Diary of a Madman


This set of work was inspired by Nikolai Gogol’s short story from 1835.

Poprishchin, a rural character with ambitions, comes to the city to work as a clerk, sharpening quills in a government office.

In the diary, his fears of inadequacy are expressed through snobbery and increasing delusions of grandeur, as he slips into fantasy and madness.

At its extremes, Poprishchin’s snobbery includes misogyny, antisemitism, Islamophobia and conspiracy theory, and so he presents an early example of the modern man.

Susanna’s immersion in this darkly humorous text grew out of a collaboration and shared enthusiasm for Gogol with the actor Christopher Eccleston, involving many conversations about the theatrical possiblities in the story.

In 2018, Christopher hosted an exhibition of the work, and gave a reading from the book.

The exhibition included a visualisation of the entire narrative as a painted wooden book, as well as three theatrical picture boxes, a series of paintings, and a set of papier maché heads, all inspired by surreal and absurd imagery from the text.

An English-language translation of the story illustrated with ink-blot drawings was published to accompany the show.

















Photographs by Justin Piperger.