Magic on the Page

Michael and Jessica talk about the work of Matthias Buchinger (1674–1739), a specialist in micrography who was born without legs or arms. He was 29 inches tall and had 14 children with his four wives.

How did Buchinger manage to make his art? Seeing his works on paper in Wordplay: Matthias Buchinger’s Drawings from the Collection of Ricky Jay (at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through April 11) is like “seeing him doing these tricks before your eyes,” Michael says:

The paper is the proof of it. It’s one thing to hear these claims, and it’s another thing to stand at the Met in front of one of these pieces and see it as he did them at the time.

Also mentioned:

John Quiggin, Doing more with less: the economic lesson of Peak Paper

Matthias Buchinger: The Greatest German Living by Ricky Jay

Beyonce, Formation

Alvin Eisenman bio

Umberto Eco: How to Travel with a Salmon; The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana; From Internet to Gutenberg; “We Like Lists Because We Don’t Want to Die”

Thanks to Mohawk Fine Papers for sponsoring this episode. Join the 70th Anniversary celebration of Mohawk Superfine by sharing details about your favorite Superfine projects using the hashtag #dearSuperfine on Twitter or Instagram.

Machine Room Cohoes, Mohawk Mills Inc, August 17, 1954

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By Michael Bierut & Jessica Helfand

Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer, is an award-winning graphic designer and writer and a former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Communications Arts and Eye magazines. A member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and a recent laureate of the Art Director’s Hall of Fame, Helfand received her B.A. and her M.F.A. from Yale University where she has taught since 1994.