Reset Modernity I [PDF]

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A PROCESS RECORD FROM A FRANGIBLE SURFACE Claude Marzotto and Maia Sambonet (obelo)

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LET ' S 0 PEN A 1920 S Encyclopedie Larousse at the entry "Diagram": "Figure graphique, propre Ii representer un phenomene determine. (Syn. de GRAPH IQ.!:!E.)" [Graphic image specifically representing a particular phenomenon. (Syn. ofGRA PH Ie.)) (see fig. I) . Let's place this definition side by side with the Diagram of Forces by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy in a 1939 photog ram, (re)presenting the impression of a creased piece of paper - an example of the "spacetime diagrams" that the author of Vision in Motion (1947) came to recognize in every line ofa drawing, every vein of a leaf, or every crack of peeling paint - (eventually in any visible configuration) (see fig. 2). Let us then expand our visual reservoir to include the series Phenomena (Les Phenomenes) , the extraordinary "atlas" oflithographs produced by Jean Dubuffet between 1958 and 1962, a collection ofimpressionssurlevifincludingsoil, rocks, wall textures, and incrustations (see fig. 3) . As the safety distance of drawing collapses, the graphic surface may turn into a receptacle of intended or accidental collisions and rubbing of matter. This gives way to another kind of diagram, made of imprints that report some hidden characteristics of a physical interaction on its planar surface. As, for example, in Max Ernst's frottages , where the printed outcome, although it may be faithful to its origin, may also disclose the wonder of an unexpected landscape .

CLA UDE MARZOTTo ,designer,and M AlA SAMBO NET,

visual artist, live and work as a designer duo in Milan.Their sntdio 0 BELO is the space where they conduct an open inquiry into the processes of image production.Since 20l2 , they

collaborate on editorial,visual identity, arid graphic design projects. Ongoing experimentation with tools and languages

provides them with material to share through academic teaching and workshops for adults and children. obelo is graphics, workshop, and research.

This is the grou nd we moved on when we were asked to release the telluric image of cracked soil to embed this publication's cover. Now let us take from our desk a European standard A4 sheet of paper, lay it on a wooden board, and build a frame around it by nailing some crossbars along its sides. It's nowtime to move the sheet across the board and keep multiplying the frames until we achieve a grid that covers the entire working area. We can then prepare some cement paste and pour it to fIll the internal spaces of this foundation . Looking for a sundry outcome, we vary the mixture for every casting by blending each time different quantities of sand and other aggregates: dust, filaments , soil, dirt, debris . The A4areas start to take shape. A few days later we remove from the open timber frames a series of A4 sheets, solidified into irregular

A PROCESS RECORD FROM A FRANGIBLE SURFACE

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