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Roland Topor (1938 -1997) title page from book 'souvenirs' A small book that has all text barred De Harmonie- Amsterdam |
second page from the book Alphabet schema -a key to the history of mankind- by David Diringer - volume 2 |
Serge Onnen Mondonnen pencil on paper-2007 {21 x 21 cm) |
Marcus Raetz page from sketchbook Schreiben- 1973 |
Christian Dotremont (1922-1979) Drawing on Finnish newspaper 1965 |
anonymous N (like in Necro?) German 17C |
Kellon Tomlinson Dance notation Groundplan with figures, 1727 |
Etruscan tablet |
Carl Ferrero 2007 |
Trisha Brown 1976 on the bottom of the drawing is the alphabet, all the lines refer to the place in the text about movement. |
Robert Walser (1878-1956) In the beginning of 1929, Walser, who had suffered from anxieties and hallucinations for quite a time, went to the Bernese mental home Waldau, after a mental breakdown, at his sister Fani's urging. In his medical records it says: "The patient confessed hearing voices." Therefore, this can hardly be called a voluntary commitment. While in the mental home, his state of mind quickly returned to normal, and he went on writing and publishing. More and more, he used the way of writing he called the "pencil method": He wrote poems and prose in a diminutive Sütterlin hand( Sütterlin for short, is the last widely used form of the old German blackletter handwriting ("Spitzschrift"). In Germany, the old German cursive script developed in the 16th century is also sometimes called Fraktur the letters of which measured about a millimeter of height by the end of that very productive phase.) Werner Morlang and Bernhard Echte were the first ones who attempted to decipher these writings. In the 1990s, they published a six-volume edition, Aus dem Bleistiftgebiet ('From the pencil area'). Only when Walser was, against his will, moved to the sanatorium of Herisau in his home canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden, did he quit writing. Another reason might have been that with the rise of the Nazis in Germany, his works could no longer be published in any case. (source Wiki)
Seven kinds of shorthand The Lord's prayer in Gregg and a variety of 19th-century systems Shorthand is an abbreviated and/or symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos (narrow) and graphē (writing). It has also been called brachygraphy, from Greek brachys (short) and tachygraphy, from Greek tachys (swift, speedy), depending on whether compression or speed of writing is the goal. Many forms of shorthand exist. A typical shorthand system provides symbols or abbreviations for words and common phrases, which allow someone well trained in the system to write as quickly as people speak. Shorthand was used more widely in the past, before the invention of recording and dictation machines. Until recently, shorthand was considered an essential part of secretarial training as well as being useful for journalists. Although the primary use of shorthand has been to record oral dictation or discourse, some systems are used for compact expression. For example, health-care professionals may use shorthand notes in medical charts and correspondence. Shorthand is also common in the food service industry, allowing wait staff to write down detailed orders without delay. (Source Wiki) | |
Tiago Estrada 2005 pencil on paper |
Shakers giftdrawing The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing called "Shakers" originated in England in the mid-eighteenth century and soon centered around the person of Ann Lee (Mother Ann, or Mother Wisdom, or simply Mother), who became "the reincarnation of the Christ Spirit Ann the Word Bride of the Lamb." The group practiced communal living and equality of the sexes, along with a reputedly complete abstention from sexual intercourse. After persecutions and jailings in England, Ann brought them to America in 1774, where for many years they thrived on conversions, reaching a maximum size of 6,000 before their demise in the twentieth century. Strict believers in celibacy, Shakers maintained their numbers through conversion and adoption of orphans. Turnover was very high; the group reached maximum size of about 6,000 full members