Today we present the book which inspired us to give our pop-up its name. It’s the book called The Blind Men and the Elephant. The book is a collaboration between Xiao Longhua - visual artist from Shanghai and Lv Ming - book designer from Beijing. The book is adapted from the buddhist story Story of King Mirror-Faced and an ancient Hmong song Butterfly Mother.
Once upon a time in a small kingdom, there was a four people who were born blind. They’d never seen an elephant in their lives and were very curious and would like to know how an elephant looked like. King Mirror, the god of the kingdom, then as his attendant to bring about an elephant. The four people touched the elephant eagerly to try to find out. But of corse they touched four different parts of the elephant and came to four different conclusions. The one that touched the trunk claimed that elephant was like a pipe. The one that touched the ear couldn’t agree less and believed that elephant was like a huge fan. The one that touched legs thought that he knew the best. Elephant was a huge pillar, he said. The last one touched a swinging tale and he insisted that Elephant was more of a rope. The four blind men started to argue with each other and never got to settle on an agreement. Then King Mirror came and opened their eyes by joining the four shapes they drew conclusions to into a butterfly. The four people now saw the elephant with their own eyes. They saw that none of them was totally wrong, but none of them was totally right either.
In such a big and diverse world which also changes all the time. We are all limited by our own experiences and situations, which make us all a bit a blind. How do we suppose to be able to get a bigger picture of the truth?
The story wasn’t just about visual, so the artist invites the readers not just to read the book, but to touch as well. The cover has a deep blue colour that changes with the temperature. If your hand is warm enough (which is not always the case in this season), after touching the cover, the trace of your palm and fingers will linger on the cover.
The whole book was illustrated in a nostalgic blueprint style, which also reflects the over rational way of thinking which we use to simplify the process of our judgment. We jump to conclusions everyday, just like the blind men did.
In the end of the book there are also two pages of cut-outs of the four shapes. Now again the readers are invited to do something other than just reading the book. You can create your own monsters with the shapes as King Mirror did.
The book comes with a jacket and has the shape just like an LP. It’s one of the most important book in our calendar, and it’s our elephant in the store.