16 millions de signes – From and about books

Reflections by Alexandra Midal, Thierry Chancogne, and graphic design duo Syndicat on books and printed surfaces, based on the hundred or so publications produced by MAC VAL over two decades of commitment to contemporary graphic design.

To mark the twentieth anniversary of MAC VAL, the museum has invited the duo Syndicat to explore the 104 publications it has produced over the past two decades. The books are presented on a display platform that brings together all of the published texts—a total of 16,465,721 typographic characters. Alongside a selection of works from the museum’s collection, enlarged pages from catalogs are exhibited so that the formats of the reproductions and the originals correspond. The exhibition is accompanied by a reflection on the book as an object, with Alexandra Midal and Thierry Chancogne offering historical, semantic, technical, and sociological perspectives in this publication.

Artist, curator, and teacher at HEAD-Genève / HES-SO, Alexandra Midal conducts research on visual culture that takes the form of exhibitions, books, and films.

Teacher, publisher, and author Thierry Chancogne teaches, reflects on, and brings to life the fields of graphic design and typography.