designer as author by Michael Rock 1 1996 What does it mean to call a graphic designer an author? What is an author?

Authorship, in one form or an- That question has been an area of other, has been a popular term in intense scrutiny over the last forty graphic design circles, especially years. The meaning of the word those at the edge of the profes- itself has shifted significantly over sion, the design academies and time. The earliest definitions are the murky territories that exist not associated with writing; in fact between design and art. The word the most inclusive is a "person who authorship has a ring of impor- originates or gives clearly index tance: it connotes seductive ideas authoritarian — even patriarchal of origination and agency. But the — connotations: "father of all question of how designers become life," "any inventor, constructor or designer authors is a difficult one, and ex- founder," "one who begets," and a actly who the designer/authors are "director, commander, or ruler." and what authored design looks like depends entirely on how you All literary theory, from Aristotle as author define the term and the criteria you on, has in some form or another as author been theory of authorship. Since choose to grant entrance into the by Michael2 Rock pantheon. this is not a history of the author 3 1996 but a consideration of the author by Michael Rock Authorship may suggest new ap- as metaphor, I'll start with recent 1996 proaches to understanding design history. Wimsatt and Beardsley's, process in a profession tradition- seminal text, "The Intentional Fal- ally associated more with the com- lacy" (1946), drove an early wedge munication than the origination of between the author and the text, messages. But theories of author- dispelling the notion that a reader ship may also serve as legitimizing could ever really know an author strategies, and authorial aspira- through his writing. The so-called tions may actually end up reinforc- death of the author, proposed most ing certain conservative notions of succinctly by Roland Barthes in Published in Multiple Signatures: On Designers, Authors, Readers and Users (Spring 2013) design production and subjectivity 1968 in an essay of that title, is — ideas that run counter to recent closely linked to the birth of critical critical attempts to overthrow the theory, especially theory based in perception of design based on indi- reader response and interpretation vidual brilliance. The implications rather than intentionality. Michel deserve careful evaluation. What Foucault used the rhetorical ques- does it really mean to call for a tion "What is an author?" as the graphic designer to be an author? title of his influential essay of 1969 which, in response to Barthes, outlines the The meaning of the word itself has shifted significantly over time. Families..." The statute secures the right to benefit financially from a work and for the author to preserve basic taxonomy and functions of the author and the problems associated with its textual integrity. That authorial conventional ideas of authorship right was deemed irrevocable. Text and origination. came to be seen as a form of pri- Foucauldian theory holds that the vate property. A romantic criticism connection between author and arose that reinforced that relation- text has transformed and that there tist revealed extant phenomena, facts anyone ship, searching for critical keys in exist a number of author-func- faced with the same conditions the life and intention of the writer. tions that shape the way readers would discover. The scientist and By laying a legal ground for own- approach a text. These stubbornly the mathematician could claim ership, the Statute of Anne defines persistent functions are historically to have been first to discover a who is, and isn't, an author. It was determined and culturally specific paradigm, and lend their name to a thoroughly modern problem. No categories. the phenomenon, but could never claim authorship over it. (The as- one had owned the sacred texts. Foucault posits that the earliest tronomer who discovers a new star The very fact that the origins of sa- sacred texts were authorless, their may name it but does not conjure cred texts were lost in history, their origins lost in ancient history (the Vedas, the Gospels, etc.). The very The very anonymity of the text served as a certain kind of authentication. anonymity of the text served as a certain kind of authentication. The it.) Facts were universal and thus authors either composites or anon- author's name was symbolic, rarely eternally preexisiting. ymous, gave them their authority. 4 attributable to an individual. (The The gospels in their purest form 5 Gospel of Luke, for instance, is a By the 18th century, Foucault sug- were public domain. Any work diversity of texts gathered under gests, the situation had reversed: to be done, and any arguments the rubric of Luke, someone who literature was authored and science to have, were interpretive. The may indeed have lived and written became the product of anonymous authors referred to in the Statute parts, but not the totality, of what objectivity. When authors came to were living, breathing — and ap- we now think of as the complete be punished for their writing — i.e. parently highly litigious — beings. work.) when a text could be transgressive The law granted them authority — the link between author and text over the meaning and use of their Scientific texts, at least through was