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The front cover of Sex is the
Antigravity of Metamorphosis at left shows
the Montreal skyline seen from Mount
Royal. It shows a realistic rose and an
emblematic collage flower growing out of a
substrate of a chaotic light show art. Due
to a happy coincidence of the behavior of
ink, there is, in the printed version a
halucination in which one sees the outline
of a face in the rose, and the rose seems
to be having a smiling though slightly
chagrined face, and seems to be
symbolically putting its arm around the
shoulder of the emblematic flower. This
reflects the way nature provides an
atmosphere of care among its creations.
The main them of the collage flower is
the still point at the center of chaotic
video feedback ( this is written about in
the chapter Frames and Feedback; it
is a bookmovie of a lecture). At the
center of the still point is a phallic
glyph floating on a Martian planet.
Exploded out of the center are two female
figures in flight. These Venusian elements
are themes of the book, the relationship
between the main female character and her
friend, and the humerous chapter I Am
Not Either, Lesbophobic.
The back cover is done in spiritual
Buddhist colors. These colores also
reflect the spectral hues of New England
Autumn. The back cover shows several story
elements in frames. A girl sucking a
lolipop, a green Mercedes sedan, Staynor
Park in Montreal. The theme of frames is
further amplified by the interlocking
frames of a Borromian knot. Inside the
center of the knoted frames is a symbol
from the chapter Intimations of
Archetypal Light, This symbol, based
on the number 4 is the name of a sound
poem, the recitation and performance of
which causes the main character to have a
deep intuition into the pastoral symphony
of the world, and is a turning point.
The frames within frames reflect the
narratology of the work, in that there are
several specimens of text: poems, letters,
diary entries, stories which demonstrate
more directly the point of view of the
teller. The knotted frames are placed atop
a lovely hand-stiched sequined beadwork,
representative of the handiwork of hippie
girls.
The sequence of scenes across the
mididle shows various Montreal landmarks
in the slant light of Fall, and the
spectral coloring of the forest that time
of year. These landmarks (Welensky's, the
Strand theatre ) St. Dominic's Church are
transgenerationally significant and are
elements of the novel.
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