Author du Jour: Nick Sousanis “Unflattening”
Harvard University Press
($ 19.99, 208 pages)
If you are looking for something truly original. Something that will make you think, ponder, scratch your head at thoughts you never had before look no further. “Unflattening” is a graphic novel like no other. Written and illustrated as a PhD dissertation, which looks at the way we learn, “Unflattening” is a meditation on education. How do we know what we know? What are the mechanism that we take for granted to acquire knowledge? No small questions. But a conventional philosophical book would demand absolute concentration and mastery of the idiom to be able to penetrate an arcane conceptual not to mention abstract language. But the merit of Sousanis‘s endeavor relies on the fact that to be drawn a concept must be practical.
Indeed, between the theme and depth of the concept supported by lush captivating drawing, Sousanis is at the helm of an impressive set of skills. Drawing from multiple fields of humanities, Arts, philosophy, literature, mythology, and the sciences “Unflattening” looks at perception from various vantage points and so in order to better disrupt the stability of the image and to guide us towards new hints and allusions, aiming at the heart of our assumptions. At each page, you will find yourself questioning the knowledge of your perception and be delighted by the new unassumed opening doors.