I am not the red giant - from Cheryl Penn

[Marie Wintzer]

When I found this envelope in my mail the other day I thought that Cheryl's book chapter had finally made it to Japan. But as I opened it clearly said "I am not the red giant". My disappointment wouldn't last for long though, because I knew I had an outstanding piece of art in my hands.
And anyway, it's well known that giants are not to be trusted. He says that he isn't, but I think he might well be The Giant. His face is beautiful, but I can sense loneliness and tiredness in his wise blue eyes. Has the Giant given up on Babel?

Babel lay
abandonned
red
alone

Is the Giant turning his back on Babel or is he facing it? Where is everyone? Babel used to be so lively...

SYMBOLS
REBEL
CHAOS
ENSUES

Oh, so something DID happen in this Tower! The symbols... a good hearted gift to the inhabitants of Babel. The knowledge of symbols. And yet, look at what happened, a deserted city....
Don't despair, Crimson Giant...

Thank you Cheryl, this "extra-chapter" completes the story in an extra-ordinary way!

[cheryl penn]

Hello Marie - hope the weekend is treating you well! No - I dont have a code - mine is more asemic writing using symbols/glyphs as the medium - the code belongs to Bifidus. Sorry if I caused some confusion there. I am trying to find where she posted her discovery.

[Marie Wintzer]

Oh ho, have I completely missed that the Cheryl-glyphs are an actual code?? I remember reading one of Jen's comment saying that she deciphered it, but I thought it was related to the Alexander book, how silly of me. Did Jen post the deciphered glyphs somewhere? Is it as crackable as Bifidus's code? Not in English? More and more interesting....

[cheryl penn]

But nobody's cracked the code!! Jen is the closest so far - she deciphered it, but its not in English :-(

[Marie Wintzer]

Yes, having all the commentary would be interesting, I think it is an important part of the book. I also like the fact that right now the Crimson Giant is scattered all over the world, in tiny pieces of art and tiny pieces of thoughts. I'm so glad to be part of the project.
I like posting the things I get. It is sometimes a bit frustrating because I feel I'm lacking some background knowledge of art, and the limitations of my english. Some people here are my heroes when it comes to blog posts!

[De Villo Sloan]

Marie, I think if we put all the commentary about The Crimsoned Giant together, it would be the longest thread in IUOMA history. What is the source of fascination with this one project? A question for mail-art history. I have enjoyed the way you and Bifidus have both made found poems - at least to me - out of words from the chapter. I want to add I think Cheryl's blog about your triptych is my most favorite read thus far at IOUMA. As ever, thanks for posting and reflecting on what you receive. It makes it a little more fair!

[cheryl penn]

I HOPE your first chapter will be posted today if life does not get too demanding. Otherwise, two other mails-on-the-wind are winging their way. xx