in 1840, but now has only four members left. Between 1837 and 1850 ("known as the Era of Manifestations") the Shakers composed (or were the recipients of) "hundreds of visionary drawings really [spiritual] messages in pictorial form," writes Edward Deming Andrews (The Gift To Be Simple, 1940). "The designers of these symbolic documents felt their work was controlled by supernatural agencies gifts bestowed on some individual in the order (usually not the one who made the drawing." The same is true of the "gift songs" and other verbal works, and the invention of forms in both the songs and drawings is extraordinary, as is their resemblance to the practice of later poets and artists. This drawing is a very long prayer that was used in services N.B. "To be sure, the term drawing is a misnomer, because the Shakers did not use it themselves when they were referring to these works. In the few Shaker documents in which the gift drawings are mentioned, they are typically referred to as sheets, rolls, signs, notices, tokens of love, presents, rewards, hearts sometimes prefaced by the adjective sacred. This definition focuses on the function of the works as gifts from heavenly spirits, rather than on the form in which the gifts were materialized. In fact, the gift drawings often include titles, captions, inscriptions, and extended texts, in English as well as in scripts written in indecipherable tongues, that place them on an uninterrupted continuum with other manifestations of belief, such as inspired writing, ecstatic movement, and spontaneous speech, especially in the form of song." (Thus: France Morin, in Shaker Gift Drawings and Gift Songs, The Drawing Center, New York, and UCLA Hammer Museum, 2001 a book packed with generous examples, from which those shown here have been extracted.) (source wiki & ubuweb) |
Shakers giftdrawing (detail) |
Shakers giftdrawing (detail) |
Shakers giftdrawing (detail) |
Shakers giftdrawing (detail) |
Shakers giftdrawing (detail) |
Shakers giftdrawing (detail) |
Shakers giftdrawing (detail) |
Shakers giftdrawing (detail) |
Trenton Doyle Hancock Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, NYC |
FBI document Unkown master 1948 |
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) first version of 'trois contes; la Legende de saint Julien' Bibliotheque nationale de France |
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)
first version of 'trois contes; la Legende de saint Julien'
Bibliotheque nationale de France |
Napoleon Bonaparte Document written in code by Napoleon to his minister of war Musee des lettres et manuscipt, paris |
Roland Topor Lettre to monsieur 1964 |
Dominic McGill Courtesy Derek Eller gallery |
Dominic McGill Courtesy Derek Eller gallery |
Tanja Smit Drawing on El Pais 2005 |
Kinke Kooi Courtesy Features inc. NYC Oh, Soul 2006 |
Voebe de Gruyter coiffeur islamique 2006 |
Roland Barthes 1915-1980 Contre écriture adressée a R. Sulger-Buel |
CIA Confidencial document from the Contemporary Infotainment Artschool |
Quran Calligraphy Turkish 16C |
Henri Jacobs journaal tekening 2006 Courtesy Gallery Paul Andriessen, Amsterdam |
Christopher McNulty 20,534 Days 2006 18" x 18" |
Xu Bing Landscript 2001 Ink on Nepalese paper |
Unknown french roman-achitecture font |
Unknown french roman-achitecture font |
John Seddon 1695 UK |
Unknown 1943 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Pre-computer Ascii art |
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French Rebus 1859 These extremely difficult rebuses where very popular in illustrated magazines around 1840-1890. This one means; L'homme qui tient la table pendant quatre heures en sort la panse arrondie' What is in French something like; "si l on passe beaucoup de temps a table, on ne doit pas s etonner d'avoir un gros ventre !' What is in English something like; 'The man who spends a lot of time at a dinner table should not be supriced to leave the table fat' The man who holds the table during 4 hours. (he says- 'I will drop it at noon') En sort- coming out (note the old 1859 walking with a stick) La panse - Lapancha - Don Chixote helper Arrondie- Un rond d'i - a cirle of i's |
Shakers giftdrawing
