Seen and Heard / The Conductor

 

I just picked up this picture book, The Conductor, by French illustrator and artist Laetita Devernay. The story is elegant and moving - a compelling meditation on creativity, connection, complexity, destruction and rebirth expressed through the conflation of visual and musical composition. The styling is both restrained and complex, subtle and epic, with a limited color palate, bold lines, and areas of dense detail juxtaposed against generous white spaces. Her symbols are clear (yet not trite), carrying her narrative (the book is wordless), and her layering of visual metaphors adds enough interest for multiple readings.

Here are a few spreads. You really have to see the entire book and flip through all 72 pages to experience what she accomplishes: the ebb and flow, the crescendos of form and pattern that channel a feeling of music so clearly as to grant what feels like temporary synesthesia.

I think - though it is hard to tell - it was also published originally as a longer accordion book of the name Diapason (again, the French - it's causing problems...).

I've always loved the rhythms felt in poetic, narrative and visual forms. The Conductor sings this silent music.