spirale 8

Here’s a publication we didn’t know about until it was delivered to our door. Published in Bern between 1953 and 1964, spirale was a seminal international journal dedicated to concrete art, systemic design, and the emerging field of concrete poetry. It encouraged a move away from expressive abstraction toward a mathematical and geometric rationality. (Is that redundant?)

This eighth issue marks the journal’s deep dive into the intersection of light, technology, and language and is particularly noted for its focus on experimental photography, featuring luminograms and physiographs that explore the physical properties of light as a constructive medium. It includes significant visual and theoretical contributions from photographers such as René Groebli and Peter Keetmann. Beyond the imagery, issue 8 serves as a major anthology for the international concrete poetry movement. Edited by Eugen Gomringer, it showcases a global selection of linguistic “constellations” that treat text as a spatial and visual element rather than a purely narrative one. By documenting these experiments, the issue reinforced the journal’s role as a primary conductor for the Swiss School’s rigorous, grid-based aesthetic. It’s also a wicked beautiful thing. Like, really. And the advertisement section is moving, too.

Watch a flip-through of the whole thing here »