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"TYPE SCAPES: A Mystery Story"Published in Exile: A Literary Quarterly, Volume 5, Numbers 3 & 4
(Toronto: Exile Editions, 1978), pp. 127-176. Copyright © Janine Zend, all rights reserved, reproduced under license. Robert Zend appears alongside Marie-Claire Blais in this edition of Exile magazine.
Here is the mystery story of how my types scales were born. Creation is a mystery, and how I created my type scales is a story. I am very good at telling stories and solving mysteries. I think mystery, like life, is much overrated. What worries me most is that someday I will have to explain this to my smiling, vivacious, always inquiring daughter, Natalie. | ||||
[Zend's typescapes are] meticulous, superimposing shapes and figures in a way that hints at dimension and gives a sense of fluidity. The shapes he makes express texture while still appearing delicate, urging you to reach out and feel their dimensions before they float away or disappear. It’s just great art. Look for yourself!"
- Scott Beauchamp in "Zend and the Art of Typewriter Maintenance ," Full Stop: Reviews, Interview, Marginalia (9 May 2012)
The miracle of these concrete poems is that from what must have been a slow and painstaking process of planning and execution using paper inserted into a clunky machine come visions of airy lightness and delicate movement.
- Camille Martin, "Robert Zend's 'Typescapes': Concrete poetry from a Renaissance man of Canadian letters", Rogue Embryo, a.k.a. Camille Martin: a blog about poetry, collage, photography, whatnot, May 3 2012.
