PLINTH
EASE OF PRODUCTION LEADS TO A DIMINISHED SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY - ABUNDANCE LEADS TO PERFUNCTORINESS
3 / PRODUCTIONS
SIGNS FOR SOUNDS
Ewan Clayton
Today the letterform is more widely used as a part of everyday life than it ever has been. Technology has liberated how, where and by whom it can be placed in the world and, most importantly, the relationship between the hand, the pen and paper has been interrupted in favour of the virtual.
More letters, more words, more fingers and thumbs, more keypads, more screens.
Skill has been democratised within a tight, urgent framework of high-speed communication, at the expense of an increasingly traditional dexterity in writing with the hand. The scale of endeavour has stretched wider, encompassing the ephemeral as well as the permanent, the physical and the virtual.
This exhibition draws on statements by those whose daily business has been the manufacture of letters, and whose thoughts have become even more prescient with the advent of digital tools.
'In handwriting, the gesture is inherent' Edward Wright
'The white of the word is the only thing all the various kinds of writing have in common'
Gerrit Noordzij
'Written artefacts evoke a voice' Ewan Clayton
'Letters are signs for sounds' Eric Gill
Each is a commentary on the physical absence of inherent qualities that affect our reading of letterforms, each reminding us that nothing is truly black and white and that writing, and reading, is a multi-layered act.
Sound, gesture and space are the three principles at the heart of this exhibition: the field it covers is therefore broad and encompasses the traditional (or recognisable) calligraphic techniques, albeit in unfamiliar contexts, as well as virtual typography, street art and body type. This in turn encourages the visitor to broaden their understanding of the letterform, its context and its use.
More letters, more words, more fingers and thumbs, more keypads, more screens.
Skill has been democratised within a tight, urgent framework of high-speed communication, at the expense of an increasingly traditional dexterity in writing with the hand. The scale of endeavour has stretched wider, encompassing the ephemeral as well as the permanent, the physical and the virtual.
This exhibition draws on statements by those whose daily business has been the manufacture of letters, and whose thoughts have become even more prescient with the advent of digital tools.
'In handwriting, the gesture is inherent' Edward Wright
'The white of the word is the only thing all the various kinds of writing have in common'
Gerrit Noordzij
'Written artefacts evoke a voice' Ewan Clayton
'Letters are signs for sounds' Eric Gill
Each is a commentary on the physical absence of inherent qualities that affect our reading of letterforms, each reminding us that nothing is truly black and white and that writing, and reading, is a multi-layered act.
Sound, gesture and space are the three principles at the heart of this exhibition: the field it covers is therefore broad and encompasses the traditional (or recognisable) calligraphic techniques, albeit in unfamiliar contexts, as well as virtual typography, street art and body type. This in turn encourages the visitor to broaden their understanding of the letterform, its context and its use.
Brody Neuenschwander
