Harms, Anja: Der grosse Alk The austere shapes of the Faroe Islands and their colors at the end of winter determine the images in this book, translated into linocuts, which in their flat and reduced style capture the large lines of this island landscape in the North Atlantic. The colors of the book reflect the northern light: bluish gray tones together with the iridescent ochre of the winter grasslands that cover large parts of the islands. The rapid change of lighting under the layers of clouds constantly moved by the wind is reflected in the transparent sheets that carry the text and create ever new shades of gray and white as you read.Gertrud Kolmar's poem evokes a deserted, cold part of the world characterized by unique beauty and clarity. In it lives the great Alk, the “animal from the Arctic Circle”, which emerges “large and pure from humanity”. The lone bird is a magnificent swimmer. There is a skeletonized alc in Frankfurt's Senckenberg Museum, and the sight of it was one of the inspirations for the imagery in this book: the landscape of the Faroe Islands merges with the skull, and on the last pages of the book it resembles a whale when turned upside down. ger., Linocut, letterpress, Double binding, clamshell, 80p, 13 x 11 inch, Ed. of 25, num., sign., Oberursel, 2024 Request of availability backnext