During 2014 and 2015, Edgar Orlaineta carried out a series of projects around the work and the legacy of American designer Alvin Lustig (Denver, 1915– New York, 1955). In particular, he focused on exploring and interpreting an iconic textile pattern created by Lustig in 1947, from which he generated the project named Alfabeto ciego - Un logotipo eventual (Blind Alphabet - An Eventual Logo), which these pieces are a part of.
As is the case with this sculptural ensemble, which actively interprets its legacy, Lustig's original design was called Incantation. Although its forms are reminiscent of Egyptian hieroglyphics, Hebrew writing, and the hobo language (an urban g code used by homeless people during the 1929 depression to warn other homeless people of dangers), the designer never revealed the source or meaning of these patterns.
Although he was already familiar with Lustig's work, Orlaineta began the series when he realized that the designer had died at the age of 40 and that, in the last year of his life, he had gone completely blind. Even so, he had managed to complete numerous works, such as the editorial design of the iconic magazine Industrial Design (No. 1, 2 and 3). For this, Lustig gave directions and relied on his team and his wife, renowned designer Elaine Lustig Cohen. With this fact in mind, Orlaineta began to reflect on the role that human sensoriality plays in art and design.
Accustomed to working with his own hands on most of his creations, Orlaineta posits the body not as an extension of the mind, but as a conscious being independent of sight and the brain. As the artist himself affirms in relation to another one of the works based on Lustig's symbols: “The thesis is to understand that the entire human body is a thinking entity. That the hand is not just an extension of the brain, or a tool, but it is a conscious, thinking hand that works at the same time as the brain, the eye, and all the rest of our body."
As part of Orlaineta's critical exploration of the universes of modern art and design, Lustig's blind alphabet has found numerous outlets. After a first exploration in the two-dimensional plane, the shapes of the secret symbols exploded and began to give rise to metallic figures, embedded directly in the wall or in wooden boards, which were later multiplied in clothing, printing plates, paintings, sculptures, artist books, and installations.
With this series of sculptures that unfold through space, based on the encrypted writing of a designer who went blind, Orlaineta evokes the mystery of the human senses and our ability to explore the environment. In this way, he draws attention to the importance of all the senses, beyond the visual and even conceptual dimension of any work within art or design.
In the works of this Mexican artist that make up the project Alfabeto ciego - Un logotipo eventual, Lustig's creations travel through time, matter, and space as visible texts where the designer's blindness is confused with his impenetrable alphabet.
EKA, July 2020
https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2012/12/10/alvin-lustigs-incantation/
http://arteflora.org/exposiciones/alfabeto-ciego-un-logotipo-eventual/
https://relievecontemporaneo.com/alfabeto-ciego-un-logotipo-eventual/
https://siglonuevo.mx/nota/840.edgar-orlaineta
https://edgarorlaineta.tumblr.com/post/131972168552/alfabeto-ciego-un-logotipo-eventual-2015
