Mæna 2010

84.
Turning Tide
by JEFF RAMSEY
One of the most important books that I own
is Dieter Roth’s Die Blaue Flut (The Blue
Tide).(1) Published in 1967, Die Blaue Flut
originates from DR’s American diary when he
was teaching in Providence, RI. The book is
divided into four parts, listed on the contents
page as:
1 the blue tide (manuscript of the first part)
2 the blue tide (1. reproduction of the first part)
3 a look into the blue tide (English-language
manuscript of an excerpt from “the blue tide
second part”)
4 the blue tide second part:
the blue red green black grey yellow brown tide
or
the brown mess (manuscript)
Part 1 is DR’s 1966 daily diary. Typewritten at
the top of each page are the year, month, and
day, a countdown of days to come, and other
information like holidays and birthdays.
Onto these sheets he has also added typed
and handwritten texts, along with drawings
and diagrams.(2)
Part 2 is this same diary typeset in Futura.
However, now there are no drawings or
handwritten text. All of the words are
lowercase and the same point size – most
are set in bold weight — with all of the
punctuation spelled out in regular weight.
These texts are aligned left and begin at the
top left of the page in what can be described
as a default placement.(3)
Part 3 is the shortest and consists of a
selection of drawings and handwritten texts
taken from the original manuscript of the first
chapter, translated from German to English,
with no reference made to the dates and
other practical information included in the
previous sections.(4)
Part 4 returns to the entire diary of the first
manuscript and is again typewritten. As in
section 1, all information begins at the top
left of the page, left aligned. No handwritten
elements exist in this section. However,
here DR elaborates on his original sketches,
by including texts that comment on or
“complete” the manuscript of the first part.(5)
(Re) Turning Tide:
A Working Method
What interests me about this book,
beyond its visual beauty and conceptual
muscle, is the inseparability of its form
and content. Die Blaue Flut, unlike a lot
of (typo)graphic design and art, is not the
result of content which has been as-
signed a form, but rather, is an adept
combination of content and a process
which arrives at a singular form. It is
its own process of becoming. This quality
is shared by the kinds of projects that I am
attracted to and that I model my practice
on. Whereas much contemporary design
concerns itself with surface over depth,
and illusion over substance, I prefer the
sincere commitment to material (content
and process) over the fleeting whims
of fashion. Because, for me, the stuff of
everyday life is the only stuff to work with.
Image captions (1–5)
Die Blaue Flut (the blue tide) reproduction
of first edition, edition hansjörg mayer,
Stuttgart 1967 and 3 original manuscripts,
Markgröningen, Providence, Reykjavik 1966–
1967, 632 pages, offset, 23 x 17 cm, stitched,
softback, printed by Staib + Mayer, Stuttgart.
edited by hj. mayer and d. rot, published by
edition hansjörg mayer, Stuttgart, London,
Reykjavik 1973 in an edition of 1000.
1
2 3