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book (design) story #270

mary vieira:
zeiten einer zeichnung 1+2

sprial press, bern, around 1954
size: 24 x 24 cm
designer: mary vieira

although this item is not really a "book" i include it because it fits perfetly into this collection.

it is a set of two small portfolios of artist's prints, designed by mary vieira (1927-2001) who we came across before, e.g. in story 137. brazilian artist mary vieira moved to europe in the early 1950s and she was amog the first female students of the hfg ulm design school.

square format and small semi-bold akzidenz-grotesk titles make this portfolio a classic example of classic swiss typography. vieira dedicated these two portofolios to her teacher max bill,for his 1952 and 1953 birthdays.

the impressum just states "spiral press, berne, suisse" – which means that the portfolio was produced by the publishers of the art magazine "spirale", i.e. marcel wyss with dieter roth and eugen gomringer. the spiral is very present as a theme in this artwork by vieira. according to the "spirale" monograph (isbn 3906700216) the two portfolios were printed in 1954.

the title "zeiten einer zeichnung" (times of a drawing) reveals the concept of these two series of 8 "concrete art" drawings. a set of differently sized and positioned straight lines (above) and circle segments (below) are moving around their own axis – like the hands of a clock, forming surprising "spiral" constellations. the series below was published in the famous kalte kunst booklet, and is very similar in concept to this gomringer-bill collaboration.