Crenshaw's Books & Decks

Waterwise, might be presented as a surreal and apocalyptic story by the editorial house, but that is misleading.The only thing I consider a bit surreal is the cover of the book, and not even that.

Waterwise is the visual narration of the unplanned meeting of two childhood friends, Jimbo and Emily, in their native town. Jimbo is visiting after breaking up with his girlfriend in a crossroads sort of situation in her personal life. Emily is leaving town next day to start a new life and a new job. He is an artist, she is a computer analyst. They couldn't be more different, but they have a strong connection despite not having seen each other since High School. Waterwise is the story of the night these two friends spend together, remembering their childhood, and talking about the past, the present and the future, who they were and what they have become. 

There is no structured plot or ending. The ending left me gasping for closure but some answers can be found in the first pages of the book. The story is more intriguing the more you linger on it.

Waterwise is a book in black and white, with just the cover and the last vignette in colour. I like Orff's chunky drawings and cubist-ish images and the way he depicts water, underwater, and the night. Orff's interiors are enveloping and surround the characters in ways that can be overwhelming and even menacing, but they are also cosy spaces for reflection, places of shared secrets and intimacy, as if the rooms were listening. On the contrary the outdoor images, the night, the water are expansive and joyful areas, they are fluid, they are the ones that show the past and the present lived to the fullest. I love the use of water and fish as a metaphor of life, life is like water in movement, never stopping, never stagnant, always flowing towards the infinite.