Calligraphy and Drawing by Thomas Ingmire
Text selections from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake
San Francisco, CA, 2014
Unique Book
9” X 12”, 28 pages Including cover, Acrylic on Mylar with gold leaf illumination
THUNDERCLAPS in FINNEGANS WAKE are invented words that are 100 letters long. Joyce included ten; the final one was actually made up of 101 letters. Three of the “Thunderclaps” and other randomly selected words from the text have been chosen to interplay with abstract calligraphic marks that were made in response to various compositions by John Cage and his readings of Finnegans Wake. The two together, words and images, are intended to create a picture of sound.
THUNDERCLAPS also references the Book of Kells. Aside from the Irish connection with Joyce and his reference to the book, Kells reminds us of the magic of the written word to stand merely as a visual image. Like the Book of Kells, THUNDERCLAPS invites the viewer to experience its visual splendor, and in reading, to the “hear” the music of the language.