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Fully Coherent Plan
CLOSE YOUR EYES
I invite you to imagine a plan for a new and better society where everything is very coherent and makes a lot of sense and nothing is confusing or awful
OPEN YOUR EYES
No need to imagine. Here is the plan. The plan is illustrated. The plan is quite complicated. But not too complicated. I think you will be thrilled by it. I am certain you will be thrilled by it.
No need to read massive volumes or use the internet
JUST READ THIS
ONLY THIS
I invite you to imagine a plan for a new and better society where everything is very coherent and makes a lot of sense and nothing is confusing or awful
OPEN YOUR EYES
No need to imagine. Here is the plan. The plan is illustrated. The plan is quite complicated. But not too complicated. I think you will be thrilled by it. I am certain you will be thrilled by it.
No need to read massive volumes or use the internet
JUST READ THIS
ONLY THIS
256 pages, Hardcover
First published May 3, 2018
8 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
David Shrigley
74 books125 followersDavid Shrigley is a Glasgow-based artist. He attended City of Leicester Polytechnic's Art and Design course in 1987-1988, and subsequently studied Environmental Art at the Glasgow School of Art from 1988-1991. Shrigley is a lifelong supporter of Nottingham Forest FC.
Although he works in various media, he is best known for his mordantly humorous cartoons released in softcover books or postcard packs.
Like the poet Ivor Cutler, Shrigley finds humour in flat depictions of the inconsequential, the unavailing and the bizarre - although he is far fonder of violent or otherwise disquieting subject matter. Shrigley's work has two of the characteristics often encountered in outsider art - an odd viewpoint, and (in some of his work) a deliberately limited technique. His freehand line is often weak, which jars with his frequent use of a ruler; his forms are often very crude; and annotations in his drawings are poorly executed and frequently contain crossings-out (In authentic outsider art, the artist has no choice but to produce work in his or her own way, even if that work is unconventional in content and inept in execution. In contrast, it is likely that Shrigley has chosen his style and range of subject matter for comic effect).
As well as authoring several books, he directed the video for Blur's 'Good Song' and also for Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's 'Agnes Queen of Sorrow'. From 2005 he has contributed a cartoon for The Guardian's Weekend magazine every Saturday. He is represented in Paris by the by Yvon Lambert Gallery, and in 2005 designed a London Underground leaflet cover.
David Shrigley co-directed an animate!-commissioned film with award-winning director Chris Shepherd called Who I Am And What I Want, based on Shrigley's book of the same title. Kevin Eldon voiced its main character, Pete. He also produced a series of drawings and t-shirt designs for the 2006 Triptych festival, a Scottish music festival lasting for three to four days in three cities. He has also designed twelve different covers for Deerhoof's 2007 record, Friend Opportunity.
The name of Jason Mraz's third studio album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. is a reference to a piece of art by Shrigley which caught Mraz's attention while he was travelling through Scotland
Although he works in various media, he is best known for his mordantly humorous cartoons released in softcover books or postcard packs.
Like the poet Ivor Cutler, Shrigley finds humour in flat depictions of the inconsequential, the unavailing and the bizarre - although he is far fonder of violent or otherwise disquieting subject matter. Shrigley's work has two of the characteristics often encountered in outsider art - an odd viewpoint, and (in some of his work) a deliberately limited technique. His freehand line is often weak, which jars with his frequent use of a ruler; his forms are often very crude; and annotations in his drawings are poorly executed and frequently contain crossings-out (In authentic outsider art, the artist has no choice but to produce work in his or her own way, even if that work is unconventional in content and inept in execution. In contrast, it is likely that Shrigley has chosen his style and range of subject matter for comic effect).
As well as authoring several books, he directed the video for Blur's 'Good Song' and also for Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's 'Agnes Queen of Sorrow'. From 2005 he has contributed a cartoon for The Guardian's Weekend magazine every Saturday. He is represented in Paris by the by Yvon Lambert Gallery, and in 2005 designed a London Underground leaflet cover.
David Shrigley co-directed an animate!-commissioned film with award-winning director Chris Shepherd called Who I Am And What I Want, based on Shrigley's book of the same title. Kevin Eldon voiced its main character, Pete. He also produced a series of drawings and t-shirt designs for the 2006 Triptych festival, a Scottish music festival lasting for three to four days in three cities. He has also designed twelve different covers for Deerhoof's 2007 record, Friend Opportunity.
The name of Jason Mraz's third studio album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. is a reference to a piece of art by Shrigley which caught Mraz's attention while he was travelling through Scotland
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 10, 2019
The Scottish Shrigley went to art school, as did Jeffery Brown, and both deliberately create crudely drawn pen and ink images for comic effect. Here the effect works well paired with his mock-epic philosophical and political project: To show his plan to save the world. It's droll humor, clearly making fun of the fact that he has no plan and the book lacks any coherence whatsoever. Shrigley is not into coherence. That's not who is professionally or personally. Here's some images from it:
https://elephant.art/david-shrigley-p...
It's pretty funny. It's set up, as many of his books are, as a kind of mock-juvenile self-help book:
Random topics:
Dinosaurs: We should learn from their mistakes.
Worms and society.
Poisonous fruit: Why do they sell it? It should be illegal.
The scourge of mispronunciation: It must be eradicated.
Be friends with degenerates.
Sunbathing is also work.
Two horses just saying "neigh" to each other.
