David A. Carter
600 Punti Neri

THE REVIEW

Don't worry, it's neither a treatise on teenage acne nor a textbook on epiluminescence for the early diagnosis of skin melanomas.

This "600 Black Dots" by American David Carter (Panini Publisher) refers to the endless possibilities that can be created starting from 600 black graphic dots, placed in 2 or three dimensions among the few pages of this strange "book" not easily labelable.

It's more than an actual book; I would define it as a "tactile and visual experiential tool".

A book-nonbook, therefore, containing no more than 50 words (at most), mostly captions or titles, which simply frame the real protagonist of this unusual pandora's box, aimed more at children and aesthetes than classic readers eager for stories or adventures.

Yet, many imaginable stories can be created by looking at the splendid pop-up figures made of paper that magically appear with the simple act of opening the pages one after the other (see some here).

A work that enchants and amazes us, in seeing the meticulous cartotechnical care employed to create figures almost unimaginable by a "normal" mind. David Carter (who had already published "One Red Dot" and "2 Blue" using the same highly refined technique) manages to do it again and leaves us amazed once more. A work that ideally continues the aesthetic and conceptual philosophy of certain books by the famous designer Bruno Munari who was the first to launch this bizarre use of the book as a stimulator of the imagination.

A book for the eyes. Almost a Zen experience (if I may make the comparison). A book NOT to be read except "with the eyes of the primordial child’s imagination that we harbor inside" and invites us to discover all 600 points present and hidden among the thousand folds of these enchanting and complicated constructions for their cleanliness and architectural design (credit must also be given to Panini Publisher for being able to print on an industrial scale such incredibly complicated patterns!).

In this book, for once, words do not matter at all.

Let only your gaze "enjoy" this book and allow yourself to be transported, without too much thought, by the splendid patterns created by this Mr. Carter.

It's not easy but not impossible either. I know for sure that if you manage, you won't be able to detach from these pages of rare beauty.