Visions of the Now 2017
In September 1966, the festival and congress Visioner av Nuet (“Visions of the Present”) took place in Stockholm. The event aimed to investigate the impact of technology on humanity, society and art. Computing was only in its infancy, yet discussing its consequences and exploring what it would mean to make use of it artistically was considered paramount at that time. Almost half a century later, artist Anna Lundh produced an updated version of the festival, based on research into the event from 1966, to reconsider its original concerns in a world fully immersed in the technology that in 1966 was called “the new”. What lies in the “and” of art and technology now? Who is occupied with technology and its role in society? Which values do we want to maintain, and which should we challenge? Lundh’s festival, Visions of the Now, took place on 24–26 May 2013 and gathered over thirty international artists, musicians, theorists and scientists, in a series of lectures, panels, open discussions, art and music performances.
For the 2013 festival, Konst & Teknik designed a catalogue, titled Catalogue (!), containing — among other things — essays and scans of the correspondance regarding the 1966 festival. The catalogue was distributed to the festivals’ visitors and signed with today’s date using a inkjet printer pen. The addition of a second catalogue, titled Proceedings, was added with a series of documentation photos and an introduction letter to an archival box, released in September 2017 by Sternberg Press.
Both Catalogue and Proceedings reference heavily the researched material in its design choices in its usage of the original letterhead font (Bank Gothic), typewriter fonts and more, while still trying to keep the box current — an attempt to blend the past with the future in its approach to (printing) technology.
2 Comments on “Visions of the Now 2017”
It’s difficult enough to transfer fonts from metal type to digital. However, adding characters later can sometimes have fatal consequences, as the large SZ ligature of the ß shows when placed next to an A: the line widths are often completely unadjusted, as the ParaType version shows. And this despite the fact that ParaType gets the data sets from Bitstream.
The ligature of the small ß also leaves something to be desired. Although the line widths are acceptable here, it is visually too small. If one don’t want to do the work, you shouldn’t try it. Sales are not an end in themselves.
Kurt, I’ve published your comment because you have valuable insights to share. Take note, however, that this is not the right place for such general font critique: this page is about Konst & Teknik’s design for Visions of the Now 2017 – and there is far and wide no eszett to see.
Furthermore, you didn’t mention that your observation is about Bank Gothic. The shown project uses four different typefaces. I, for one, do realize that Bank Gothic is the only design of these to be adapted from metal type, but others may not. Also, you refer to a specific version of this typeface, which may or may not be the one used here.
For the future, please be explicit, and stay on topic. Thank you.