I found the inspiration for my idea in the fact that there have been numerous editions of Da Vinci's notebooks published, all with different editors. I exploited my unique role as the editor/designer/author by extracting words and phrases from the original text to create an entirely new book.

The original text appears on the verso page, strikedthrough except for the text I decided to extract which is bolded. The extracted text is set in stanzas of poetical verse on the recto page. It can be read from start to finish as a continuous narrative or as separate poems. I made sure to use only words and phrases that I found in the order that they originally appear. To give you a better idea of what I did: think magnetic poetry. I performed a similar treatment to the original images.

The creative process possessed a balance between a subjectivity of gleaning the words from the original text and an objectivity of following a strict limitation on what words I could use. I curated the poems rather than writing them. I was able to create both serendipitous moments of connection to the original text as well as a different spin on the story of Da Vinci and his notebooks.