In 1980, Braco Dimitrijević built an engraved slab into the pavement outside the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany. This photo was taken in January of 1992. Dimitrijević’s critique of history relies not only on language, the usual fodder of sign systems, but on the forms we … Continue readingThis Could Be a Place of Historical Significance
McFadden, David Revere; Swept Away: Dust, Ashes and Dirt in Contemporary Art and Design (2012) ICI Shelf: Current Project First Line: “Dust, Ashes and Smoke, Dirt –these humble materials lead double lives.” Last Line: “The series brings together the collective energy of countless memories and … Continue readingLIBRARY SHELF: Swept Away
Jarman, Derek Blue: Das Buch zum Film (1994) ICI Shelf: London First Line: “You say to the boy open your eyes” Last Line: “I place a delphinium, Blue, upon your grave.” ICI History: Today at the ICI — Twitter Feed: Last Line (12-03-11); First Line … Continue readingLIBRARY SHELF: BLUE
The Greek word for ‘sign’ is sema, which is also the word for ‘grave.’ For the Greeks the grave was the ur-sign of signification for it ‘stood for’ what it ‘stood in.’ The sema points to something only present through its sign. For Adolf Loos, … Continue readingThe Ur-Sign: a graveyard in East Anglia
ACCESSION #: ICI 21641
These pages, that represent the 385 images from W. G. Sebald’s four published prose fictions, jump-started our 5-year long study of the late author’s work. By attempting to bring the pictures back to their pre-publication state where they existed only as parts of Sebald’s Bildmaterial, … Continue readingSebald’s photo archive
The telegraph room at the Mundaneum circa 1930, Paul Otlet’s ambitious project to create a master bibliography of all the world’s published knowledge. His interest in collecting magazines, journals, photographs, posters and all kinds of ephemera and not just books mimics our own activities at … Continue readingMundaneum