Marc-Antoine Mathieu's 'Otto' Explores Art and Identity Through a Graphic Novel

Marc-Antoine Mathieu, a French artist and philosopher, has released a new graphic novel titled 'Otto,' published by Coconino Press-Fandango in Rome in 2019. The book, presented in a refined hardcover edition, follows the story of an artist named Otto who, at the peak of his career, experiences a crisis of meaning. The narrative begins at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, where Otto, known for performances exploring concepts like 'the metaphysics of the double,' finds himself in a dead end. After his parents' death, he discovers a trunk containing detailed documentation of his childhood, which he uses to obsessively reconstruct his first seven years. The story employs a Möbius strip structure to reflect on free will and reality. Mathieu uses techniques like zoom and vertical parentheses to disrupt linear reading. This is the first of Mathieu's books translated into Italian.