In 1989, Axel Malik began his unique form of daily 'writing', which he has continued uninterruptedly ever since. One major outcome of his uncompromising project, which he calls 'the scriptal method', is books: by now, there are 140 volumes with more than 30,000 pages. The writing process yields highly individual sign-like characters that never repeat themselves. These characters do not have an external reference or semantic content: they are neither letters of an unknown alphabet, nor are they pictograms or symbols, nor do they spell out a message written in code. Yet writing they are – a form of writing that a priori defies 'reading' in any traditional sense. Malik’s signs confront us with a persistent paradox: they are unreadable but not illegible!

Their complex, yet serial and repetitive singularity gives rise to precisely formatted structures on any writing support – a series of book pages, single sheets, scrolls, canvas, glass doors, and many more. 'The scriptal method' explores the core of writing movements, the 'writtenness' of writing and writings in general. It touches cross-cultural aspects of writing as well as its fundamental and aesthetic dimensions.

Axel Malik has been presenting his art in installations in archives and libraries, public interventions, and writing performances. He has been intrigued by the idea to to establish a dialogue between art and science, and to bring together scientific and artistic impulses. As 'Artist in Residence' he plans to revise, rethink, and rewrite questions about writing and other topics around manuscripts and other written artefacts. 

For a complete overview on Malik's work please visit his bilingual website.

Please feel free to contact the artist. Any questions, topics or expressions of interest are appreciated: [email protected]( axel.malik"AT"t-online.de).