Droll, silly, as I said, mocking the whole idea, perhaps, of "solutions" to problems, or any suggestion that HE can do this, anyway. Am I wrong to associate the drollness with absurd Brit humor, like Monty Python, or am I just limited in my sense of the range of British humor? Either way, I liked it. I didn't spend a lot of time on it; I didn't think he would expect me to. Shrigley comes off as a humorous slacker; would he spend more than 3o minutes with a book? I don't think so!
https://elephant.art/david-shrigley-p...
It's pretty funny. It's set up, as many of his books are, as a kind of mock-juvenile self-help book:
Random topics:
Dinosaurs: We should learn from their mistakes.
Worms and society.
Poisonous fruit: Why do they sell it? It should be illegal.
The scourge of mispronunciation: It must be eradicated.
Be friends with degenerates.
Sunbathing is also work.
Two horses just saying "neigh" to each other.
Droll, silly, as I said, mocking the whole idea, perhaps, of "solutions" to problems, or any suggestion that HE can do this, anyway. Am I wrong to associate the drollness with absurd Brit humor, like Monty Python, or am I just limited in my sense of the range of British humor? Either way, I liked it. I didn't spend a lot of time on it; I didn't think he would expect me to. Shrigley comes off as a humorous slacker; would he spend more than 3o minutes with a book? I don't think so!
June 26, 2020
The art work in here is terrible. I mean really bad. Reading this felt like being stuck somewhere between bad poetry and a really bad game show, that no one quite gets. As for the text, well it was a bit like lazy, half-baked philosophy, without no clear points or conclusions. This was humourless, charmless and made no coherent point whatsoever and I have no idea how this managed to get published.
August 10, 2022
It’s safe to say the fully coherent plan lacked clarity but offered some scattered insight into society.
September 29, 2018
More Shrigley madness. This one comes with many pages of handwritten lists that could read as absurdist poems of the highest order. Like...
Things That Can Be Used as Currency
Shoes
Butterflies
Haircuts
Hair
Some of these drawings are more cute, or even more positive than anything I've seen from him before. But mostly, as usual, Shrigley is darkly hilarious, and a man we should all fear.
Things That Can Be Used as Currency
Shoes
Butterflies
Haircuts
Hair
Some of these drawings are more cute, or even more positive than anything I've seen from him before. But mostly, as usual, Shrigley is darkly hilarious, and a man we should all fear.
May 7, 2025
I went into Fully Coherent Plan expecting Shrigley’s usual quirky humor and sharp, ironic wit—but this one just didn’t land for me. While the absurdity and randomness that define his style were definitely present, they felt repetitive and lacking in real substance this time around. A lot of the pieces seemed more like filler than thought-provoking satire, and the novelty wore off quickly. There were a few clever moments that made me smile, but overall, it didn’t feel like it had anything new or meaningful to say. It might work better as a coffee table book you flip through occasionally, rather than something you read cover to cover. For fans of his work, it’s more of the same—but that might not be enough.
December 10, 2024
David Shrigley's world is so strange there are no adequate words. Some of the works here made me hoot with laughter. Others are darker and others are just utterly puzzling but I always relish the invitation to step into his mind for a little while.
January 1, 2019
Way too many drawn dicks in this book. It's mostly dribble, I liked 2 of the pages.
April 28, 2019
I've been a fan of Shrigley for years but this left me cold. It lacks his usual humour and whimsy.
March 4, 2021
A masterpiece
January 9, 2022
Chaotic and confusing. I liked some of the doodles, but holistically just felt like each page was more absurd than the last.
August 25, 2022
Bleh. Must have been self-published.
July 23, 2023
Yes. I reached enlightenment. And so can you. By reading. But probably not this book. Nevertheless read it. The book must remain.
May 21, 2025
I read this in the graphic novel aisle of my new library and loved it. it's wacky and a tad socialist and that's a winner in my book.
January 10, 2023
Very Funny :)
March 1, 2019
“The problem: You are part of it.”
“Hitch a ride on the garbage truck, or are you too proud?”
“It is not possible to think the unthinkable, so stop trying.”
“The weather is controlled by my cat’s thoughts.”
Social stratification:
The cream rises to the top.
The crud stays at the bottom.
The croutons stay in the middle.
The croutons are made of stale bread.
Should household pets be allowed to vote? Yes.
“Hitch a ride on the garbage truck, or are you too proud?”
“It is not possible to think the unthinkable, so stop trying.”
“The weather is controlled by my cat’s thoughts.”
Social stratification:
The cream rises to the top.
The crud stays at the bottom.
The croutons stay in the middle.
The croutons are made of stale bread.
Should household pets be allowed to vote? Yes.
Read
May 11, 2020Somewhere along the way I read this book, but I forgot to write down when after everything's that happened. Let's say it was March 1st.
I still haven't decided if I think Shrigley is a good kind of weird or an annoying, "that's totally random !" kind of weird, but I liked some of his... "designs" (?) in this. His lists, however, were a chore to read through.
UPDATE: Figured out when I finished reading it. The date was, in fact, March 10.
I still haven't decided if I think Shrigley is a good kind of weird or an annoying, "that's totally random !" kind of weird, but I liked some of his... "designs" (?) in this. His lists, however, were a chore to read through.
UPDATE: Figured out when I finished reading it. The date was, in fact, March 10.
July 3, 2024
maybe it just wasn’t my cup of tea but i’d say don’t waste your time
June 16, 2019
What did I just read?
June 22, 2019
It's cute. But honest, what the fuck.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews