Comments on: Never Been

Never Been

TimTypeZed — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:18:00 -0800

A visual description of a year in the life of a fictional Eastern European village sometime around the early twentieth century. To explore "Never Been" click and drag the story. An article from the BBC on the artist, Stuart Kolakovic, and this project. Via Drawn!

By: Marie Mon Dieu

Marie Mon Dieu — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:42:12 -0800

Wow, that's pretty cool. I followed the whole thing and was kind of sorry when it ended. I bet you'd find something new every time you look at it. Great find.

By: danman_d

danman_d — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:43:25 -0800

wow! this is beautiful. i've never experienced any "web-based art" that has drawn me in quite like this one did. pay attention, as nearly every character has a storyline.

By: loiseau

loiseau — Sun, 04 May 2008 05:12:16 -0800

Neat!

By: Miko

Miko — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:23:02 -0800

THis is very, very cool in so many ways. The presentation of good illustration in the web medium is fantastic. It's an online extension of the tradition of wordless books. And it's a storytelling site that not only presents a story of its own, but invites storymaking by its 'readers' - I couldn't help narrating storylines to myself as I looked at the characters, the teacher with his books, the old drunk, the couple dancing under the lanterns. If I were still teaching I'd want to find some way to incorporate this into an assignment. Really neat! Thanks.

By: notsnot

notsnot — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:41:46 -0800

Oh wow. He got the eastern-European sparkly-fancy pre-Christian style down *perfect*.

By: deafmute

deafmute — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:58:41 -0800

Exceedingly lovely.

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 04 May 2008 10:35:10 -0800

Great stuff. Rummaging around his website I found his blog.

By: lilkeith07

lilkeith07 — Sun, 04 May 2008 10:41:17 -0800

That was amazing. Certainly a new way to "read" a story.

By: Kid Charlemagne

Kid Charlemagne — Sun, 04 May 2008 10:54:39 -0800

I kept expecting it to come full circle, where the girl who did the wash became the old lady who was brushing her hair back towards the beginning.

By: subatomiczoo

subatomiczoo — Sun, 04 May 2008 10:58:20 -0800

I like how he represented the "hauntings"

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 04 May 2008 11:09:35 -0800

As stated in the BBC article, 'Never Been' was exhibited in the gallery at Projekts MCR. I found a photo of the installation. Kolakovic credits his brother with bringing the work online.

"I want to say a massive huge thank you to my genius graphic designer brother, Adam Kolakovic, for figuring out a way to get this all online for me! He's the most rippingest designer in town!"

By: Pants!

Pants! — Sun, 04 May 2008 11:25:46 -0800

Wow, really incredible. I want to go do it again to follow each character.

By: milestogo

milestogo — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:13:27 -0800

Best of the web.

By: telstar

telstar — Sun, 04 May 2008 16:34:18 -0800

Way to use the interface in a novel way. Very nice.

By: medeine

medeine — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:33:07 -0800

This is wonderful. I am such a nerd for pretty much anything Eastern European, so this is right up my alley. Thanks for posting this.

By: danman_d

danman_d — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:58:28 -0800

@Miko: If I followed the storyline right, I think the old drunk is the same guy as the man dancing with the girl under the lanterns. Am I mistaken?

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:56:50 -0800

What, no pogrom? I was expecting a pogrom.