The publication fuses science and poetry—uniting factual and spiritual dimensions, mirroring their coexistence in humans. Its structure is determined by the scientific dimension. Each chapter is devoted to a specific part of the body. The chapters’ lengths reflect the respective body part’s importance for human perception and action. Scientific data forms the basis of this prioritization: data on the number of sensory and motor brain cells associated with each part of the body, and on how many bits per second of information are perceived through the auditory, olfactory, gustatory, visual, and tactile senses.

The book’s content is informed by the poetic dimension. It consists of visual representations of words that illustrate the importance of the material for the immaterial world. Each page carries an illustration, which thus constitutes an ‘argument’ for physicality’s indispensability for the conscious mind. The terms appear in alphabetical order. Their first letters derive from a poem not only highlighting the body’s role in human consciousness, but also serving as the book’s DNA. Because e.g. the letter ‘b’ occurs twice in the poem, two terms beginning with ‘b’ are visualized in the book, effecting that the the book’s very uniqueness is determined by the poem—just like a human body is determined by its DNA.

An argument index provides orientation. In it, each single body part’s significance for the whole organism is emphasized. The book thus further stands out as a homage to the fact that out of the whole of a body, more results than just the sum of its parts: the individual, the conscious self, the ‘I’ emerges from it. Here, the letter ‘I’ not only signifies the conscious ‘me’, but is also a metaphor for the upright body, and, in its shape on the book cover, portrays the body as the door through which we as humans enter into life (and, at some point, return beyond death).

The typeface ‘Nimbus’ frames the book and guides visitors through it in a clear manner. Presenting itself in capital letters only, it pays homage to the upright human body. Remaining unobtrusive, it lends a stage to the book’s sensual content, allowing each illustration to speak with full impact.

The graphic illustrations depict concrete and abstract elements, with black and white colors symbolizing the duality between the physical and metaphysical. Digital 3D visualizations bridge the gap between the material and immaterial in today’s virtualized age. Renderings blur the line between reality, photography and imagination, creating an impression that unifies the factual with the abstract and the tangible with the spiritual.

As a whole, ‘I’ is a monument to physicality. It opens the gateway to the realization of the spiritual in the physical, embodying the unity of body and mind.

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