Joe Average is an original artist's book by Jennifer Gibney of Victoria, Australia, a painter and a sculptor, with a background in graphics and book illustration.
The hand-drawn book features a jester-like character, Joe Average, who appears throughout the accordion-folded pages in black, sepia, and sanguine ink. He also accompanies the book as a porcelain sculpture with the word "ordinary" repeated over and over on his clothing and hat.
The story follows Joe as he is overwhelmed by the pressures of life. He is bombarded from all sides by the trappings of modern society, including ringing telephones, shouting radios, the "Net" that traps him, and the TV that shows him "reality." Joe, we are told, "must get out of his box," and he does so by opening a book, which "opens a dream," allowing him to escape the distractions of the world into the endless possibilities of his imagination.
Joe Average: a parable for our time.
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