check out new art books as they come in.  This slim new book on Rauschenberg is an elegant introduction to an important American modern artist.  The writing is clear, and to the point; Craft does not complicate the text by littering it with art jargon.  The page where she describes Rauschenberg's famous piece Erased de Kooning  is one the best examples of writing I have ever seen concerning that specific project. She follows the different phases of his prolific career, summarizing each phase with relative ease.   The photographic reproductions of his work rivals that of more expensive, expansive fine art monographs. Usually when the book is cheaper and shorter, the reader is offered a mediocre viewing experience, here, Phaidon does not disappoint.