The Strange Adventures of a Pebble by Ena Johanna Rathgeb
This artist’s book explores memory, migration, and belonging through drawing, writing, textile art, and archival research. Tracing the artist’s grandfather’s journey from a mountain village in southern Poland across post-war Europe, it layers personal reflection with political history, landscape studies, and family artefacts.
The typographic design combines the contemporary serif ABC Gaisyr (with Mono) by Fabian Harb (Dinamo) with the ornate Amster Versal Iluminada by Francisco Gálvez Pizarro (PampaType). This pairing creates a dialogue between modern clarity and historical ornament, underscoring the book’s negotiation of past and present. Chapter headings are hand-drawn, inspired by frescoes on the arcaded ceilings of Via Indipendenza in Bologna, which add a gestural, site-specific element.
The book juxtaposes text with archival photographs, reproductions of artworks, and full-bleed visual material. Layouts range from dense text spreads to spacious pages with floating captions, creating rhythm and breathing room. Images are annotated with precise figure labels, recalling both the language of academic research and the intimacy of a family album.
Printed digitally on Munken Pure 100g/m² and Pashmina Light Grey 120g/m², each copy is hand-bound with silk and wool. The materiality emphasizes tactility and fragility, echoing the themes of displacement and endurance.
Made in an edition of 5 at the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen, 2025.
