Look Book is the first extended body of graphic work by Oliver King. The series of two-colour geometric abstractions explores the subjective nature of looking and seeing. These simplified compositions depict relatively everyday things as seen from macro perspectives unfamiliar to the human eye, asking readers to look at things from a different angle.
The compositions are the result of a kind of visual and cognitive field research, examining the construction of the visual world, perspective and abstraction. The works are presented in an objective manner with this in mind, both contrasting and legitimising the subject matter. With the absence of descriptors on each page, a separate bookmark index is provided containing a key to each composition. This separation from the pages’ context invites readers to engage in a guessing game with the book, allowing for infinite subjective interpretations to be formed.
Created over a span of three years, the works draw indirect visual reference from things seen and thought about during this time. From bins to bums and everything in-between, Look Book hopes to show that there is always more than one way to look at things.
82 pages, 17 x 17 cm + bookmark, edition of 150 (hand-stamped and artist editioned), Post Office Lane (Melbourne).