“The Finger Carver” by dov Spinks (sic)

Reviewed by Geddy Gibson   

Some of my favorite works of art during museum visits have always been the boundary-crossing pieces that momentarily draw you into their own worlds, their own logics--the paintings with text scattered throughout their surfaces, the sculptures that play with scale and 2D imagery to create illusions, etc.

The Finger Carver is a written analogue of such genre-breaking pieces. It not only defies literary categories, since it has elements of both short stories and poetry. It is also a highly visual work that has to be seen to be fully grasped. It therefore also skirts the boundaries between the graphic and literary arts.

The text itself develops a narrative set in a future dominated by technology. A man wrongly imprisoned is released and reflects on what he has endured. He grapples with a sense of betrayal and the psychological scars left by his computerized captors.

But what is impressive about Finger Carver is the textual and graphic mosaic within which you read this story line. The text alternates with more visual elements that amplify its themes and seemingly give a glimpse into the altered mind of the protagonist. The pages alternate between writing and illustrations: digital image manipulations, collages, etc. And, like ASCII artists of the early internet days, Spinks uses a wide palette of graphical elements (e.g. spaces, letters, symbols, and punctuation) to further express the story’s ideas.

Despite the sometimes somber plot line, this is a playful work--“Kafka meets Games magazine,” as it were. It could also be seen as a combination of the visual-system exploration of Escher and the Op Art movement with the cognitive legerdemain of meta-experimenters like Cage, Duchamp and Fluxus. There are verbal and visual puns galore. For example, the statement “it was all too much at that point” is followed by a picture of a hand pointing to that very phrase. Finger Carver invites multiple readings so that you can go back and find all the clues, tricks, and jokes you may have missed the first time.

But the themes the work explores are deeper than mere gimmickry. Perhaps the contrast between Spink’s apparent playfulness and the plight of prisoner 9807794F is meant to be suggestive.  Does it connote the games an imprisoned mind plays to keep itself sane? Does it thereby suggest some beret-wearin’ implication about the role of literature from an Existential perspective? Well, whatever its intent, Finger Carver has multiple levels that are worth exploring.

Last update : 18-08-2008 19:25

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