The 1926 book Alphabet (Abeceda)
is a landmark achievement in European modernism. Its frequent
reproduction in exhibition catalogues and scholarly articles has made it
a key symbol of Devětsil (1920-ca. 1931), the Czech artists' collective
within whose ranks the book was conceived, and its importance is
increasingly measured in international terms as well. The book consists
of a series of rhymed quatrains by Devětsil poet Vítězslav Nezval,
titled and ordered according to the letters of the Latin alphabet.
Facing each set of verses is a Constructivist photomontage layout by
Karel Teige, a painter turned typographer who was also Devětsil's
spokesperson and leading theorist. Teige developed his graphic design
around photographs of dancer and choreographer Milada (Milča) Mayerová,
a recent affiliate of the group, who had performed a stage version of
"Alphabet" to accompany a recitation of the poem at a theatrical evening
in Nezval's honor in April 1926.
(...)
The project to create a new alphabet
epitomizes the proselytizing attitude of avant-gardists in various
fields in the years after World War I. From Dada poetry to
Constructivist architecture and design, from calls to overhaul theater
to revolutions in literary theory, a panoply of experiments took the
alphabet as their model or target and disclosed the potency of this
elementary linguistic structure as a trope for creative renewal and
social revolution. With its large print, childlike verses, and an
instructional sequence that matches a single letter in text and image on
every page spread, Alphabet presents itself as the class reader
for that internationally sponsored course in universal reeducation.
Matthew S. Witkovsky, Staging language: Milča Mayerová and the Czech book "Alphabet", "The Art Bulletin", Vol. 86, No. 1, Mar., 2004, p. 114. [link]
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