Typographic Mobiles

May 30, 2009 10:55 AM

"I want our type to jump, scream, whisper and dance..." Ebon Heath and His Visual Poetry. "When I close my eyes I can see the words of great poets like Rakem or Tupac flying thru the air and dancing with the same physicality my body instinctually feels. My mobiles attempt to create a visual sense of rhythm and flow that is alive, not contained." This interview with Heath breaks down his Stereo.type and Purge projects.

From the folks at Yatzer.com.

posted by netbros (8 comments total)

Rakem?
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:43 PM on May 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

Rakem? I hardly know 'im!

That interface is really hard for me to navigate. It makes me feel like my fine motor skills are developed to a 3-year-old level.
posted by nosila at 1:14 PM on May 30, 2009

Some cool stuff, though, by the way.
posted by nosila at 1:14 PM on May 30, 2009

I love the visual of "crystalized words as frozen flowers". This is clear on a visual level, yet also the form of the flower has evolved to fulfill a specific function. All the subservient smaller bio chemical reactions that make up its structure on a molecular level, all co-operating to create a living organism. The form of my type structures are also made to fulfill a specific goal to express the content of words, while made up of smaller ingredients of letters that collectively form our language. The prints do have a frozen quality, since the original works are mobiles that move and can be seen from multiple perspectives in a space. It also is ironic that when these structures are documented they are flattened into 2-dimensional planes, the very antithesis of my initial goal.

This guy prints out letters and arranges them into shapes. He makes stuff that looks cool. But I can't help feeling bullshitted by all this heady prose. "O, the irony of taking a picture of my art!, look how many big words I must use to describe it"

Can your art not stand on its own, without your overwrought commentary?
posted by crayz at 1:19 PM on May 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

I like these.

The mobiles--at first I thought they were 2D digital manipulations. The interview gives a good idea of the craftsmanship--not to mention the design process--involved in creating them.

Yes crayz, the art can stand on its own, but people like to read and talk about art. Too bad that a lot of the talk and writing is in "artspeak", which is to say, not really helpful.

We've had how many decades of concrete/visual poetry, and people are still looking for ways to "read" it.

And there's nothing stopping anyone from responding to it in a non-verbal medium, aurally, via other imagery, etc.
posted by subatomiczoo at 1:52 PM on May 30, 2009

...can't ...stop ...the ...sliding....
posted by fuzzypantalones at 4:46 PM on May 30, 2009

I wanted to like this but the interface gsrwralkarlkjsdlkajsdascñlxzkcnzxcñkmnñzxc{zxckasd{lk
posted by signal at 8:16 PM on May 30, 2009

Spend less time on trying to keep people from stealing your stuff. When I notice how much I hate the interface more than I notice the content, your website sucks, which tends to make me think your art sucks, even if it doesn't.
posted by Enron Hubbard at 8:11 AM on May 31, 2009