In the Shadow of Sun Mountain: The Psychology of Othering and the Origins of Evil & Book Print

Details about the book:
Size: 8" x 10" Hardcover
Adhesive casebound, full-color printing, 384 pages, 80 lb. Satin Text
Cover: Full-color printing (outside), Gloss Lamination (outside)
End Papers: Stock Black

From the back cover:

”In the Shadow of Sun Mountain is a profound exploration of creativity's relationship with death. Quinn Jacobson takes readers on a deeply personal journey through the labyrinth of human existence.

Drawing from Ernest Becker's groundbreaking work on death anxiety and Jacobson’s own experiences as a visual artist, he illuminates how the creative process serves as both shield and sword against our inevitable mortality.

When we create, are we simply building elaborate immortality projects? Or does art offer something more—a way to stare unflinchingly into the abyss? Through intimate reflections and philosophical inquiry, Jacobson examines how artists navigate the terrain of existence differently, transforming terror into transcendence.

Part memoir, part philosophical treatise, this book interweaves terror management theory with vivid accounts from his artistic practice, revealing how creativity might be our most honest response to the burden of consciousness.

For anyone who has ever wondered about the relationship between making art and making peace with mortality, these pages offer not answers, but companionship in the questioning.”

The book contains wet collodion, dry collodion, photogenic drawings, platinum-palladium prints, cyanotypes, argyrotypes, kallitypes, collodio-chloride prints, RA-4 reversal direct color positive prints, as well as acrylic and mixed media paintings.

I personally sign each book before shipping it. I'm producing a limited run of 250 books. The books are printed in the USA through Mixam Printing in Chicago, Illinois. If you live outside of CONUS, international shipping is available for an additional $35 USD.

A Special Offer

You’ll not only receive my book but also a signed, printed copy of its cover. The image found on page 234, “Deer Antlers,” is a whole plate (6.5” x 8.5”) palladium print from a wet collodion negative, 2022.” The image is a signed Mixam book print. It’s an 8” x 10 print on 100 lb. paper.

I found the deer antlers on the property in Colorado. I placed them in the L. Posey (Ute artist) pot and made this wet collodion negative (platinum-palladium print).

This image is one of my favorite photographs from the book (obviously it’s the cover). It relates to the Peter Wessel Zapffe story (page 235 of the book). In his essay, “The Last Messiah,” Peter Wessel Zapffe uses the story of the Irish elk to illustrate his concept of the human condition as an evolutionary mistake. He compares the elk's oversized antlers, which ultimately led to its extinction, to human consciousness, arguing that it's a burden that causes suffering and existential dread.