LOVE LETTERS
TO THE WIND
Summary
Love letters to the Wind. 2023. 80x148mm
Cowritten with CSM Students.
Images by Algerton Newton, Dr Thomas Monro, William Turner,
and Charles Samuel Keene, Courtesy of Tate Britain archives.
Designed and Published by me in Central Saint Martins.
This unusual weather forecast brings forward the concept of “global stilling”. Global stilling is a theory in the context of climate change which predicts wind to significantly slow down. This prompted the question of: “What would the world be like without any wind?” This forecast offers a gentle and poetic response to this question through the format of a collection of love letters to Wind.
This aims to spark reflections on the topic of climate change using an emotional approach to a present audience who are familiar with the feeling of wind and will be missing it.
Details
24-pages booklet digitally printed
Cover page printed on Crush Corn 120gsm, text block on Aretha 90gsm
and Tracing paper 90gsm
Staple binded
Title and decorative font is CirrusCumulus. Body font is Sabon italic.
Full description
This unusual weather forecast brings forward the concept of “global stilling”. Global stilling is a theory in the context of climate change which predicts wind to significantly slow down. (Robbins, 2022) This prompted the question of: “What would the world be like without any wind?” This forecast offers a gentle and poetic response to this question through the format of a collection of love letters to Wind. This aims to spark reflections on the topic of climate change using an emotional approach to a present audience who are familiar with the feeling of wind and would be missing it.
The first step taken was to collect memories and thoughts on wind from 15 people across CSM, this fed into developing the visual language of the publication but also allowed me to compile their memories into a collection of stories about and in homage to wind. Childhood, simple pleasures, and nostalgia were very strong themes in the responses I got both in the survey but also in the in-person conversations I had. This publication aims to activate the childhood memories to efficiently communicate the feeling of loss and longing to the audience.
The publication is structured so it represents wind and the imminent disappearance of it. The tracing paper inserts are a metaphor for wind and adds a sensory element to the publication by mimicking the sound of wind passing when turning pages.
The selected illustrations from Tate Britain also all represented wind in different ways. It addresses the wind directly as a recipient by mentioning times, people, objects, and activities that remind the writers of it. It also used wind as a communicator by aiming to make an aerodynamic publication.
I chose the format of a collection of letters because they are a vessel for hopes and wishes. They address both future prospects and past events, valuable memories. Specifically designating “love” letters in the title is evocative. There is something secretive, intimate and thrilling about reading a love letter. It prepares the audience to approach the content on an emotional level – it sets the tone. That tone has been influenced by Romanticism, an art movement that is situated around the 18th century and has produced not only many iconic paintings, but also a rich literature that I have used as reference throughout the booklet. “Romanticists emphasized the individual's connection to nature and an idealized past.” (Romanticism Movement Overview, no date), which is how I aim to communicate this weather forecast to my audience.
Using the lyrical tone that is typical of romanticist literature brings the atmosphere together. Furthermore, that register feels both familiar and unfamiliar to my audience helps create just enough distance for the read to be light-heartedly enjoyed, but also enough pull to bring the readers to interact with the publication.
Romanticism Movement Overview (no date) The Art Story. Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/romanticism/ (Accessed: 27 October 2023).