firmly established. own words. the Renaissance, demanded an author's name as validation. Far The codification of ownership Ownership of the text, and the au- from objective truth, science was over a text is often dated to the thority granted to authors at the ex- based in subjective invention and adoption of the Statute of Anne pense of the creative reader, fueled the authority of the scientist. This (1709) by the British Parliament, much of the 20th century's obses- changed with the rise of the scien- generally considered the first sion with authorship. Post-struc- tific method. Scientific discoveries real copyright act. The first line turalist reading of authorship tends and mathematical proofs were no of the law is revealing: "Whereas to critique the prestige attributed to longer in need of authors because Printers, Booksellers, and other the figure of the author and to suggest or they were perceived as discovered Persons, have of late frequently truths rather than authored ideas. The scien- taken the Liberty of Printing... Books, and other Writings, without the Consent of the Authors... to The meaning of the word itself has shifted significantly over time. their very great Detriment, and too often to the Ruin of them and their speculate about a time after his fall from grace. in the manner a scientist reveals a natural in principle they are irreducible. "truth." But what is most peculiar In other words, they establish a Postmodernity turns on what and revealing in Müller-Brock- principle." Fredric Jameson identified as a mann's writing is his reliance on "fragmented and schizophrenic tropes of submission: the designer The reaction to that drive for an decentering and dispersion" of the submits to the will of the system, irreducible theory of design is well subject. Decentered text — a text dark implications of Barthes' theory, forgoes personality and withholds documented. On the surface at that is skewed from the direct line note Ellen Lupton and J. Abbott interpretation. least, contemporary designers were of communication from sender to Miller, were refashioned into a "ro- moving from authorless, scientific receiver, severed from the author- mantic theory of self-expression." In his introduction to Compendi- text — in which inviolable visual ity of its origin, a free — floating um for Literates, which attempts a principles were carefully revealed element in a field of possible After years in the somewhat thank- highly formal dissection of writing, through extensive visual research significations — figures heavily in less position of the faceless facilita- Karl Gerstner claims about the — toward a more textual position constructions of a design based in tor, many designers were ready to organization of his book that "all in which the designer could claim reading and readers. But Kather- speak out. Some designers may be the components are atomic, i.e. some level of ownership over the ine McCoy's prescient image of eager to discard the internal affairs of formalism — to borrow Paul de The very anonymity of the text served as a certain kind of authentication. Man's metaphor — and branch out Theory is complicated, so my design is complicated. to the foreign affairs of external designers moving beyond problem politics and content. By the '70s, message. (This at the time literary solving and by "authoring addi- design began to discard some of theory was trying to move away 6 tional content and a self-conscious the scientistic approach that held from that very position.) But some 7 critique of the message, adopt- sway for several decades. (As early of the basic, institutional features ing roles associated with art and as the '20s, Trotsky was labeling of design practice have a way of literature," is often misconstrued. formalist artists the "chemists of getting tangled up in zealous at- Rather than working to incorpo- art.") That approach was evident in tempts at self-expression. The idea rate theory into their methods of the design ideology that preached of a decentered message does not production, many selfproclaimed strict adherence to an eternal grid necessarily sit well in a profession- deconstructivist designers literally and a kind of rational approach al relationship in which the client illustrated Barthes' image of a to design. (Keep in mind that is paying a designer to convey reader-based text — a "tissue of although this example is a staple specific information or emotions. quotations drawn from innu- of critiques of modernism, in In addition, most design is done in merable centers of culture" — by actuality the objectivists represent- some kind of collaborative setting, scattering fragments of quotations ed a small fragment of the design either within a client relation- across the surface of their "au- population at the time.) ship or in the context of a design thored" posters and book covers. Müller-Brockmann's evocation of studio that utilizes the talents of (This technique went something the "aesthetic quality of mathe- numerous creative people. Thus like: "Theory is complicated, so my matical thinking" is certainly the the origin of any particular idea is design is complicated.") The rather clearest and most cited example of clouded. And the ever-present pres- this approach. Müller-Brockmann sure of technology and electronic and a slew of fellow researchers communication only further muddies the water. like Kepes, Dondis and Arnheim worked to uncover preexisting order and form Is there an auteur in the house?

