| Extensive Description (en) | - What is X anyway? What does X mean to me and what does it mean to others? Where is X used and what do we see in it? What do we project onto X? Do we need to define X?
X marks a spot. X crosses out and forbids. X gives instructions.
For some, X is something that isn’t there anymore—something that’s gone, like an ex—but it’s also the rarest letter in the German alphabet.
At the same time, X is digit and symbol, it unites everything and yet can only be one thing. A symbol, a character, a body. In nature, physics, mathematics—as a variable, or in language as a concept that reflects how we act and think.
The so-called unknown.
As long as X isn’t replaced by anything specific, it carries all meanings within and simply waits to be put into context. But is it really waiting—or are we the ones waiting to see in X what it could potentially be?
X is a collection.
This raises the question: what is X to me?
To me, X represents a meeting point—the intersection—the connection between two lines. X, in my eyes, symbolizes connection. The center, and above all, the moment in which two lines touch that would otherwise just be lines. This captured moment holds the essence of X for me—without it, the letter, the sign, the digit, the symbol, the value, the placeholder would not exist.
X is a connector.
Goal
With this project, I present my current approach to the theme of X: I’m trying to find a way of connecting different ideas into a pattern. It runs through my life—and really through all of ours—and I share my perspective with the viewer.
In my exhibition, I captured my exploration in 22 posters and a 130-page publication.
Posters
The book A Public Character by Shannon Ebner was a breaking point for me and became the inspiration behind the posters. I liked how Ebner continuously placed her collection of the letter A into new contexts, engaging more deeply with it.
This method allowed me to move away from the research and into physical production. It helped me find my own interpretation and visual language for X.
I wrote a text about X and used it as a source for sentences.
The posters aim to guide the viewer’s eye: the X combinations are presented in large scale to sharpen the gaze for the pattern. The sentences—set in Helvetica, one of the most commonly used typefaces in the German-speaking world—serve as a contrast to the least-used letter in the language.
As a second layer, the sentences are used in a repetitive way–almost like an ad–directing focus to them I created my own pattern and present it through the posters.
I want to reveal my perspective and invite others to see my pattern.
Publication
The publication emerged from the idea of placing the pattern into a new context once again. It presents my collection in a more compressed form.
To avoid confining myself to one mode of working, I used this opportunity to move X from digital to analog, from 2D to 3D, into different formats and places. It’s meant to function like a Where’s Waldo game and stands in contrast to the posters, since the three Xs aren’t always immediately visible.
This experimental research has shown me that X can be anything—because we can see anything in it.
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