Illuminated texts…
An essay…
Yesterday I spent the day reading several chapters of the book Graphic Design and Religion by Daniel Kantor, designer and owner of KantorGroup in Minneapolis. The book is a call to designers “to consider the illuminators as the graphic designers of their time” and to see “graphic design not as an expensive luxury or an unnecessary frivolity but as a steward of good will.” It states that “…faith based organizations… are rife with predictable clichés and abused symbols.” I could not agree with him more. The book offers great insights as it compares graphic design with illuminated texts. He states that for the illuminator artists and calligraphers “it was essential that word and image work in harmony, each informing and drawing upon the other.” In this manner “the typography… served not as a counterpart to the images but an extension…”
The book is an appeal to see the word, not only as image but also as a conduit of reverence and worship. To say that I am fascinated, is an understatement. He discusses illuminated manuscripts in a way that made my awe over them grow even more. On page 29, he offers a list of the lessons and values that illuminated manuscripts can teach contemporary graphic designers. I can’t help but share with some of the items of the list. Below are the points I found most important:
[Illuminators] saw their work worthy of their best efforts. It should be said that based on works that I have seen, this is true even if the work was small.
They believed that God and all appeals to godliness were beautiful.
To create is an act of co-creation with God by means of the created world.
Prayer could be made more meaningful through deliberate engagement of the senses.
Text could be as beautiful as image. This one reminded me of my professors Alan Mickelson and Paula Curran. Both believed and helped me see the graphic strength of typography.
Shortcuts compromised aesthetic integrity. This is indeed true and profoundly meaningful.
Created works that engaged both the imagination and the intellect. Much needs to be said about this statement. Work that is too simple or in the case of worship songs, too repetitive, are almost an insult to the intellect. Engagement and curiosity must be cultivated.
Considered their works to be acts of prayer and vocation.
Several years ago, I created a series of watercolor pieces using lettering and calligraphic texture in Spanish and English. The show was called Visual Prayer. Each piece was a prayer using verses from the Bible in both languages. Each piece had a negative letter. All together it spelled YOU ARE LORD. I do not have photos of all of the pieces but you can see selected pieces below.
Last year, the History Museum of Mobile held an exhibition titled Painted Pages: Illuminated Manuscripts, 13th – 18th Centuries. It was a small show but it was sublime. The majority of the works shown in the exhibit dated from the thirteenth through the eighteenth centuries. The examples included texts in French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Flemish, English, and German as well as several non-Western examples. There was a seventeenth-century page from the Koran and Shahnameh (the illustrated Persian Book of Kings). The majority of the examples came to the Reading Public Museum through Otto Ege, a villain to some and a hero to others, he was a well-known Cleveland-area bookseller born in Reading, Pennsylvania.
I tried to take as many photos as possible when I visited. The works were well kept and in great condition. Given that I am researching words and letters as expressions of worship, I remembered this show. Below is a selection.
Today I was reminded of Corita Kent’s work by Daniel ➽ Letterpress Designer from HoosierType from Indiana. I will be looking at her work more closely in the next few days for my paper presentation.
This is getting interesting!!
Love,
Alma