Letter and Image

Work of Robert Massin (above)

Letter and Image is a book I have been directed towards and is written by Robert Massin. Massin is a french designer best known for his seminal works with expressive typography, namely, La Cantatrice chauve (translated as The Bald Prima Donna or The Bald Soprano), and has been influential to many designers including the likes of Paula Scher.

Some interesting ideas emerged whilst reading the book. Massin highlights the idea that the letter is lost within the word, the job of the letter is to be perceptible yet invisible, silent, and yet a mental projection of speech, "a letter on paper has only the weight of ink" it's principle job to be as unobtrusive as possible, but what happens when the letter becomes obtrusive? if we dissect the word, untie the links between letters and let them stand alone like a building or a monument. Removed from the word and it's semantic implications, the letter becomes an entity in itself. At what point does an image become a letter?or a letter become an image? The fine line between the two can be seen here

This is something I wish to explore within this project.The idea of letters having their own sense of space, perspective, shadow, time, playing with light and dark. The letter as image, as architecture, as experience.

Typographically Surreal.