2024
Carved, Hewn, Encoded
Powerhouse Museum
Animation & VideoVideo Art
In 2023 Powerhouse commissioned Australian type designer Vincent Chan to create 3 custom typefaces that respond to the Powerhouse Collection and archives. Babekühl was brought on the project to bring these typefaces to life.
A delightful exploration of artistic expression, we playfully delved into the essence of typefaces, drawing inspiration from the objects that sparked their creation. This whimsical endeavour informed every aspect of our videos, from the choice of materials to the intricate structures and forms.
CAMBIUM
Powerhouse Cambium draws its inspiration from the vast array of wood typographic specimens preserved within the F.T. Wimble Collection. Inspired by this, our typographic portrait delves deep into the textural and structural qualities of this organic material.
In this piece, we celebrate the authoritative presence of Cambium as a display font, while embracing and illuminating the tactile essence of wood. This interplay artfully reveals the organic beauty and nuanced character that arises from the textured imperfections, adding a hyperreal touch to the overall visual experience.
PUNCTUM
Powerhouse Filar boasts a distinctive characteristic in its approach to spacing, drawing significant inspiration from the vast collection of typewriters housed in the archive. Led by this, our visual approach for this piece has been creatively informed by the four unitisation logics employed by the typeface, as well as the metal plates found in typewriters. This video piece focuses on hot metal typesetting, looking at the molten forming of the typeset letter forms.
FILAR
Powerhouse Punctum, ‘born of punches, pixels and dots’, possesses a mesmerizing digital and data-driven aesthetic that seamlessly integrates a touch of human essence. Drawing inspiration from the world of dot matrix printers, early synthesizers, and typewriters, our visual approach for this video has been crafted to mirror the mechanical intricacies of punch cards.
Our typographic portraiture captures Punctum’s essence by intertwining light and form, much like deciphering data from punch cards through optical sensing.
