the attraction of the written word - the Middle Ages - St Madeleine - Musee de Cluny, ParisA wonderful opportunity yesterday to examine valuable State Library of New South Wales' incunabula volumes. 1455-1500:
Gutenberg's Bible began a period that revolutionised the written word, began democratising the ownership of books and secularising content. The quality and individuality of many volumes is still astonishing. The language of printing developed so very quickly with a wealth of woodcut illustration in the Nuremberg Chronicle and experimental page layouts in Manutius' Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.
The last 20 years have sent print and graphics on a different journey with seemingly infinite virtual possibilities and applications. Not only information access, but creation has been democratised. Classrooms are being 'flattened' by Amazing web 2.0 projects documented by Terry Freedman. Crafted 2D and 3D papercraft illustrations are ceding to embedded and interactive media that reach out of any 'page', demanding attention.
The impact of 15th century technology must have been no less!
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