Designer Irma Boom has produced a 300-page book without any ink. The book — commissioned in honor of Chanel No. 5 perfume — communicates the sensuous qualities of the perfume without using either the perfume itself or the smell of ink:
And despite the temptation to infuse the pages with the smell itself, Boom says the idea was too literal, too obvious. “The concentration is on the images, text and tactility.” she says. “If you leaf through the book, you can almost smell the perfume—and I think that’s, in this case, much more interesting and thought-provoking.” (Source)
How might you compare this experiment in book-making with the use of ink and blank spaces in House of Leaves? How does House of Leaves thematize and characterize ink within its narratives? (Consider tattoo ink, or the ink that Johnny spills; consider the menacing inky darkness of the House.) You can compare all of the references to ink in House of Leaves here.
Literature In the Digital Age 