This book is the result of what was created from a journey to a nearby playground. The photographs of the playground began to spark my memories of the playground in Lincoln Park, Jersey City, where I played as a child. The photographs themselves became very reminiscent of industrial material. In black and white the playground became steel and concrete, which is also reminiscent of Jersey City. The images also harken to memories of the board game Chutes and Ladders.


The concept of a turnstile comes from my memories of Jersey City as well, wether its a subway or the playground or a compilation of reflections, really doesn’t matter. The narrative is borrowed from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures Through the Looking Class, because it was based on the characters on the chess board and because of Alice’s mysterious movements from one scene to another. The colorized imagery serves to reinforce the surrealistic aspects of Alice in Wonderland as well as the dream like qualities of reflection.


Combining the narrative, reflections, imagery and form into a large chess piece is the culmination of the project. In the story the Red King is asleep and there is some conjecture as to wether the characters are participants in Alice’s dream or the Red King’s dream. The dichotomy is at the heart of the non-linear form because we just never really know whose dream the characters are participating in. From there the whole piece becomes a metaphor for the journey of life that we are all participating in. As we where children at the playground, we have grown to adults with our memories, the turnstile becomes indicative of all the paths we travel. All conveniently wrapped in the guise of a toy.