William Hogarth and Salvador Dali are two of my favourite artists. I like them because of their attention to detail and the way they challenge the viewer to look again, to see more and of course to think about what it is that we are seeing. I can now add Lochlann Jain to my list.
Lochlaan’s latest book ‘Things That Art’ plays with art and words and is a graphic menagerie of enchanting curiosity.
Lochlann is a British academic and Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University and Global Health and Social Medicine at Kings College London and has studied art at the Slade (London) and at the San Francisco Art Institute.
In a world where people are desperate to seek clarity – whether it’s gender and sexuality, politics and religion, or simply how we go about making choices at the supermarket – we are subconsciously categorising all the time. While categories may appear to bring objects and ideas together, in many cases they are dividing society and nations.
Things That Art: is a playful book of original drawings that explore the possibilities and pitfalls of categories turning categories on their head to show their wonderfully multi-faceted and often irreverent meanings, from words we use to demean other people, to soften the blow of death, to describe the uncanny functions of our body parts.
Things That Art combines linguistics and art to create an inquisitive pool of new categories that may have never crossed your mind until now.
It targets subjectivity. We, the viewer, want there to be as story, but there isn’t one, throwing this ‘comic form’ into sharp relief.
Through humorous, relevant and undeniably unusual illustrations, Lochlann Jain, urges readers to delve deep into their imagination, to question why we categorise things the way we do. Amusing and whimsical possibly, but anything but shallow.
Categories have their uses: they need us, and we need them. Defined as a framing device for a set of things with shared characteristics, categories order things and perceptions.
Ever wondered about the relationship between an onion and body mass index? After reading this book I can pretty much guarantee that you will in the future.
‘Things That Art’ is deceptively simple and yet curiously complex, consider the title and you will immediately identify a number of ways that it can be interpreted.
This book is one that you may well pick up from a coffee table with the intention of flicking through it but I suspect hat its very depth, nuance, delight, and surprise will capture your attention and more importantly, keep you thinking.
Things That Art would make a great gift for any and all lovers of graphic art, people interested in art and anyone who likes their art to challenge them and make them think.
This and other events can be visited please check out https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/things-that-art-exhibition-launch-panel
‘Things That Art’ University of Toronto Press |HARDBACK | £20.99 |NON-FICTION