F from Bestiary

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Frequent collaborators Michael Loderstedt and Craig Lucas set out to create a portfolio of prints based on the letters of the alphabet, each represented by animals beginning with that letter. A bestiary is an illustrated encyclopedia of animals—in medieval Europe, bestiaries were closely associated with Christianity, which attached religious symbolism to animals to teach moral values. For the letters in their Bestiary, Loderstedt and Lucas chose fonts (including a medieval woodcut typeface) that “emphasize the ‘animalistic’ nature of mankind” and carry symbolic weight. The alphabet, itself a series of symbols, provides the basis for the works’ display. In vertical groups, the prints spell out a typing exercise with no discernible meaning: “the quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.”

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