Irish Talent: Contemplating Denis Brown's Calligraphy

Illustrated: Denis Brown, from a performance interacting with projected video invoking SMS text messaging and digital typography as well as calligraphy. Illumination in the medieval manuscript sense of the word is transposed to digitally projected light.

This is Denis Brown with a calligraphy post for January 2012. I hope you'll enjoy reading the following translation of a nice interview recently published in Spanish by Letra Urbana. I present a re-edited new design, the original Spanish presentation can be seen here.

By Mónica Prandi

Art in the process of extinction, or survivor of the digital age? In an interview with Letra Urbana, a scribe of the 21st century outlines an almost poetic reflection on the role of calligraphy in today's society.

Miami visits Dublin Ireland, in North Carolina

After Monica Marquez, a calligrapher resident in Miami, was informed of how Denis Brown practices the art of calligraphy, she made plans to attend a workshop with the prestigious Irish master in the mountains of North Carolina. Upon her return she declared "I have no words to describe the wonder of my experience". Since then, she has closely followed Brown's artistic path.

Last June, Marquez, acting on behalf of the Board of the South Florida Calligraphy Guild, invited Brown to conduct a workshop at the Bakerhouse Art Center in Miami on techniques of his of cutting edge art, much appreciated in international circles.

"Denis drew us close to the forefront of this ancient art. He showed expert handling of the pen with fast-moving strokes, sometimes appearing as if by magic. He handled with extreme perfection what for some of us was very difficult. He showed his technique with elegance and explained procedures with charisma. His flexible approach made it possible for him to grasp the different interests, limitations and potential of each one of the participants" says Marie Marcano who attended the workshop.

Denis Brown teaching in Miami, June 2011

An adamant soloist, the renowned Irish calligrapher demonstrated capacity to carry out the various tasks encompassed in his work, from the script itself to composition of electronic music that frequently accompanies his pieces. In addition to devoting himself to teach calligraphy around the world, Brown is director, producer, editor and exclusive cameraman for his videos as well as designer of his websites.

Early in his career, Denis Brown conducted studies of ancient manuscripts, developing his art with rigorous discipline. Today his calligraphy references technologies such as e-mail and text messaging. In recent work, this artist incorporated the ubiquitous barcode, claiming its direct relationship with the written word.

Letra Urbana had the opportunity to talk to Denis Brown to further explore this type of art and its role in an era where digitization is displacing traditional modes of the written word.

Perhaps we should start by defining calligraphy. Is it an art or a skill?  Is there such a thing as "modern calligraphy" or it is a timeless activity?

Calligraphy may be many things to many people. Most people begin calligraphy as a process of developing a skill. In my situation, calligraphy is a craft process which I apply to making works of art. The art is not the process but emerges from an engagement with the process, in both material and conceptual ways. But that is just my approach. Calligraphy is naturally bigger than my approach. What would YOU like calligraphy to be? Can calligraphy be that? Calligraphy should remain an open discussion. There is a flux... calligraphy is connected with flow; calligraphy moves. To define it must be a process of continual assessment since some definitions miss the point.

It could be assumed that calligraphy is an obsolete art, destined to extinction in museums. Yet there is interest and activity attached to it, showing that it has a place in the technological era.

We live at a time which is witnessing an eclipse of handwriting, never mind calligraphy. Your assumption regarding calligraphy could have been made six hundred years ago when printing became widespread in Europe. Calligraphy survived, somehow. Now calligraphers need to continually readdress what is its function in changing society. Clearly, every other means of communication by text is more functional than calligraphy today, yet the best calligraphy in the past as well as now has always been more 'special' than 'functional'. For example, the ninth century Irish masterpiece, 'The Book of Kells'. It's meticulous decoration and complex writing made it far more special than a functional copy of the Gospels. The best calligraphy breathes spirit. To know it is to feel the life in it and to see many individualities of the writer. The best calligraphy today still expresses individual characteristics and breathes contemporary spirit- it is no copy of the past. At a time when computer interfaces take a lot of our time, the tactile sensuality of pen gripping paper; biting, skidding, flowing; that tactility may remind us of human reality as opposed to virtual reality. Yet equally, the interfacing of hand skills with digital processes gives artists / designers an edge in a field where a lot of work looks the same these days, with everyone using the same software, the same plug-ins etc. A visual directive needs to instruct these computer tools. (Similarly, a visual directive needs to inform handwritten calligraphy).

Detail of glass engraved layered calligraphy, collection National Museum of Ireland

Do you consider calligraphy as a link among the different cultures in the world or does "calligraphy" have a different meaning depending on a specific cultural background?

Clearly there are huge cultural differences. Historically, Western calligraphy has expressed religion and law; in the east it has always been more connected with spirit, with flow. Islamic calligraphy flourished in a culture where life-like images have been prohibited. Yet some of the differences may dissolve today and new ones emerge. The calligraphers who engage via Facebook as opposed to those who do not is as much a cultural difference these days than some of the east or west differences. But passion is the real link: any calligraphy is a means of expressing one's passion. In that sense calligraphy is as open as any of us are.

Text hidden in this detail from a large hanging reads:"We are ink and blood and all things that make stains", Erica Jong.

Let us talk about your Miami experience as an instructor. Was it different from what you encountered in other locations?  

In Miami, I enjoyed Café Cubano in the morning instead of cappuccino, but the people are the same in that they shared their passions with me as much as I did with them. I'm always so glad about that. I felt at home. I was at home there.

