Manga Rosa Group and Alienarte Magazine: Dialogues Between Editorial Design and Experimental Art

Abstract

This presentation is part of a doctoral thesis that carries out an investigative analysis of the first two editions of Alienarte magazine (1978 and 1979) and the dialogues that emerge from their analysis between graphic design and experimental visual arts, focusing on the work of the Manga Rosa group. The conceptualisations of what can be identified as a magazine editorial product were described, accompanied by a panoramic mapping of the production of editorial products prior to the 1970s. The aim is to identify a connection that brings the production of Alienarte magazines closer to the context of alternative magazine production in the 1970s, those on the margins of the Brazilian dictatorship. Throughout the analysis of the two editions, the following items were observed: the magazine's graphic design, construction grid, typographic choice and printing methods, binding and methods of monitored experimentation. The investigation seeks to understand the mechanisms of visual production - the design and articulated visual elements - of each of the magazines, as well as the historical-cultural chain that Brazilian visual arts and design experienced during this period. This approach understands that the field of editorial design is capable of promoting dialogues with the field of experimental art, making it possible to bring these two practices together. Finally, this is a work that contributes to studies of the history of Brazilian design and art, in the sense that it looks at a group of contemporary and relevant artists, but still little referenced: the Manga Rosa group.