Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop. .

. . And so I will.
Myself and some friends went to check out the new Alice In Wonderland exhibit at Tate Liverpool. I found it quite fitting that whilst on the train up to Bidston I found myself sitting across from a woman with a goldfish in a jug of water, very Wonderland-esque, curiouser and curiouser!
So when we walked into the ground floor gallery, my heart sank as we were surrounded by modern artworks, and I feared that I had just spent £6 to see an exhibit I could hardly understand. After passing a bundle of sheets with two, god only knows what they were, sticking out of it, neon lit Wonderland related words, we bumped into one of my favourite lecturers who had told us about the exhibit. We spoke for a while about how as illustrators we should remain open minded when it came to work, that it's rare now to see a story that so many people feel inspired by and is ultimately timeless like the adventures of Alice have become. She never fails to inspire me when we've spoken, so with this new outlook we left the modern world and took the lift down the rabbit hole . .

The next floor immediately felt like it was going to be better, with deep red walls littered with mad quotes that seemingly made so much sense. It was the Wonderland exhibit that you'd hope for. There were oil paintings of little girls daydreaming whilst immersed in books, a chance to see the real Alice and incredible originals by Dodgson (Carroll) himself.
My favourite (albeit brief) part was two old looking armchairs pushed away into a corner of the gallery next to a small table that was filled with just a few of the different interpretations that Alice in Wonderland has inspired. I would have loved to have sat there all day looking at these books that ranged from original illustrations, graphic novel format and Suzy Lees bizarre photo-illustration picture book.

To be able to see how one story is able to inspire so many others to recreate it is extraordinary, the exhibit shows just a few of the books, illustrations, surrealist movements and many more forms of art. I think Alice In Wonderland is so insane that it makes sense to people. There's no right or wrong way in which you can interpret it, whether it's as a nightmare or an adventure, a coming of age story or a wake up call. At some point in life, everyone feels lost, whether it's for a brief moment or a lifetime and Alice stumbling through Wonderland speaks (to me atleast) of a journey. This may only be my interpretation of it, but isn't that great? That people can take different things from just one story, that some may relate to it whilst others can only see it as a fictitious childrens story.
So why has Charles "Lewis Carroll" Dodgson's tales of an alternative world of mystical creatures and crazy characters such a timeless classic? Well, because . . we're all mad here ;)