It is not surprising to find that Bar- thes' essay, "Death of the Author," was written in Paris in 1968, the year students joined workers on The problem facing the auteur Ebert summed up the idea: "A film the barricades in the general strikes theorists was how to create a theory is not what it is about, it's how it is and the year the Western world that imagined the film, necessarily about it." flirted with social revolution. To a work of broad collaboration, as a call for the overthrow of authority work of a single artist and thus a A film is not what it is about, it’s how it is about it. — in the form of the author — in singular work of art. The solution was to develop a set of criteria that The interesting thing about the au- favor of the reader — read: the teur theory was that, unlike literary masses — had real resonance in allowed a critic to decree certain directors auteurs. In order to critics, film theorists, like design- 1968. But to lose power you must ers, had to construct the notion of have already worn the mantle, and establish the film as a work of art, auteur theory required that the the author. It was a legitimizing director — heretofore merely strategy, a method to raise what Theory is complicated, so my design is complicated. a third of the creative troika of was considered low entertainment director, writer and cinematog- to the plateau of fine art. By crown- ing the director the author of the so designers had a bit of a dilemma rapher — had the ultimate control of the entire project. film, critics could elevate certain overthrowing a power they may subjects to the status of high art. 8 never have possessed. Auteur theory — especially as es- That elevation, in turn, would 9 On the other hand, the figure of poused by American critic Andrew grant the director new freedoms in the author implies a total control Sarris — held that directors must future projects. (Tantrums could over creative activity and seemed meet three essential criteria in be thrown in the name of artistic an essential ingredient of high art. order to pass into the sacred hall vision. "I'm an artist, dammit, not If the relative level of genius was of the auteur. Sarris proposed that a butcher!" Expensive wines could the ultimate measure of artistic the director must demonstrate be figured into overhead to satisfy achievement, activities that lacked technical expertise, have a stylistic rarefied palates.) signature that is demonstrated over a clear central authority figure were The parallel to design practice is necessarily devalued. The develop- the course of several films and, most important, through choice of useful. Like the film director, the ment of film theory in the 1950s art director or designer is often serves as an interesting example. projects and cinematic treatment, demonstrate a consistent vision assigned his or her material and Almost ten years before Barthes and evoke a palpable interior often works collaboratively in made his famous proclamation, meaning through his work. Since a role directing the activity of a film critic and budding director the film director often had little number of other creative people. In François Truffaut proposed "La control over the choice of the mate- addition, the designer works on a politique des auteurs," a polemical strategy to reconfigure a critical theory of the cinema. rial — especially in the Hollywood number of diverse projects over the studio system that assigned direc- course of a career, many of which have widely varying levels of creative tors to projects — the signature way he treated a varying range of scripts and subjects was especially important in establishing a direc- tor's auteur credentials. As Roger graphic designers who, by special treatment and choice of projects, approach the realm of deeper meaning the way a Bergman, Hitchcock or Welles does? to discern a larger message in their work — In these cases the graphic auteur a message that transcends stylistic must both seek projects that fit elegance. (You have to ask yourself, his or her vision and then tackle a "What's the work about?") Perhaps project from a specific, it's an absence or presence of an A film is not what it is about, it’s how it is about it. recognizable critical overriding philosophy or individual potential; any inner meaning must perspective. For example, Jan spirit that diminishes some de- come through the aesthetic treat- van Toorn might be expected to signed works and elevates others. ment as much as from the content. approach a brief for a corporate annual report from a critical socio- We may have been applying a If we apply the auteur criteria to economic position. modified graphic auteur theory for graphic designers we find a body years without really paying atten- of work that may be elevated to But how do you compare a film tion. What has design history been, auteur status. Technical proficiency poster with the film itself? The if not a series of critical elevations could be fulfilled by any number of very scale of a cinematic proj- and demotions as our attitudes practitioners, but couple techni- ect allows for a sweep of vision about style and inner meaning cal proficiency with a signature not possible in graphic design. evolve? In trying to describe interi- style and the field narrows. The Therefore, as the design of a single 10 or meaning, Sarris finally resorts to 11 list of names that meet those two project lacks weight, graphic the "intangible difference between criteria would be familiar, as that auteurs, almost by definition, have one personality and another." That work is often published, awarded long, established bodies of work retreat to intangibility — "I can't and praised. (And, of course, that in which discernable patterns say what it is but I know it when selective republishing of certain emerge. The auteur uses very I see it" — is the Achilles heel of work to the exclusion of other work specific client vehicles to attain a the auteur theory, which has long constructs a unified and stylisti- consistency of meaning. (Renoir since fallen into disfavor in film — cally consistent oeuvre.) But great observed that a director spends his criticism circles. It never dealt ad- technique and style alone do not whole career making variations equately with the collaborative na- an auteur make. If we add the third on the same film.) Think of the ture of the cinema and the messy requirement of interior meaning, almost fetishistic way a photogra- problems of movie-making. But how does that list fare? Are there pher like Helmut Newton returns while the theory is passé, its effect to a particular vision of class and is still with us: to this day, when we sexuality — no matter what he is think of film structure, the director assigned to shoot. is squarely in the middle. Conversely, many great stylists The application of auteur theory don't seem to make the cut, as it is difficult I can’t say what it is but I know it when I see it may be too limited an engine for our current image of design authorship but there are a variety of other ways to frame the issue, a number of paradigms on which we could base our practice: the artist book, concrete poetry, political activism, publishing, illustration. The general authorship rhetoric seems to include any work by a designer tion is as much the content of the that is self-motivated, from artist magazine as the articles. The three books to political activism. But actions blur into one contiguous artist books easily fall within the whole. VanderLans expresses his realm and descriptive power of message through the selection of art criticism. Activist work may be material (as an editor), the content neatly explicated using allusions to of the writing (as a writer), and the propaganda, graphic design, public form of the pages and typography relations and advertising. (as a form-giver).

