The “Sciphabet” of Viktor Koen in the Athens Science Festival Art Exhibition

17 March, 2017 News

The multi-awarded artist, designer and educator at the School of Visual Arts of New York, Viktor Koen, will present a personal exhibition under the title “Sciphabet”. His exhibition is an illustrated font that combines the scientific world with the essential feature of written language: lettering. Here, the forms of letters amazingly mix with traditional as well as advanced tools for research. While maintaining their educational nature, the letters promote a distinguishable view of aesthetics, inspiration, and expression. This experiment was successfully published initially on the cover of the weekly journal ‘The New York Times Book Review.’ The “Sciphabet” exhibition will be presented in the Art & Science Exhibition in Athens Science Festival aiming to fulfill its promise: to reexamine and present a complete font.

Read the artist’s interview for the website of Athens Science Festival

Viktor Koen the creator of ‘’Sciphabet’’, narrates his fascination with scientific illustrations and his inspirations in conversation with curator Christiana Kazakou

Your work consists of an interesting set of digital illustrations inspired by science. Which scientific disciplines attract you more and how do they feed back to your work?  Do you see yourself as an amateur scientist?

Not an amateur scientist but a collector of all scientific revelation. A fascination with the aesthetic value of everything scientific from the tools of practice to the way results are reflected on screen, paper or space. Because of the massive amount of raw materials on the subject needed, a full alphabet could only be accomplished through an obsessive accumulation of photos taken in science, technology, natural history or plain history museums, exhibitions, science facilities or flea markets. Some of the photography is taken legitimately and some not (I have been known to smuggle tripods in baby strollers and sneaking through roped off areas is a norm). Using my teaching as an excuse for the need of better pictures works too, sometimes. The decision for a new alphabet requires a few years of conscious and focused collection of sources and having maintained a large image library of neighboring subjects that could equally work on several themes is a big asset. Not sure there are specific disciplines that attract more than others as I am in constant search of visuals to fall in love with and use as soon as opportunities arise.

For the Athens Science Festival you will be presenting a solo exhibition ‘Sciphabet,’ what is the meaning of the alphabet behind your creations?

Sciphabet tries to introduce high science into the most elementary building block of our written language by fusing the traditional, rusted and obsolete with the modern, experimental and shiny. This alphabet also means to excite, and interest audiences that might not be traditionally attracted to the world of science attempting to bridge socioeconomic, racial and gender gaps. Realizing that appearing clinically attractive is convincing, inspiring, or even ironic, made a point of using such secret formula for some of the most conceptually challenging assignments. Promoting science through typography was such a challenge.

In your creations, you refer to social criticism, darkness and politics. How do you connect politics with science?

Politics and science have a long tradition of overlap and direct engagement with industry in its quest for profit. The contemporary political landscape of corruption, self importance, demagogy and greed are increasingly unstable factors when combined with religious beliefs and agendas. Genetic engineering is an example as nature and science intertwine in ways that at times prove to be less than ideal. Sciphabet doesn’t shy away from pointing out the potential for abuse every time something new and wonderful is discovered, as its dark side lurks just around the corner.

Your illustrations have been presented in a number of high profile publications such as NYTimes, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stones, LA Times and Forbes. Would you like to see your work presented in other contexts and collaborations in the future?

Posters and printmaking have been a great addition to my editorial work, as working bigger, using more color and getting dirty with paint instead of pixels makes one fell a bit more alive. Also working on larger, more complex projects like designing conferences involves technology and stage applications that stretch the boundaries of my studio work. Lately, collaborations on documentary films and experiencing their process first hand, have opened my eyes to a very different way of story telling. Museum and gallery exhibitions are very central to my personal work and being at the Athens Science Festival for the first time is exciting because this is exactly the environment I was thinking of when developing Sciphabet.

 You seem to embrace different roles such as artist, designer, and educator.  How do you think your multidisciplinary role fits in the society?

Most of this can be traced back to my education and mentors in Greece, Israel, and the US. The Bezallel Academy of Arts and Design didn’t have a dedicated Illustration department so being part of the graphic design department and taking all illustration electives possible was my only choice. The personal, less commercial approach to learning art, there but also in graduate school at SVA, (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) pushed towards a more interdisciplinary direction where projects would spread to several mediums. Also being trained and mentored by fine artists like Xenis Sachinis in Greece, comic book artists like Michel Kichka in Israel, art directors like Steven Heller and illustrators like Marshall Arisman in New York, contributed to an open horizon when it comes to modes of expression, projects and collaborations. Fitting was never a goal, it was about being able to survive by making pictures. Luckily, the current environment fits this encyclopedic approach well as creative platforms and industries communicate with each other better than they ever did and the market place embraces interdisciplinary art with passion. Not always the right art or with the right kind of passion but still, better than ever. And this only means opportunities.

Exhibition Curator: Christianna Kazakou