The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing called "Shakers" originated in England in the mid-eighteenth century and soon centered around the person of Ann Lee (Mother Ann, or Mother Wisdom, or simply Mother), who became "the reincarnation of the Christ Spirit
Ann the Word
Bride of the Lamb." The group practiced communal living and equality of the sexes, along with a reputedly complete abstention from sexual intercourse. After persecutions and jailings in England, Ann brought them to America in 1774, where for many years they thrived on conversions, reaching a maximum size of 6,000 before their demise in the twentieth century. Strict believers in celibacy, Shakers maintained their numbers through conversion and adoption of orphans. Turnover was very high; the group reached maximum size of about 6,000 full members in 1840, but now has only four members left. Between 1837 and 1850 ("known as the Era of Manifestations") the Shakers composed (or were the recipients of) "hundreds of visionary drawings really [spiritual] messages in pictorial form," writes Edward Deming Andrews (The Gift To Be Simple, 1940). "The designers of these symbolic documents felt their work was controlled by supernatural agencies gifts bestowed on some individual in the order (usually not the one who made the drawing." The same is true of the "gift songs" and other verbal works, and the invention of forms in both the songs and drawings is extraordinary, as is their resemblance to the practice of later poets and artists. N.B. "To be sure, the term drawing is a misnomer, because the Shakers did not use it themselves when they were referring to these works. In the few Shaker documents in which the gift drawings are mentioned, they are typically referred to as sheets, rolls, signs, notices, tokens of love, presents, rewards, hearts sometimes prefaced by the adjective sacred. This definition focuses on the function of the works as gifts from heavenly spirits, rather than on the form in which the gifts were materialized. In fact, the gift drawings often include titles, captions, inscriptions, and extended texts, in English as well as in scripts written in indecipherable tongues, that place them on an uninterrupted continuum with other manifestations of belief, such as inspired writing, ecstatic movement, and spontaneous speech, especially in the form of song." (Thus: France Morin, in Shaker Gift Drawings and Gift Songs, The Drawing Center, New York, and UCLA Hammer Museum, 2001 a book packed with generous examples, from which those shown here have been extracted.) (source wiki & ubuweb) |
BOVRIL advertising 19C- 'Bovril, a warm beefy drink' (irish red bull?) Very popular during the Boer war and Second World War They have history of very weird advertising check out here (The one with the bovril-map I unfortunately discovered after the book went to print) |
BOVRIL advertising 19C- |
BOVRIL advertising 19C- |
BOVRIL advertising 19C- |
Chinese Calligram Unknown period |
James Lee Byars (1932-1997) Courtesy Gallery Paul Andriessen, Amsterdam Postcard from Venice to his amsterdam gallery.1988 (Note that the address is very incomplete; No house number, no zipcode) |
Allan Graham-Toadhouse Courtesy -Features Inc. NYC 2006; graphite on paper; 33 x 44 " |
Benoit Plateau Courtesy Galerie Aline Vidal, Paris Les galaxiens,2006 photo under plexiglass 207X137cm |
Juli Gudehus The familiar story of the Creation is told by the author in the visual language of the 20th century. Publisher: Lars Müller Publishers ISBN-10: 3907044517 |
Korwa Drawing 1997 Courtesy Drawing Centre NYC A tribe in Central India |
Altagor Courtesy lEnseigne des Oudins, Paris (pseudonym of Jean Vernier) formerly a mechanic and miner, now writer of thrillers, created "Métapoésie poetry composed of invented words, therefore abstract. Sounds french, but isn't. |
Altagor Courtesy lEnseigne des Oudins, Paris |
Tanja Smit Drawing on El Pais 2005 |
Gordon Terry Courtesy G-module Paris 2004 |
Jaap Blonk Musical score |
Graffiti sketch unknown artist,place or date |
Koufi style geometric Quran laid in bricks Iran 1303, Isfahan |
Graham Gillmore 'I'm sorry your having problems' Courtesy Vanina Holasek Gallery, NYC |
Vincent van Gogh -october 2 1888 Crossed out part of a letter about money to his brother Theo. [letter 696] notice the little landscape in the background |
