Writing: Urban Calligraphy and Beyond

Long ignored and belittled for its proximity to comic culture and vandalism, graffiti has steadfastly remained in the public view: ubiquitous and with a natural affinity to architecture it has become a fundamental aspect of the modern city, influencing public perception and borrowed by fashion, packaging, graphic designers and architects alike. An offspring of this graffiti scene, born out of tags and throw-ups, writing is modern urban calligraphy. While the classic New York style of writing originated in typography, it in turn has left its mark on virtually all visual disciplines: strictly speaking the arrangement of space by outlines, writing has become an invaluable influence and inspiration, especially in the realm of illustration, logo design, motion graphics and architecture. Complemented by a number of essays, "Writing" (compiled by Berlin activists and designers Markus Mai and Arthur Remke) now surveys this appropriation of public space and examines the detailed fusion of analogue writing and digital design. Divided by contributors the content spans from straight documentation of this low tech conspiracy to extremely intricate architectural exercises, integrating the unique spatial properties of graffiti writing, its shapes, forms and angles, into three-dimensional objects or buildings.