THUNDERCLAPS

THUNDERCLAPS : A Visual/Verbal Storm 
Calligraphy and Drawing by Thomas Ingmire
Text selections from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake
San Francisco, CA, 2014
Unique Book
12” x 13.5”,  24 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.  These “words,” which are wonderful to read out loud, interplay with abstract calligraphic marks created in response to selections of music and readings that are part of the Wayword and Wordsigns project.  

The drawings in the book were inspired by creatures depicted in 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, the book invites the viewer to experience its visual splendor, and in reading, to the “hear” the music of the language.