Trial and Error: The Aviated Efforts of Jean Babtiste de Bomberaque by Øivind Hovland
Trial and Error: The Aviated Efforts of Jean Babtiste de Bomberaque
By Øivind Hovland
Self-Published
We’ve all heard it before: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Øivind Hovland, who lives and works in Bristol, England, gives readers his own eccentric, expressive take on the classic theme in Trial and Error: The Aviated Efforts of Jean Babtiste de Bomberaque. The book has almost no words, instead relying on the power of its art to hold our attention and tell us its story.
The fictional tale follows Jean Babtiste de Bomberaque, an Aix-en-Provence resident and nobleman who is absolutely determined to invent a flying machine. We learn very quickly that his attempts often fail, but he refuses to give up: Pictures of him in various flying contraptions—from hot air balloons to planes that rapidly fall apart—are interspersed with portraits of Bomberaque, at work furiously on plans at his desk or posing proudly with his family. Hovland also shows us Bomberaque’s friends and family and neighbors, whose faces range from awed or concerned to absolutely bored. It’s hard not to like the crazily determined man who pursues his life’s passion with boundless energy, and it’s hard not to be amused when he takes out his neighbor’s fence when he crashes (he snags another neighbor’s laundry line even when he succeeds). Hovland keeps the story fast-paced and fun.
Despite how quickly it moves in the read, Trial and Error is a limited edition art book and a labor-intensive creation. First drawing the pictures, Hovland then covered them all in black and white acrylic, cut and pasted pieces where needed, and finally, photographed the pages and edited them in Photoshop. The result is 36 quirky pages that are alternately funny, touching, and inspiring, filled with sweeping scenes of fictional French countryside and expressive shadows that give trees and airplanes and one determined man new dramatic life.
Unfortunately, because Trial and Error is a limited edition, it is expensive and hard to come by. But check out a few of the book’s pages on Hovland’s website, and perhaps you’ll find that it’s worth the splurge.
–Jillian Steinhauer
Reviews | farfalla1278 June 3, 2008
By Kevin Quinn, December 20, 2008 @ 6:21 am
Hi,
Just wanted to mention that Trial and Error is now available from Tabella Publishing. We met OIvind in the summer and were delighted at the chance to publish his books (’Trial and Error’ and ‘A day in the life of Alfred’ – the latter will be available early 2009) and bring them to a wider audience. You can find more information on our website; please feel free to get in touch
Kevin Quinn
http://www.tabella.co.uk