A Disease of Language

A Disease of Language is the 2005 collection of adaptations by Eddie Campbell of two of Alan Moore's performances, "The Birth Caul" (1999) and "Snakes and Ladders" (2001). It is rounded by a 2002 interview of Moore conducted by Campbell for Egomania 2 and sketches. It is published by Palmano Bennett in association with Knockabout.

The Birth Caul

In 1995 Alan Moore had recently "come out" as a practicing magician. He did a spoken word performance called The Birth Caul (A Shamanism of Childhood) with music by David J and Tim Perkins, which was soon released on CD. It was staged at the Old County Court in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 18 November 1995.

The birth caul is a thin piece of placenta sometimes present at birth covering the face like a veil. It is kept traditionally as a good luck charm. When Moore's mother dies he finds her birth caul amongst her effects. The Caul represents a map of humanity which Moore proceeds to read from. [ [http://bugpowder.com/words/birthcaul.html The Birth Caul ] ] The text is essentially an examination of the connections between our language, our identity and our perceptions of the world. The narration regresses from early adulthood, adolescence, childhood, infancy and prenatal existence in a quest for a primitive consciousness existing before language. [Marc Singer, Unwrapping the Birth Caul in Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman] Ultimately the quest aborts as there are no words to describe that consciousness.

In 1998, after completing "From Hell", Campbell visited Moore and he played the CD recording to him. He asked Alan Moore if he could do a pictorial setting and he published it himself in 1999. [Eddie Campbell in A Disease of Langue introduction]

In 2003 an essay, "Unwrapping the Birth Caul", written by English teacher and comics reviewer Marc Singer, was published in "Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman".

nakes and Ladders

This was a performance given on the 10th of April 1999 at Conway Hall in Red Lion Square, with music by Tim Perkins. It deals with the disinterment of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Siddell and with Arthur Machen's visionary experiences. [Annalisa Di Liddo (2005) "Transcending Comics: Crossing the Boundaries of the Medium in Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's "Snakes and Ladders". "International Journal of Comic Art". 7 (1). 530-545.]

The Eddie Cambbell adaptation was published in 2001. The CD was released in 2003.

Publication

*"A Disease of Language" (adapted by Eddie Campbell, from "The Birth Caul" and "Snakes and Ladders" with interview from "Egomania Magazine", Knockabout Comics, hardcover, 160 pages, 2006, ISBN 0861661532) previously released as:
**"The Birth Caul" (1999), Eddie Campbell Comics; performance art piece adapted for comics by Eddie Campbell
**"Snakes and Ladders" (2001), Eddie Campbell Comics; performance art piece adapted for comics by Eddie Campbell

ee also

*List of published material by Alan Moore

References