With Dotremont in the Land of Logoneiges (by Caroline Ghyselen)
On 4 May 1976, Christian Dotremont (poet, visual artist, calligrapher and founder of the Cobra group), aged 54, set off for Lapland accompanied by a young art historian, Caroline Ghyselen. The book, published by Les Évadés du Poème 2 and limited to 500 numbered copies, recounts this extraordinary journey for the first time. It is the diary of their voyage to the land of "logoneiges" (snow logograms).
I designed this project as a careful balance between text, travel images and reproductions of Dotremont's works. Chapter pages and breathing spaces punctuate the narrative, while subtle colour play — tone on tone — establishes an atmosphere without imposing it. Visuals are integrated to dialogue with the text, creating fluidity that accompanies the narrative evolution across the pages.
"The logogram is not abstract and never will be, it is not a gratuitous gesture, it is governed by meaning. Moreover, I am not as free as those who make abstract art, my thought is at the foundation. Furthermore, I can never go back on what I do and that is also why there is so much waste." — Christian Dotremont
Client
O Lapland so distant where everything is so close (...)
An account of a journey where poetic message and creative freedom are written in immaculate spaces.
On 4 May 1976, Christian Dotremont (poet, visual artist, calligrapher and founder of the Cobra group), aged 54, set off for Lapland accompanied by a young art historian, Caroline Ghyselen. The book, published by Les Évadés du Poème 2 and limited to 500 numbered copies, recounts this extraordinary journey for the first time. It is the diary of their voyage to the land of "logoneiges" (snow logograms).
I designed this project as a careful balance between text, travel images and reproductions of Dotremont's works. Chapter pages and breathing spaces punctuate the narrative, while subtle colour play — tone on tone — establishes an atmosphere without imposing it. Visuals are integrated to dialogue with the text, creating fluidity that accompanies the narrative evolution across the pages.
"The logogram is not abstract and never will be, it is not a gratuitous gesture, it is governed by meaning. Moreover, I am not as free as those who make abstract art, my thought is at the foundation. Furthermore, I can never go back on what I do and that is also why there is so much waste." — Christian Dotremont