Robert Walser (1878-1956) In the beginning of 1929, Walser, who had suffered from anxieties and hallucinations for quite a time, went to the Bernese mental home Waldau, after a mental breakdown, at his sister Fani's urging. In his medical records it says: "The patient confessed hearing voices." Therefore, this can hardly be called a voluntary commitment. While in the mental home, his state of mind quickly returned to normal, and he went on writing and publishing. More and more, he used the way of writing he called the "pencil method": He wrote poems and prose in a diminutive Sütterlin hand( Sütterlin for short, is the last widely used form of the old German blackletter handwriting ("Spitzschrift"). In Germany, the old German cursive script developed in the 16th century is also sometimes called Fraktur the letters of which measured about a millimeter of height by the end of that very productive phase.) Werner Morlang and Bernhard Echte were the first ones who attempted to decipher these writings. In the 1990s, they published a six-volume edition, Aus dem Bleistiftgebiet ('From the pencil area'). Only when Walser was, against his will, moved to the sanatorium of Herisau in his home canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden, did he quit writing. Another reason might have been that with the rise of the Nazis in Germany, his works could no longer be published in any case. (source Wiki) |
Carl Ferrero 2006 |
Andre Masson 1896-1987 Chimeré 1944 |
Lily van der Stokker Difficult |
Olav Westphalen Courtesy Maccarone Inc., NYC (this english drawing should be pronounced with a german accent) |
Jaap Blonk Musical score; Kré (hommage a A.A.) |
Leon Ferrari Courtesy Drawing Centre NYC Musica 1962 |
Graham Gillmore 'I'm sorry your having problems' Courtesy Vanina Holasek Gallery, NYC |
Anestis Logothetis (1921 1994) these two scores belong on top of each other Greek composer |
Anestis Logothetis (1921 1994) these two scores belong on top of each other Greek composer |
Cornelius Cardew (1936 1981) Treatise (1963-67), a 192-page graphic score which allows for considerable freedom of interpretation. Following the demise of the Orchestra, Cardew became more directly involved in left-wing politics and abandoned avant-garde music altogether, adopting a populist though post-romantic tonal style. He spent 1973 in West Berlin on an artist's grant from the City, where he was active in a campaign for a children's clinic. During the 1970s, he produced many songs, often drawing from traditional English folk music put at the service of lengthy Marxist-Maoist exhortations; representative examples are Smash the Social Contract and There Is Only One Lie, There Is Only One Truth. In 1974, he published a book entitled Stockhausen Serves Imperialism, which denounced, in Maoist self-critical style, his own involvement with Stockhausen and the Western avant-garde tradition.(wiki) Cornelius Cardew was killed on the 13th December 1981, by a hit and run driver near his home in East London. There's been conspiracies about involvement from the British secret service. |
Marcus Raetz Sketch for public sculpture in Bern 2002 |
Kinke Kooi Courtesy Features inc. NYC MAN 2004 coloured pencil on paper |
Korwa Drawing 1997 Courtesy Drawing Centre NYC A tribe in Central India |
Eva Onnen 2006- Letter to the editor from niece (6 years) The similarities withe the Korwa tribe drawings are stunning |
Richard Niessen 2005-Eye-vi typeface designed for Jennifer Tee |
Leon Ferrari 1965 |
Jaap Blonk voice score Transsiberian || Journey |
Unknown master 2007 For sale note found on street in Greenpoint-Brooklyn |
Robert Leighton 2007- Courtesy of The new yorker magazine/Cartoonbank |
Allan Graham-Toadhouse This body is taking this mind for a walk Courtesy -Features Inc. NYC 2006; graphite on paper; 33 x 44 " |
Alexandre Estrela 2003- Sometimes |
Unknown French 1900 - political cartoon |
Gothic font S 15 Century French |
Unknown internet early ascii art around 1987 |
CIA document- |
Shorthand typewriter Passage from Hamlet, act three, scene one. Is read from top to bottom and from left to right. |
