Ovid’s Fasti - Dummy Book

Sometime in the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024, I was part of a wonderful group of international artists in the PhMuseum Folio Masterclass 23/24. Over the following months, our discussions, deliberations, introspections, laughter, and thoughtful exchanges led to the birth of my first official dummy book. Using natural leaves infused into kozo paper to evoke a sense of earth, I intended to create a book that feels like the reader has drifted off into a nap on a field under the shade of a tree. From there, they’re transported into a liminal dream world, where ancient gods and goddesses walk sacred grounds woven into the modern landscape. In this dream, they journey from place to place, visiting ancient ruins, and sacred sites, and encountering interpretations of divine beings, until night finally arrives.

The sequencing of images is based on the idea of a day trip - beginning with warm-toned images that reflect the start of the day and moving toward cooler, darker images that signify the approach of night.

This dummy book is something I consider a personal offering to Janus, the ancient Roman two-faced god of duality and transitions; he also embodies the in-between spaces, like the threshold between past and present. Very coincidentally, I created only two official dummy books during the masterclass, and they were shown at PhMuseum Days 2024 in Italy as part of the Folio showcase, and more recently at the Singapore International Photography Festival Photobook showcase. In a way, I feel this wonderful coincidence has completed the loop, and now the work exists in perfect harmony in the world.

To end this post, I’d like to share a phrase that resonated with me from Sybren Kuiper, a Dutch graphic designer and one of the guest speakers of the 23/24 masterclass: “A book must be the physical translation of an abstract idea.”

Alvin Ng is part of Issue 17 by Guest Editor Torbjørn Rødland.

Check out his Artist Feature Ovid’s Fasti.