SignLanguage [Paperback]

Viggo Mortensen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2002

This long awaited second publication by the highly recognized film actor and artist/poet, Viggo Mortensen melds his acutely sensitive ability to intertwine words, paintings and photography into one lyrical conceptual landscape. Working like a personal diary, SignLanguage, takes us on a visual journey into the soul of Mortensen's creative forces. His diary-based photographs, taken while filming 'The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Rings' become dream-like landscapes shrouded in mystery and suspense while his multi-layered paintings entwine themselves around stanzas of poetry. The melding of all three forces allows the reader to become acutely aware of the details surrounding the artists existence, a multiple of split-second images burned into the mind of a thousand different places.

SignLanguage exquisitely features extensive color and black and white reproductions of both his photographic works and his intensely personal collage based paintings, partly intertwined in an informative essay by international critic and poet, Kevin Power. Special highlights also include unique photographs by Mortensen while on location during the filming of 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

An established film actor, with roles in A Perfect Murder and Gus Van Sant's Psycho and most recently a leading role

in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Viggo Mortensen has also proven himself to be an accomplished poet and artist.

Product Details

• Paperback: 84 pages
• Publisher: Smart Art Pr; 3rd edition (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889195499
• ISBN-13: 978-1889195490
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #493,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars See with Mortensen's eyes for a bit with Signlanguage, May 22, 2002

By 

Rae Schwarz "post-modern Renaissance woman" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SignLanguage (Paperback)

Viggo Mortensen, although best known as an actor, has been carrying his camera constantly and taking photographs since he was a teenager. His "eye" is unique, finding tiny moments and details in the midst of the busy world and capturing them, often unusually framed or cropped, in ways that are unconventional. People, color and places are photographed in ways that draw you into the pictures, wishing you could ask Mortensen where he was, or what it was that he saw that made him choose to take the picture he took.

Painting is a more recent artistic expression for him, and he has commented that he likes to take works in progress with him on film shoots, working on them in his off-set hours, letting the different colors and places shape what he paints. Images, words and colors are combined in his canvases, often layered, reworked and scratched over.

The collection of photos and painting in SIGNLANGUAGE are primarily from 1999-2001, during which time Mortensen was working in New Zealand during the shoots for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Portraits include some of his costars, landscapes are often from locations throughout New Zealand. Some of the most interesting portraits are from Viggo's favorite ongoing subject: his son Henry. The paintings are most abstract, blending written words, color and shapes.

The images in this collection are full of wonder and color. If you can't catch one of the gallery shows of Mortensen's work, this is an excellent way to share his travels and vision.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is NOT out of print!, August 24, 2002

By 

Leslie (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SignLanguage (Paperback)

The second edition of Signlanguage (ISBN 1-889195-49-9) is out and is available through the publisher's website: I highly recommend it!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the one if you're after the Lord of the Rings pix!, July 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: SignLanguage (Paperback)

I have most of Viggo's books. This is the one you're after if you want the pictures he took while in New Zealand for Lord of the Rings. He has some just beautiful pictures of the cast as well as the country in this one. The ones of Elijah Wood (this is the one where he's in the snow), Karl Urban (I adore this picture. I captures his eyes so well.), & Bernard Hill are the best ones. Having been to NZ, I recognized a lot of the nature shots. They are beautifully done. It also has pictures of Dennis Hopper and several of Viggo's son Henry. It also has quite a bit of his paintings. I recommend this one as well as "Coincidence of Memory". To see what the pictures and paintings look like, I suggest going to viggophile.com and click on "creativity". She has quite a few examples of all his books.