Azilian signary coloured pebbles from Mas d'Azil, Ariége. If this is text, then this might be the oldest of the world (France) |
Henry Chopin (1922-2008) |
Jost Ammann Family Tucker hyrogravure 1589 |
Ronde Tarentelle French 19C Rondo Alligretti; The tempo should double after every round |
Dick Raaijmakers KWARTET (1971) Courtesy V2, Rotterdam |
Charles Vreuls ink on cardboard 10 cm x16 cm |
Charles Vreuls ink on cardboard 10 cm x16 cm |
Sherlock Holmes/Arthur Conan Doyle from the "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" in which Sherlock decrypts these mysterious messages as text |
Sherlock Holmes/Arthur Conan Doyle from the "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" in which Sherlock decrypts these mysterious messages as text |
Daragh Reeves Jeans & T-shirts 2007 |
Oorbeek /Klaas Kuitenbrouwer music score 2007 |
Earle Brown Music score-December 1952 |
Bernard Requichot 1929-1961 'Lettre d'insultes 1961' les mots sont partis et les insultes restent' Courtesy lEnseigne des Oudins, Paris 'Requichot is a painter with a very nice ellidible written oeuvre; "ellidible-thank you lettre", "ellidible-lettres to artdealers", "ellidible-insulte lettres", "ellidible- lettre to art amateur" and "ellidible-lettre to framer" |
Jean Luc Parant Courtesy lEnseigne des Oudins, Paris "autoportrait 1998" |
Jani Christou 1926 - 1970 score; Enantiodromia www.janichristou.org |
Jeremy Everett detail from; All the declarations of war all the treaties of peace written in recent history 2007- Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles |
Jeremy Everett detail from; All the declarations of war all the treaties of peace written in recent history 2007- Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles |
Daragh Reeves the teenager question 2007 |
Guy Richards Smit New York Times drawings 2005 Courtesy FRED (London) |
Guy Richards Smit New York Times drawings 2005 Courtesy FRED (London) |
Quran caligram unknown period and location |
Anneliese Coste Courtesy Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam |
Anneliese Coste Courtesy Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam |
Ana Hatherly Lisboa 20 Arte Contemporanea, Lisbon |
Shin Moij-e Tsukushi 1751-1764 Fireworks japanese |
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) Jersey. Victor Hugo, lived in exile in Jersey from 1852 to 1855 after getting into trouble with Napoleon ||| |
Kellom Tomlinson Dance notation 1727 |
Dick Raaijmakers KWARTET (1971) Courtesy V2, Rotterdam |
French Rebus 1859 These extremely difficult rebuses where very popular in illustrated magazines around 1840-1890. This one means; "En general les enfants ont peur de l'eau" 'in general children are afraid of the water' (in french these words all sound alike; l'eau, l'haut, l'os, lot) |
Max Ernst drawing |
Paul Noble Public Toilet pencil on paper 242 x 252 cm 1999 |
Jaap Blonk Rhotic - Fonetische etude nr.1 |
13 different shortands from antiquity till present day (pitman). Shorthand is an abbreviated and/or symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos (narrow) and graphē (writing). It has also been called brachygraphy, from Greek brachys (short) and tachygraphy, from Greek tachys (swift, speedy), depending on whether compression or speed of writing is the goal. Many forms of shorthand exist. A typical shorthand system provides symbols or abbreviations for words and common phrases, which allow someone well trained in the system to write as quickly as people speak. Shorthand was used more widely in the past, before the invention of recording and dictation machines. Until recently, shorthand was considered an essential part of secretarial training as well as being useful for journalists. Although the primary use of shorthand has been to record oral dictation or discourse, some systems are used for compact expression. For example, health-care professionals may use shorthand notes in medical charts and correspondence. Shorthand is also common in the food service industry, allowing wait staff to write down detailed orders without delay. |
Leon Ferrari 1979 |
Carl Ferrero 2006 |
Réne Daniels Courtesy Gallery Paul Andriessen, Amsterdam 'Two i's fighting for a point under a rain of explanation marks' Twee i's vechten om een punt onder een regen van uitroepstekens' |