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 S.P.Q.R. Extrapolation II: The Baptismal Font, Graffiti and Street Memes of Rome

Font: 1 a: a receptacle for baptismal water b: a receptacle for holy water
c: a receptacle for various liquids
.

As I mentioned before, the word graffiti has origins with the Romans, meaning literally to scratch or scribble. The word "font" also has Latin origins and is related to fountains, fondue and foundries. When I think of "font" in this visceral sense, I think of Richard Serra slinging molten vaseline at the apex of Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle. In our digital world, we are losing sense with the original moldings of the meaning of FONT. Sometimes it takes flâneuring in the real world to get back to our fountainhead.

One of the best things about Rome and Italy are the copious public fonts bubbling effervescently with water. The water springs forth endlessly and is free for the taking, and maybe it's psychological, but it tastes great.

from the horse's mouth     

horse's mouth

 

boca font

 

calamari killer

Calamari killer

 

font

 

detail

 

font of fonts

font of fonts

 

water

 

SPQR font

A lot of the concrete pieces in my 23 Text Tiles were influenced by the trip to Rome we took eight years ago (see endnotes posted in Diagram). In our more recent flâneurings of Rome, amidst the marvelous ruin, I again found my eyes gravitating towards the inscriptions and letters, even if I don't know Latin. Not knowing the meaning gives even more relevance to the beauty of fonts for the sake of fonts. It revitalized my interest in "concrete poetry," for lack of better term. Here's some images that inspired me.

it doesn't get much better than the portico of the Pantheon

Pantheon

 

speaks for itself

all you need is wall

 

knife sharpener in Trastevere

knife sharpener

 

graffiti

 

bending over meme

 

bird inscription

 

broken text

 

(Circo Maximus behind wall)

circo maximus

 

circus ice

 

DOM

 

graffiti along Tiber

graffiti down by Tiber

 

Greek grave

 

Jewish Quarter

 

L

 

mailbox in Jewish quarter

mail box

 

Jewish quarter

 

knox

 

love

 

spray paint detail

spray detail

 

play

 

Potash

 

cubic profile

meme profile

 

PX

 

Shelley's grave

Shelley's grave

 

QDIE

 

empty lot in Trastevere

REPS

 

cubic memer (C215) strikes again

spidermeme strikes again

 

 

street reflection

street reflection

 

street sign

 

Rome subway

subway

 

subway

 

subway blur

 

inscription

 

textual objects

text parcels

 

trust no faces

 

TKV

 

 

 

wolf

 

inlaid wood meme

wood meme

 

SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus)

SPQR

 

 

S.P.Q.R. Study III: Feral River Brothers and Starlings in the Mud-Orange City

 

 

(c) 2008 Derek White

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