The West Wing

"Yeah, they’re a sort of perfect contrast aren’t they? The book by Gorey I’ve chosen is The West Wing , which I first saw when I was at college in Edinburgh. And it was amazing. It was a real revelation. They were obviously picture books for adults, they were obviously not comics. And I didn’t know anything about them. They were just so unusual. I mean, once you really think about them it becomes obvious they were done in the 20th century, but they look so old fashioned – they’re set in a pre-20th century, or at least pre-war context, even though they were drawn in the 60s onwards. They’re funny but dark. Everything about them was different from what I’d expected. They weren’t ugly like most comics – even a lot of great comics are ugly, or at least very graphic or bold, very crudely drawn. Whereas Gorey’s drawings are incredibly subtle. I know more of his stuff now, but this was in 1996, and he was out of print in Britain then. They just seemed amazing to me. Look at the design of that cover. He did his own lettering, so beautifully and carefully. Yes. I like the atmosphere of them. I like the packaging. The sense of humour appeals to me as well. This book’s called The West Wing and there are, what, 30 pictures just wandering around a building: pictures of ghosts and mummies and a corpse and a box and various other things. It’s very like my work. It could be slight or boring, but he puts just enough in to intrigue you, to give the atmosphere. You want to make up stories. He’s guiding you towards a feeling."