WIR SPIELEN (WE PLAY)

The Berlin activist group WIR SPIELEN wrote a theatrical drama on the issue of community-building based on Mary Ellen Solt's ‘The Peoplemover : A Demonstration Poem' (1968). The five-act play, largely consisting - just like Solt's poem - of quotations, is published, together with its source, in a black-and-white text volume with a discreetly coloured jacket featuring four special colours that reference posters made by Solt. The type is in a single font and a standard size throughout, and the page layouts play across three columns : short lines on the left provide rhythm to the main body of the text, individual words or phrases are set in the middle column, and the sources of the quotations appear on the right. The extremely radical and innovative design recalls Concrete poetry and emphasizes the pictorial quality of type, while actual pictures are entirely absent. Despite the reduced means and large number of pages, there is no feeling of repetitiveness and the book makes an inviting impression.

Videos: Körner Union & Maximage, Lausanne / Zürich
Jury reviews: Tan Wälchli, Berlin/Zürich

Autor(en)/Auteur(s)/Author(s)
neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst e.V., Berlin
Gestaltung/Graphisme/Design
Vela Arbutina, Berlin / Baden
Druck/Impression/Printing
Druckerei Conrad GmbH, Berlin
Verlag/Publication/Publisher
neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst e.V., Berlin
ISBN
978-3-93851-555-6