The Depository: A Dream Book

by Andrzej Klimowski

Without text, expressing himself directly through a brilliant sequence of two hundred drawings, the artist Klimowski has conjured up a dream narrative which is as gripping as any thriller, a black movie without dialogue, set in a mysterious modern city. An artist, perhaps a writer, is musing blankly over his notebook, and as he falls asleep his imagination projects a disturbing world of imprisoned flying 'spirits', with book-leaf wings, one of whom flies to rescue his fellow creatures from the depository of a sinister collector-cum-curator, where they are being held like specimens in glass cabinets. Captured himself, the doppelganger is then freed from his prison of the mind by a beautiful woman spirit, to fly back into the wakening consciousness of the artist himself.
A wordless novel, The Depository is open to many interpretations - political, sexual, psychological. Looking through Klimowski's powerful drawings many readers will recognize a visual analysis of the power of human possession and domination that is unsettling and unforgettable.

Genres: Comics

260 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 1994

About the author

Andrzej Klimowski, who was born to Polish parents in London, retains strong links with Poland, where he lived and worked for some years. During his career he has made films and written graphic novels. He has designed theatre posters and book covers for leading publishers. He was head of Illustration at the Royal College of Art for many years, and is now Professor Emeritus. He continues to produce graphic novels with his wife Danusia Schejbal, and works in graphics and produces illustrations. He also makes films. His work has been the subject of a retrospective at the National Theatre, London.

Reviews

[Pris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Weird but strangely compelling 'read'. No text, just black and white drawings which depicts a dreamlike story that is as big or complex as your own imagination.

[Irena Pranjić · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neobičan strip s jednim kadrom na stranici i vrlo jednostavnim crtežom izvedenim kistom i tušem. Strip je bez teksta (osim u jednom kadru) što skupa s crnobijelom stilizacijim punom dubokih, mračnih sjena te alegorično dizajniranim likovima jako dobro korespondira s nijemom rječitosti snova. A Dream Book je dobar primjer za tezu da je u stripu najbitnija režija, jer je zahvaljujući njoj uspio pojasniti prilicno složenu radnju. Radnja govori o ljudima koji umiju letjeti na krilima pisanja i čitanja i koje okrutno secira analitički duh književne kritike.

[David Eri · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s something about the illustrations that capture an ‘exact’ feeling when you’re in dreams. It’s sitting at the sweet spot in the twilight of confusion and clarity. There’s even a point of emotional expression in the middle of it.