A mixture of smudged colors, capital letters and words from different languages spring from a page printed with layers upon layers of ink of meaning, abstraction and breaches of tradition.
“Correlation Matrix” by artists Vida Sacic and David Wolske is the DeVos Art Museum’s latest on-campus exhibition that depicts the art that is the future of typography. The exhibition started on August 22 and continues until November 6.
At 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 8, guest artist Sacic will appear at the Artist’s Talk in the Art and Design Building to discuss his work.
“Correlation Matrix” features artwork containing heavy elements of letterpress, which is a traditional ink press using wood- or metal-like letters – a medium that many consider old-fashioned but an image that artists such as Wolske and Sacic hope to change.
One of DeVos’ current series is “Electric Biology” by Sacic. The work tells a deeply personal narrative based on Sacic’s experience as a cancer survivor. In 2007, Sacic learned she had a benign brain tumor and needed to have it surgically removed.
“It was something I hadn’t worked on a lot,” Sacic explained. “I wanted to explore emotions. I was shocked how I had carried this thing inside me without knowing it, and it was traumatic to get it out.
Sacic described how the experience had an effect on his artistic process.
“The whole project has been billed,” she said. “I put that energy into the prints. It was a crazy combination of flickers of light on paper. It was good to take it out. I can be like, ‘Oh yeah, it happened.’ And now it exists as a kind of visual evidence.
Unlike traditional typography, Sacic called his style an “ironic” approach.
“In addition to wood and metal types, I use handmade plates,” she said. “The plates are made of cardboard and tape. It is therefore the juxtaposition of the precise and the imprecise. It’s wonderful and interesting. The typography is [traditionally] a very precise medium, but I’m really dynamic. I print fast, exactly the opposite of typography: slow and meticulous.
“The traditional is really crucial and interesting; but to reverse that was really fun for me. Using duct tape as opposed to the metallic type, there is an element of sacrilege I think. Sacic spoke about the joys of his art form.
“The beauty of typography is that it’s your world,” she said. “A lot of people who work with words these days work on screen. But typographers work with their hands, feeling the paper and the blocks of type. Most of those who fall in love with typography love the sound of the press and the smell of ink.
Vida Sacic was born in Croatia and came to the Midwest as a high school exchange student. She earned a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Marian College in Indianapolis, then worked in advertising for a time before joining the faculty at Indiana University-Bloomington, where she earned her master of fine arts in design. chart. She is currently an art professor at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago.
During his visit, Sacic will also encounter a class in typography.
“I find it exciting how these artists are using a process that a lot of people think is outdated, but they’re using it for artistic expression that’s still very relevant to our culture,” said Melissa Alan, director and curator of DeVos. Art Museum. Shravan Rajagopal, a former NMU art teacher with a background in typography, applied for a grant in 2010 and brought typography materials here to Northern.
Later, the idea for “Correlation Matrix” started with Rajagopal, Alan said.
“Shravan said, ‘Hey, we should have a typography show to inspire students to use the typography facilities on campus,'” Alan said.
“I love when teachers approach me with show ideas that will be relevant to their students.”
Traditionally, typography was a grid-based system, carefully arranged to create level lines of easy-to-read text.
But the approach of the artists Sacic and Wolske is avant-garde and abstract. They defy grids and place letter upon letter, allowing ink colors to mix and flow and meanings to blend into shades of subjectivity.
“[Sacic] uses the press in a really experimental way,” said Emily Lanctot, Curator of Collections and Outreach at the DeVos Art Museum. “She walks away [grid-based] system for communicating messages about mythology and personal narrative, body and body text – she uses this double meaning. She uses language and visual language synergistically.
As a curator, Lanctot leads museum tours, enthusiastically illuminating each work of art.
“Everyone walks into the exhibit blown away,” Lanctot said. “The work is different but familiar at the same time, and it’s interesting to see. The students are so excited to see all of this, the work of David and Vida, and how it connects and deviates from the story of it all.
The museum also features collections from the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum and Hatch Show Print, two notable names over the decades, to provide historical context behind the art of typography.
“It’s a great opportunity to have [Sacic] here,” Lanctot said. “To see his work and to see it in the context of the history of typography allows students to have a deeper understanding.”
Lanctot said artist talks are so important to students and she looks forward to Sacic’s visit to Northern.
“The talks allow [students] to have face-to-face with artists in the field and allows them to engage with another artist’s process and a new way of working,” said Lanctot. “It’s a chance to network with out-of-town artists and explore opportunities.”
Collaborating artist David Wolske will also give an artist talk at 6:30 p.m. on October 13 in the Art and Design building.