"Five Legs", 2020 
Arist's Book/Graphic Novella 
Self-Published, Tel-Aviv
A bilingual Hebrew and English Edition
20x20 cm, soft cover
First Edition 500 copies: June 2020
Second Edition 500 copies: September 2020

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חמש רגליים היא נובלה גרפית בלש פסיכולוגי, ספר אמנית, תערוכת יחיד ועבודת אמנות בפורמט של ספר. הסיפור המרכזי של הנובלה עוסק בתהליך חשיפתו של סוד משפחתי. דרך ייצוגי השפות והזמנים השונים, נגלה הפער בין הנראה לנאמר, בין הנתפש לבלתי נתפש, בין האמת לשקר עד לקריסה בתפישת המציאות
.שהם סמיט, עורכת הספר נתנה לסוגה החדשה הזו שם: נובלה פוליגרפית
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The graphic novella Five Legs is a work of psychological detection, an Artist's Book, a solo exhibition, and a work of art in book format.
The central story of the novella is about the gradual exposure of a family secret. The representations of the various languages and periods of time reveal the gap between what is visible and what is said, between the perceived and the inconceivable, between truth and lies, until perceived reality crumbles. Shoham Smith, the editor of the book who also wrote its prologue, dubbed this new genre a "polygraphic novella."
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Graphic Design and Production: Michal Shapira
Text Editing and Afterword: Shoham Smith
English Version and Editing: Gilah Kahn-Hoffmann
Hebrew Editing: Ruti Klein
Photography and Photo Adaptation to Print: Artscan
Pre-Press and Printing: A.R. Printing Ltd.
Public Relations: ​Shirley Itzhaki 
With the support of The Israel Lottery Council for Culture & Arts
and The Foundation for Independent Artists Established by the Ministry of Culture and Sport.
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ניתן להשיג בחנויות הספרים : סיפור פשוט, המגדלור, חדר קריאה, רובינסון ספרים, אדרבא, מילתא, בית הנסן 
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"Five Legs" Recommendations and Reviews read more

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Yaron Fried, Literature & Culture Supplement, Maariv, September 25, 2020

"A book that is an objet d'art in every way, a rich and challenging exhibition for an audience of one… Five Legs is a wondrous and one-time creation – not exactly a graphic novella, not really an Artist's Book, but perhaps a 'polygraphic novel,' ..... It is definitely worthwhile to undergo this particular investigation, in which the reader is both investigator and interrogee."

 

Riky Cohen, Online Literary Supplement, Ha-Mussach, September 9, 2020

"Something mysterious and unusual happens within the consciousness and in the body when reading Five Legs… Ben-Alon, familiar to the contemporary art lovers for her minimalist drawings, wrote a story (edited by Shoham Smith) that cannot be categorized as a familiar genre in the literary domain or as an "Artist's Book." This is illuminated prose, written in Ben-Alon's inimitable style which seems as though it is a written version of her drawings: condensed, interrupted, one that creates an emotional affect with the absences and holes within it… The dismantling which lies at the foundation of the story, a biographical dismantling which leads to a fundamental identity crisis, and the attempt to rebuild, with the gaping spaces, is the total experience of this book, which shook me up."

 

Zohara Ron, Literature & Culture Supplement, Globes, October 10, 2020

"There are books for which it is worthwhile to make a bit of an effort, and this is one of those instances when the readers are asked to move beyond their comfort zone and join the writer-illustrator on a kind of adventure."

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Reut Barnea, Art and Design Section, Calcalist, August 17, 2020

"The first thing you notice is that this is not an 'ordinary' book: it's a graphic novella, an innovative amalgam of an Artist Book and prose – in which Shinn Ben-Alon is responsible for both the text and the drawings. From the moment you open the book in the unusual way that it opens (upward, like the top of a box), you understand that it holds something different."

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Five Legs

Artist Book/Graphic Novella Photo: Yair Meyuhas