Perhaps the graphic author is Ellen Lupton and her partner J. actually one who writes and Abbott Miller are an interesting publishes material about design. variation on this model. "The This category would include Josef Bathroom, the Kitchen and the Müller-Brockmann and Rudy Aesthetics of Waste," an exhibition VanderLans, Paul Rand and Eric at MIT and a book, seems to ap- Spiekermann, William Morris and proach a kind of graphic author- Neville Brody, Robin Kinross and ship. The message is explicated Ellen Lupton — rather strange bed- equally through graphic/visual fellows. The entrepreneurial arm of devices as well as text panels and authorship affords the possibility of descriptions. The design of the ex- 12 personal voice and wide distribu- hibition and the book evoke design 13 tion. The challenge is that most in issues that are also the content: it this category split the activities into is clearly self-reflexive. three recognizable and discrete ac- tions: editing, writing and design- Lupton and Miller's work is ing. Design remains the vehicle for primarily critical. It forms and their written thought even when represents a reading of exterior they are acting as their own clients. social or historical phenomena (Kinross, for example, works as a and explicates that message for a historian and then changes hats specific audience. But there is a and becomes a typographer.) Rudy subset of work often overlooked by VanderLans is perhaps the purest the design community, the illus- of the entrepreneurial authors. trated book, that is almost entirely Emigre is a project in which the concerned with the generation of content is the form — i.e. the formal explora- creative narrative. Books for children have been one of the most success- ful venues for the author/artist, and bookshops are packed with the I can’t say what it is but I know it when I see it. fruits of their labors. Many illustra- tors have used the book in wholly inventive ways and produced serious work. Illustrator/authors include Sue Coe, Art Spiegelman, Charles Burns, David Macaulay, Chris Van Allsburg, Edward Gorey, Maurice Sendak, and many others. tion is as much the content of the In addition, the comic book and the a limiting factor, containing and magazine as the articles. The three graphic novel have generated a categorizing the work. The author actions blur into one contiguous renewed interest both in artistic as origin and ultimate owner of whole. VanderLans expresses his and critical circles. Spiegelman's the text guards against the free message through the selection of Maus and Coe's X and Porkopolis In the rejection will of the reader. The figure of the material (as an editor), the content suggest expanded possibilities. author reconfirms the traditional idea of the genius creator, and the of the writing (as a writer), and the Power ploys form of the pages and typography of the role of the esteem or status of the man frames (as a form-giver). If the ways a designer can be an the work and imbues it with some author are myriad, complex and mythical value. Ellen Lupton and her partner J. often confusing, the way designers facilitator and in the While some claims for authorship Abbott Miller are an interesting have used the term and the value variation on this model. "The may be as simple as a renewed attributed to it are equally so. Any sense of responsibility, at times Bathroom, the Kitchen and the number of recent statements claim Aesthetics of Waste," an exhibition call for transcendence they seem to be ploys for property authorship as the panacea to the at MIT and a book, seems to ap- rights, attempts to finally exercise woes of the browbeaten designer. some kind of agency where tradi- proach a kind of graphic author- In an article in Emigre, author ship. The message is explicated lies the implication tionally there has been none. The Anne Burdick proposed that "de- author = authority. The longing equally through graphic/visual signers must consider themselves devices as well as text panels and for graphic authorship may be the authors, not facilitators. This shift longing for a kind of legitimacy, or descriptions. The design of the ex- in perspective implies responsibili- that authored design 14 a kind of power that has so long 15 hibition and the book evoke design ty, voice, action... With voice comes issues that are also the content: it eluded the obedient designer. But a more personal connection and do we get anywhere by celebrating is clearly self-reflexive. opportunity to explore individual holds some higher, the designer as some central char- Lupton and Miller's work is options." A recent call-for-entries acter? Isn't that what fueled the last primarily critical. It forms and for a design exhibition titled "De- fifty years of design history? If we represents a reading of exterior signer as Author: Voices and Vi- purer purpose. really want to move beyond the de- social or historical phenomena sions" sought to identify "graphic