Client: Poster x Poem
Year: 2021
Type: poster design
The poster was exhibited during the Poster X Poem during the Contemporary Poetry Nocturnes.
POSTER X POEM invites contemporary poets to submit poems and pairs them with designers, illustrators, and visual artists to create posters. One rule only: the poem must be in the poster. For this poster, I was lucky to be paired with one of my favourite authors: Matei Vișniec and his poem "Înotătorul" (The swimmer).
During the sketching phase I wrote the poem by hand, took notes, tried to find out the answer to the millennia-old question "what did the author wanted to say", but also found my own interpretation of the poem and concluded that it could've started (in a less poetic and subtle way), with "there is a poster designed by no one", or "there is a symphony composed by no one". I interpreted the city as a metaphor for an idea or the act of creation. I kept the illustration pretty basic; I wanted them to feel almost like illusions or vague mental images of a distant place. And yes, I met Matei Vișniec, I was nervous, I listened to him speak about another of my favourite poets: Nichita Stănescu.
The swimmer
There is a town / built by no one /// there are streets no one ever walked / there are doors no one ever touched / windows no one can look through /// a hundred lounge chairs are uselessly aligned / along the sea wall / no knife was raised in the air / public telephones have not functioned yet /// no sound has been heard yet / no stone rolled down from the mountain /// every time the swimmer approaches the shore he gets frightened / and turns back to the open sea
Înotătorul
Există un oraș / pe care nu l-a construit nimeni /// sînt străzi pe care nimeni n-a trecut / niciodată / sînt uși care n-au fost atinse / sînt ferestre prin care nu se poate privi /// o sută de șezlonguri stau înșirate inutil /// de-a lungul falezei / nici un cuțit n-a fost ridicat în aer / telefoanele publice încă n-au funcționat /// nu s-a auzit încă nici un sunet / nici o poatră nu s-a rostogolit de pe munte /// ori de cîte ori se apropie de țărm înotătorul se sperie / și se întoarce în larg