Having fun in Miami.

Your workshops address the intriguing connection between music and graphic rhythm. Will you tell us more about it?

Rhythm implies patterns, regular repetitions. In music these happen over time, pitch and amplitude; in handwriting they happen over time, space and repeated pen manipulations. In my designing calligraphy I seek to orchestrate these handwritten rhythms as a composer arranges sounds. After such designing, in performing a work of calligraphy I improvise, deviating from the pre-composed design ether subtly or radically depending on how much freedom is appropriate to any work or any moment. These distinct phases of composition before performance characterize much of my calligraphy.

Calligraphy: "it all begins in a drop or a dot....", M. Athar Tahir

Is there an intrinsic difference between a stroke in a painting and a stroke in calligraphy?

I'd rather initially focus on similarity than difference. We have the word 'draw' for example, implying a pulling of the hand. We may draw a picture, draw a letter or draw the curtains: all imply a movement of the hand or arm; a gesture. The term 'stroke' is used also in sports, like tennis or golf, and it is possible in calligraphy to perform a stroke as energetic and focussed as an ace tennis serve. If there is a difference between painting and calligraphy, strokes by painters are generally used to gradually build an image, overlapping strokes magically coaxing an image to develop from the canvas surface; whereas in calligraphy the stroke usually aims to produce a 'one-shot' mark that will not be modified. As in sport, it comes from muscle memory developed from practice and experience, as well as improvisation depending on preceding strokes.

However calligraphy may appear painterly also, as in this 3-D engraved glass work built of thousands of overlapping letters.

Literature gives calligraphy a prominent place. It is present in the miniaturist style of Orhan Pamuk work, in My Name is Red or Marques de Sade.  What is discussed in these works, does it have any relationship with present day calligraphy?

I haven't read these so I cannot comment. However, when calligraphy serves literature it must subdue its own voice. This is merely appropriate behavior in many circumstances. However, if one acknowledges that there may be a space for some calligraphy to play the lead expressive role, then calligraphy may be expanded beyond legible letters into more complex and artistic forms. In the West, this is relatively new thinking, yet if you accept this principle that calligraphic form may be more complex and artistic if legibility is not primary, then you might conclude that, opposite to your suggestion, literature has historically denied calligraphy a prominent place. Scribes have served text well, yet I'm personally thankful we now have word-processors, e-mail, SMS and all the rest to perform functional text communications. Reduced functionalism of calligraphy may dismay the scribal slaves, but in fact calligraphers are freed, if only we knew what to do with freedom!
A thousand wishes and more, collected after an e-mail request for peoples dearest wish, were written into works from a series where a thousand words may paint a picture. While the written wishes remain largely secret and illegible, images of dandelion seed heads emerge in 3-D from many overlapping layers of hand engraved writings etched on glass sheets.

In Latin America and Spain the word "calligraphy" is associated with endless and tedious hours of handwriting practice that school-children had to suffer as part of their education. Today learning how to write is much more flexible. In schools, printing is taught. In the United States traditional handwriting is absent from the obligatory curriculum. Every day we are closer to voice recognition systems and direct transformation from oral to written information.  What is the real role of calligraphy in the twenty first century? Do you believe that calligraphy still has a slot of time dedicated to it ?

That pitiful idea of calligraphy that you suggest deserves to be dead. However, from my understanding of the word, calligraphy means life. It is energy in the line. True, it can take years of copying scripts and following rules to learn calligraphy really well, but true calligraphy, once learnt, has little to do with copying. True calligraphy is as music: in any performance, one plays it. It must not seem like work. Who wants to hear someone work the violin? Yet it takes hard work to play well. Children intuitively know play, and beginning calligraphers might be introduced to it in this way. It can be such a release- a letting go- yet ultimately there is a language to be learned and skills to develop- so it's true that a more educated sense of play takes many years of practice informed by a good education. We should no longer limit calligraphy by associating it predominantly with functional chores. That would be like limiting music to the functional bleeps and trills of telephone ring-tones!

 Is there a special memory related to the process of learning how to write?

I mentioned 'muscle memory' with respect to calligraphy. If one depends on mental memory at a time of improvised performance of fast strokes, one inevitably fails. It depends more on feeling, somehow knowing. Of course when you first start, there is a lot to be remembered. I have noticed, however, that students must make an effort to forget the 26 letters of the alphabet as it was learned as a child and re-invent each form to fit the rhythm of any style. Memory may be a friend, an enemy or both.

How do you perceive calligraphy's future in ten years? I understand that many calligraphers are seniors. Do you think it will survive?

Calligraphy is an excellent means for adults to express their creativity but I think that more young people are needed to carry it to the future. I was an adolescent when I was introduced. My art teacher encouraged me and lent me books on the subject. Since I was quite free at that age, I was able to devote a lot of time to it and I always enjoyed it. I could forget all my adolescent anxieties; you might presume that I felt relaxed. I was. However calligraphy also gave me great energy and enthusiasm! Ten years from now, I hope that it will not be much different for me. I was lucky to find my passion at such an early age. Many young people have no idea what they will be doing in ten years time. I knew early-on what I wanted to do. I do not know how many will commit themselves to serious practice of calligraphy in the next ten years, but I challenge anyone who feels the passion in my words to put passion in theirs. Calligraphy may be a vehicle for expressing passion.

Mónica Prandi, interview with Denis Brown, 2011

Denis Brown www.calligraphy.tv

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