Click on image to see a larger version
Dorothee Lang is a writer, web freelancer and traveler, and the editor of BluePrintReview. She lives in Germany, keeps a sky diary, and always was fascinated by languages, roads and the world, themes that reflect in her own work. For more about her, visit her at blueprint21.de.
January 2010, Stuttgart City (click on image to view a larger version)
Dorothee Lang (website) is a writer, web freelancer and traveller, and the editor of BluePrintReview. She lives in Germany, and always was fascinated by languages, roads and the world, themes that reflect in her own work. She keeps a sky diary, is still captured by the possibilities of the web, and currently is focusing on collaborate projects.
Dorothee Lang is a writer, web freelancer and traveller, and the editor of BluePrintReview. She lives in Germany, and has always been fascinated by words and the way they change in different countries. Recent projects include the launch of >language >place, an open, collaborative blog project. For more about her, visit her at blueprint21.de.
Click on image to view a larger version.
Nikolaikirche in Leipzig was the centre of the peaceful public revolt against the communist system in East Germany. Beginning in 1980, people gathered in the church every Monday for prayer. First just a few met, then more, until in 1989, thousands came together there every week for Monday mass, which was followed by a walk of protest.
It’s still moving to walk across the church square, and to see the photo that was taken during one of the Monday walks. The banner says “Friedliche Revolution — Aufbruch zur Demokratie” / “Peaceful Revolution — Rise for Democracy.”
Dorothee Lang is a writer, web freelancer and traveller. She lives in Germany and edits BluePrintReview and Daily s-Press. Recent publications include HA&L, YB, elimae, Referential, a handful of stones, eclectica, and for a silly reason, The New Yorker. For more about her, visit her website.
Dorothee Lang is a writer, web freelancer, traveller, gardener, and the editor of BluePrintReview. She lives in Germany, and currently is into skies, microformats, transitions and visuals. Recent publications include elimae, Nanoism, The, Wheelhouse and others. For more about her, visit her at blueprint21.de.
Dorothee Lang is a writer, web freelancer, traveller, gardener, and the editor of BluePrintReview. She lives in Germany, and currently is into skies, microformats, transitions and visuals. Recent publications include elimae, Nanoism, The, Wheelhouse and others. For more about her, visit her at blueprint21.de.
“It’s simple,” he explained. “You put up the flags in a high place — and the wind carries their mantras into all pervading spaces that are in need of them.”
Dorothee Lang edits the BluePrintReview, an experimental online journal, and currently is into collaborative works. Her work has recently appeared in LITnIMAGE, Counterexample Poetics, Otoliths and Wheelhouse. For more about her, visit her at blueprint21.de.
When she thought of economy, she thought of social exchange theory — the idea that relationships are based on give and take; our feelings about relationships rest on perceptions of the balance between what we get out of them and what we put in. Usually, she wouldn’t have put her thoughts on paper, but this time she did — as concisely as possible, using the medium of the postcard which embodies economy of words (few) and form (small).
(Click on postcard to see larger version)
The small print, barely legible, made her think of the papers she’d signed that morning — typical legalistic transaction papers that detailed who gave how much for what: 23 Euro for temporary ownership of a compact car, fully insured.
Now for a tobacco shop, to get some stamps. Driving down the bay road, she scanned for the yellow sign, partly wishing she wouldn’t find one. Yet, there it was. Exactly four minutes later it was done — the stamp bought, glued to the card, the card on the way, like her again, and her thoughts. Small print, she concluded, is invisible with family and friends, even though it’s always part of the subtext; unstated and implicit yet ever-present, like a PS suggesting an afterthought of little importance — which, in social exchange, really isn’t.
by Karyn Eisler and Dorothee Lang
Download the MP3 (reading by Karyn)
(Click on image to view at larger size.)
by Dorothee Lang and Steve Wing
Process notes
Dorothee:
Collaboration is the central element of these months: since a good while, I am part of the group writing project 2028, which connects 7 authors from different continents. Steve is also part of this group, and with both of us being contributors to qarrtsiluni, the idea of working together on a submission seemed like an interesting challenge. It was good timing, too: as 2028 is mainly about revisions right now, the ‘merged signature’ theme brought us back to the try-and-explore phase of a collaboration.
Steve:
After initially working with mixed media, we decided to work purely with images. We each suggested themes with many possible interpretations, settling on ‘reflective’ and ‘borders.’ We each emailed the other some images, then worked with the other’s photos and our own, cropping and combining them to create a collaborative collage. These flew back and forth across the Atlantic as we revised and worked toward a finished version.
Dorothee:
That’s how “Reflective Borders” came together. In fact, it’s a double merger – a merging of the two photo themes: ‘reflective’ and ‘borders’, and the combining of digitally rendered photos into a black/white collage.
Steve:
Working with Doro’s photos was interesting, knowing that each represents not just a view from another continent, but also something she experienced. It was like a secret hidden in the photo. And of course, with my images, I know some of its secrets. Like in Reflective Borders, one of these places no longer exists.
Dorothee:
The process had the feeling of an adventure, a journey, and I think this is true also of the finished work.
(Click on image to view at larger size.)
Our full-content RSS feed includes everything but video and audio players. (What's RSS?)
Get qarrtsiluni delivered daily to your inbox. Depending on your email system, some formatting may be lost.
Get our (almost-) daily audio files in podcast form through the iTunes store.
Subscribe-by-email options are available for individual comment threads; this is the RSS feed for all comments on the site.
Our new page on Facebook replaces our old Facebook group.
1. News & views @qarrtsiluni
2. Links to the latest content @qarrtsilunifeed
3. Our news & views feed originates at the open-source Twitter alternative, Identica
Sign up to get all calls for submission and other major announcements (5-10 emails a year)
