The Epic Story «Zangezi» in Russian and English

Under one cover, the Russian and English sections are unified, just as a star language unites different worlds. The languages move toward each other and meet in the middle of the book, where a large typographic block is placed: «Architecture of Words, ” quoting Khlebnikov himself. This is a work dealing with the sound system of the prophet Zangese—a canvas of music and rhythm, and graphic transformations. „Architecture of Words“ is an attempt to visually interpret the hypertext through typography.„Zangese“ is the central work of Velimir Khlebnikov. It truly is a hypertext, as Khlebnikov himself defined it. In other words, it is the culmination and focal point of the poet’s manifold aspirations and his reformative searches in the field of language. The name Zangese traces back to Nietzsche’s Zarathustra. At the same time, Zangese is Khlebnikov’s alter ego. This work tracks his many-year quest—a search for meaning at the most varied levels, from the sonic to the visual. The first to create visual parallels to the hypertext were Pyotr Miturich and Vladimir Tatlin. Later, Serafim Pavlovsky and Stepan Botiev searched for and found their own approaches to visualizing „Zangese.“Now, a new approach has emerged from the young artists of Boris Trofimov’s workshop. The polyphony of Khlebnikov’s texts provides a space for the entire creative group of the workshop. Fifteen participants, including the directors, united by a shared interest in Khlebnikov’s ideas, compiled their impressions into a publication that becomes an extensive artistic statement in a universal visual language. The world of „Zangese“ is built on the intersection of languages, and the artists build that intersection.Awards: 2020 — Winner of the national book design contest „Zhark-kniga“

Project Leads: Boris Trofimov, Maria TitovaProject Participants, Illustrators: Asya Aleshina, Svetlana Gafarova, Valentina Erofeeva, Sofia Karavaeva, Elena Klyopova, Irina Klychnikova, Evgenia Kolesnikova, Ekaterina Kudelina, Tatyana Laponkina, Aleksandra Medvedeva, Nikolay Radchenko, Ekaterina Tarasova, Anna TolchinskayaProofreader: Tatyana TorgovichevaPublisher: Boslen 2020