Linienstile

The series »Linienstile« (line styles) is a visual inves­tigation of thinking processes, graphic signs and personal code systems. It features hand­written marks, under­scores, circles and arrows, found in eight different books. Void of the original printed text, each presented image show­cases all personal marks a reader left on several or all pages of a book to save in­for­mation. 

For the creation of this series eight people lend me a book, that they had worked through to appropriate its content. In a first step each marked page was exposed using a scanner. In a second step all written text was removed from each page. Finally all pages were super­imposed over each other, making the whole code visible at a glance.

Without its counterpart, the printed text, the viewer can no longer decipher the original code, but can make out an individual system. The conden­sation of the graphic signs resembles a drawing made of unique pencil strokes and painterly gestures and creates an abstract portrait of the reader.

The full series is currently on view at the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne as part of the exhibition reGeneration⁴ www.elysee.ch