The very rare issue of Ark with “slashed” cover provided by Lucio Fontana: Edited by Rody Maude-Roxby an RCA painting student and art directed by Denis Postle, Ark 24 1958 is regarded as a landmark in graphic design history.
According to Neil Parkinson, RCA Archives and Collections Manager, Rody Maude-Roxby, who was very connected to artists within the Situationist and Spatialist movements at the time, arranged for Lucio Fontana to provide the drawing for the cover which was printed on an orange DayGlo background (there was also an equally rare green variant) which had only recently been invented. The tears in the cover, which reflect those in Fontana’s work, were made by the Ark team dragging each sheet over a plank of wood studded with nails. The back cover features an ad for the P&O cruise liner. This issue also features Ralph Rumney’s pull-out piece ‘The Leaning Tower of Venice’ the first in a three-part series, now considered a classic early example of psychogeography.
Title: Ark Journal number 24, Royal College of Art, October 1958.
Author: Edited by Rody Maude-Roxby
Publisher: Royal College of Art, London
Publication Date: October 1958
Format: softcover
Images: illustrated in colour and b/w
Pages: 60 pp.
Language: English
Condition: tape to lower spine, spine sunned, handling marks to cover, pages 1-18 have separated from the binding.
Provenance: The Library of Rod Hill
Stock Number: RB05218 RH
The very rare issue of Ark with “slashed” cover provided by Lucio Fontana: Edited by Rody Maude-Roxby an RCA painting student and art directed by Denis Postle, Ark 24 1958 is regarded as a landmark in graphic design history.
According to Neil Parkinson, RCA Archives and Collections Manager, Rody Maude-Roxby, who was very connected to artists within the Situationist and Spatialist movements at the time, arranged for Lucio Fontana to provide the drawing for the cover which was printed on an orange DayGlo background (there was also an equally rare green variant) which had only recently been invented. The tears in the cover, which reflect those in Fontana’s work, were made by the Ark team dragging each sheet over a plank of wood studded with nails. The back cover features an ad for the P&O cruise liner. This issue also features Ralph Rumney’s pull-out piece ‘The Leaning Tower of Venice’ the first in a three-part series, now considered a classic early example of psychogeography.
Title: Ark Journal number 24, Royal College of Art, October 1958.
Author: Edited by Rody Maude-Roxby
Publisher: Royal College of Art, London
Publication Date: October 1958
Format: softcover
Images: illustrated in colour and b/w
Pages: 60 pp.
Language: English
Condition: tape to lower spine, spine sunned, handling marks to cover, pages 1-18 have separated from the binding.
Provenance: The Library of Rod Hill
Stock Number: RB05218 RH