signer-as-hero model of history, we and explicates that message for a designers who are engaged in work may have to imagine a time when specific audience. But there is a that transcends the traditional ser- we can ask, "What difference does subset of work often overlooked by vice-oriented commercial produc- it make who designed it?" the design community, the illus- tion, and who pursue projects that compels designers to take posses- desire is thwarted by oppositional Perhaps, in the end, authorship is trated book, that is almost entirely are personal, social or investigative sion of their texts and legitimizes theories of authorship. The cult Perhaps, in the end, authorship is not a very convincing metaphor for concerned with the generation of in nature." In the rejection of the design as an equal of the more of the author narrows interpreta- not a very convincing metaphor for the activity we understand as de- creative narrative. Books for children have been one of the most success- role of the facilitator and in the call traditionally privileged forms of tion and places the author at the the activity we understand as de- sign. There are a few examples of ful venues for the author/artist, for transcendence lies the impli- authorship. center of the work. Foucault noted sign. There are a few examples of work that is clearly the product of and bookshops are packed with the cation that authored design holds that the figure of the author is not work that is clearly the product of design authors and not designer/ fruits of their labors. Many illustra- some higher, purer purpose. The But if, as a chorus of contempo- a particularly liberating one. By design authors and not designer/ tors have used the book in wholly amplification of the personal voice rary theorists have convinced us, transferring the authority of the authors, and these tend to be exceptions to the rule. inventive ways and produced the proclivity of the contemporary text back to the author, by focus- serious work. Illustrator/authors designer is toward open reading ing on voice, presence becomes include Sue Coe, Art Spiegelman, and free textual interpretation, that Charles Burns, David Macaulay, Chris Van Allsburg, Edward Gorey, Maurice Sendak, and many others. a limiting factor, containing and Rather than glorify the act and sancti- Designer as performer categorizing the work. The author fy the practice, I propose three as origin and ultimate owner of alternative models for design that The performer metaphor is based Examples abound, from early the text guards against the free attempt to describe the activity on theater and music. The actor Dada, Situationist, and Fluxus will of the reader. The figure of the as it exists and as it could evolve: is not the author of the script, experiments to more recent author reconfirms the traditional designer as translator, designer the musician is not the composer typographic scores like Warren idea of the genius creator, and the as performer, and designer as of the score, but without actor Lehrer's performance typography esteem or status of the man frames director. or musician, the art cannot be or experimental typography from the work and imbues it with some realized. The actor is the physical Edward Fella or David Carson. The mythical value. Designer as translator expression of the work; every work most notable example is perhaps has an infinite number of physical Quentin Fiore's performance of While some claims for authorship This is based on the assumption expressions. Every performance McLuhan. It was Fiore's graphic may be as simple as a renewed that the act of design is, in essence, re-contextualizes the original work. treatment as much as McLuhan's sense of responsibility, at times the clarification of material or the (Imagine the range of interpreta- words that made The Medium is they seem to be ploys for property remodeling of content from one tions of Shakespeare's plays.) Each the Massage a worldwide phenom- rights, attempts to finally exercise form to another. The ultimate goal performer brings a certain reading ena. (Other examples include any some kind of agency where tradi- is the expression of a given content to the work. No two actors play the number of "graphic interpreta- tionally there has been none. The rendered in a form that reaches a same role in the same way tions," such as Allen Hori's rein- author = authority. The longing new audience. I am drawn to this vention of Beatrice Warde's Crystal for graphic authorship may be the metaphor by Ezra Pound's transla- translation of the Odyssey will be In this model, the designer Goblet essay, or P. Scott Makela's longing for a kind of legitimacy, or tions of Chinese character poetry. radically different from a 1950s transforms and expresses content improvisation on Tucker Viemeis- 16 a kind of power that has so long Pound translated not only the translation. through graphic devices. The score ter's lecture, both originally printed 17 eluded