Untitled (Archive Linotype) is a series of six works developed for the exhibition Linotype – the Machine Behind Black Art at the Technical Museum Nikola Tesla in Zagreb, Croatia (2024). The project responds to the historical and material context of the Linotype machine, a revolutionary device housed in the museum’s collection.
Invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1886, the Linotype transformed typesetting by mechanizing the process of arranging letters into lines—a task previously performed manually, letter by letter, since Gutenberg’s invention in the 15th century. By casting entire lines of type in a single operation, the Linotype increased efficiency sixfold and soon became standard equipment in major printing houses worldwide, including those in Croatia.
The installation incorporates two layers of archival reference. The first consists of photographs taken between 1950 and 1970 by Croatian art photographer Ante Brkan in the Narodni list printing house in Zadar—a rare and focused documentation of printing work from within a single site. The second consists of silkscreen prints based on Brkan’s photographs, produced using pigment made from dust collected from the Linotype machine in the museum’s holdings.
These prints act as points of convergence—puncta—between photographic memory, material residue, and historical transition. The work reflects on the physical and symbolic legacy of mechanical reproduction and its entanglement with time, labor, and obsolescence.
Invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1886, the Linotype transformed typesetting by mechanizing the process of arranging letters into lines—a task previously performed manually, letter by letter, since Gutenberg’s invention in the 15th century. By casting entire lines of type in a single operation, the Linotype increased efficiency sixfold and soon became standard equipment in major printing houses worldwide, including those in Croatia.
The installation incorporates two layers of archival reference. The first consists of photographs taken between 1950 and 1970 by Croatian art photographer Ante Brkan in the Narodni list printing house in Zadar—a rare and focused documentation of printing work from within a single site. The second consists of silkscreen prints based on Brkan’s photographs, produced using pigment made from dust collected from the Linotype machine in the museum’s holdings.
These prints act as points of convergence—puncta—between photographic memory, material residue, and historical transition. The work reflects on the physical and symbolic legacy of mechanical reproduction and its entanglement with time, labor, and obsolescence.