Pulcinella in Hades

About this book

"Pulcinella in Hades is a decent into Hades in the form of an eight foot tall accordion book. The borders of Pulcinella in Hades contains marginalia texts by historical authors, written in longhand by 17 contributors. The text refers to the underworld from different writings. Pulcinella from the Commedia dell'Arte is here a stand in for Orpheus or Christ in a comic harrowing of hell ... The idea of a comedy in Hades hit me when I heard an excerpt from the comic opera Orpheus in the Underworld. Why an underworld journey should be treated as a comedy can perhaps best be explained by the tremendous amount of literature to back up the view that Hell is a merry place. Comic journeys to Hell and Hades are long standing traditions ..."--Artist's statement from Vamp & Tramp website. "In most early printed books there were few indexes, so marginal notes were often printed right in the text which alluded to certain sources or outlined in abbreviated form what the main text was saying. Indeed, no reader of early books can fail to be struck by the delightful marginal ciphers, comments, and drawn hands with pointing fingers used to call attention to certain important passages. Through the study of marginalia we can draw closest to the thoughts of readers from earlier ages -- perhaps even more than through the study of the books themselves ... The margins are the place where the reader speaks back to the text, where alternative ways of thinking spring up around the language of 'official' knowledge"--Vamp & Tramp website.