Electromagnetic Field Gothic

Electromagnetic Field Gothic is a conceptual typeface project by artist and designer Ryan Meyer. What started as a mark-making style that visualizes the pervasive electromagnetic field became a system of letterforms and symbols displayed as type specimens on wall objects. The drawings are made with bleach staples and graphite on black paper or fabric. As the bleach oxidizes the black dyes it creates a chemical burn aesthetic that references a symbolic “burning sensation” from EMF exposure. For several years Meyer has been building a visual vocabulary around the themes of EMFs and artificial light. He is interested in the way they are thoroughly woven into both technological progress and the degradation of human and environmental health.

Meyer was raised between the suburban Deep South and the road. He received his MFA from the University of California at Davis and has shown work nationally and internationally. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Digital Media & Graphic Design at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His art practice is research-based and is constructed from diverse topics and experiences. He often uses various forms of storytelling data visualization and graphic design to examine themes of technology ecology health decay ruderality and the Anthropocene. Learn more about Ryan Meyer at ryanmeyerart.com or on his Instagram page @ryanmeyerart.

Electromagnetic Field Gothic is the latest show in BPL’s Art for Everyone series. The exhibition is made possible by a grant awarded to the Friends Foundation of the Birmingham Public Library by the Alabama State Council on the Arts.