I recently completed two new designs for the Illustrated Quotation Project - inspired by quotations from John Locke and Omar Khayyam. As far apart as these gentlemen were, I enjoyed alternating work on these two designs over the past few weeks. The ideas behind them are a bit like two sides of the same coin.
STUDY
“The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it.” – John Locke
My sons and I recently started reading The Story of The World together at night. Great fun but also challenging. We’re only up to about 1500 B.C and already, their curious minds are asking all the big questions: Where does language come from? Why do people listen to dictators? Are there cats in heaven? It has been fantastic, but a little nerve-wracking, too, especially when deciding how much information is too much.
I found this quotation in Locke’s “Some Thoughts Concerning Education,” and instantly took to it. The entire quotation reads “The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it, into which a young gentleman should be enter’d by degrees, as he can bear it; and the earlier the better, so he be in safe and skillful hands to guide him.”
My illustration plays with this idea of knowledge as a process of mastery and a means of protection. In it, a series of pens progressively write the words of the quotation, perfecting them through repetition. Through this repetition, the words and pen outlines quietly create a protective fence in the empty space.
GLASS
“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” – Omar Khayyam
From The Rubaiyat, as translated by Edward FitzGerald. People point out the liberties FitzGerald took with his “translation” of 12th century Persian poet and astronomer Omar Khayyam, but what can I say? I absolutely love this poem. My illustration depicts two superimposed glasses – a wine glass and an hourglass – representing the two opposing ideas that dominate the poem: the brevity of time and the sweetness of life.
