The zettelkasten of a graphic designer
He is somewhat famous in circles where graphic designers are famous. He has a permanent archive in MOMA. The venerable Michel Beirut wrote an essay about him. The US government researched his work after 9/11. And it is a zettelkasten:
The foundation for Mark Lombardi's main piece of work is a collection of ˜14,500 index cards.
It is a terrific example of an artist taking a zettelkastenish approach to his work.
Just wanted to share this remarkable work on the crossroads of several of my passionate interests.
Have fun!
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Lombardi
- https://whalehunting.projectbrazen.com/mapping-networks-of-money-and-power/
- https://www.benfry.com/exd09/
- https://dottysresearchjournal.blogspot.com/2014/02/mark-lombardi.html
- https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/mark-lombardi-death-defying-acts-of-art-and-conspiracy/
https://drawingcenter.org/search/?s=mark%20lombardi
Howdy, Stranger!
Comments
Thanks for sharing this. The Wikipedia article on Lombardi is fascinating and shows how so many aspects of his life history came together in his final artworks. This phrase from Wikipedia describing his early career struck me: "he pursued painting as a hobby during his actual career as an archivist and reference librarian" (emphasis added). After his career as an archivist and librarian, it must have been natural to him to use zettels to compile the large amount of information used in his artworks.
To describe his artmaking, I would call him an artist rather than a graphic designer, as in this discussion's title. He worked in the fine art world and once opened an art gallery, and the artworks he created were done independently and exhibited in galleries, whereas graphic designers typically do work that solves business and communication problems for clients.
Thanks for posting. I will certainly check it out.