the obedient designer. But meaning of the characters but the or script is enhanced and made in Michael Bierut's Rethinking do we get anywhere by celebrating visual component of the poem as In certain works, the designer whole by the performance. And Design.) the designer as some central char- well. Thus the original is rendered remolds the raw material of given so the designer likewise becomes acter? Isn't that what fueled the last as a raw material reshaped into content, rendering it legible to the physical manifestation of the Designer as director the conventions of Western poetry. a new audience. Like the poetic content, not author but perform- fifty years of design history? If we This model is a function of big- really want to move beyond the de- The translation becomes a second translator, the designer transforms er, the one who gives life to, who art. Translation is neither scientific not only the literal meaning of the speaks the content, contextualizing ness. Meaning is manufactured by signer-as-hero model of history, we the arrangement of elements, so may have to imagine a time when nor ahistorical. Every translation elements but the spirit, too. For it and bringing it into the frame of reflects both the character of the example, Bruce Mau's design of the present. there must be many elements at we can ask, "What difference does play. Only in large-scale instal- it make who designed it?" original and the spirit of the con- a book version of Chris Marker's temporary as well as the individ- 1962 film, "La Jetée," attempts to lations, advertising campaigns, Perhaps, in the end, authorship is uality of the translator: An 1850s translate the original material from mass-distribution magazines and not a very convincing metaphor for one form to another. Mau is cer- very large books do we see evi- the activity we understand as de- tainly not the author of the work dence of this paradigm. sign. There are a few examples of but the translator of form and spirit. The designer is the intermediary. In such large projects, the designer work that is clearly the product of orchestrates masses of materials design authors and not designer/ to shape meaning, working like a authors, and these tend to be exceptions to the rule. film director, overseeing a script, a series of performances, photog- raphers, artists, and production The designer is the intermediary. crews. The meaning of the work results from the entire production. Large-scale, mass-distribution campaigns like those for Nike or Coca-Cola are exam- alone is that it encourages both ples of this approach. Curatorial ahistorical and acultural readings projects such as Sean Perkins' of design. It grants too much catalogue, Experience, which cre- agency, too much control to the ates an exhibition of other design lone artist/genius, and discourag- projects, is another example. es interpretation by validating a "right" reading of a work. One of the clearest examples is Irma Boom's project for SHV Cor- On the other hand, work is made poration. Working in conjunction by someone. And the difference with an archivist for more than five between the way different writers years, Boom created narrative from or designers approach situations a mass of data, a case of the design- and make sense of the world is at er creating meaning almost exclu- the heart of a certain criticism. The sively via the devices of design: the challenge is to accept the multi- narrative is not a product of words plicity of methods that comprise but almost exclusively of the se- design language. Authorship is quence of pages and the cropping only one device to compel design- of images. The scale of the book ers to rethink process and expand allows for thematic development, their methods. contradiction, and coincidence. 18 If we really need to coin a phrase 19 The value of these models is that to describe an activity encompass- they accept the multivalent activity ing imaging, editing, narration, of design without resorting to chronicling, performing, translat- totalizing description. The problem ing, organizing and directing, I’ll with the authorship paradigm conclude with a suggestion:

designer = designer. This article is an adaptation of Graphic Authorship (1996) for publication in Multiple Signatures: On Designers, Authors, Readers and Users (Spring 2013) On Designers, Authors, Signatures: (1996) for publication in Multiple Authorship This article is an adaptation of Graphic This short book was designed by Jeremy Botts as an exercise during Wheaton College’s cace seminar on reading in May 2015. The text was set in the typeface ff Scala, designed by Martin Majoor in 1989, and named after the Teatro alla Scala in 20 Milan. At present, no permission was sought for this re-presentation of Michael Rock’s text, as the exercise was initially a personal one. Fifteen copies were printed for the participants in the seminar on cheap copy paper in Adams Hall, the art building at Wheaton College, Wheaton il.