This thesis is written in many different parts of different lengths. I am not aiming for completion, neither am I creating a linear narrative. I am not interested in establishing one universal truth. It is more relevant to explore ephemerality from different angles to define my practice.My aim is a self-contained story, that allows for new connection to be made. Sometimes there are repeating parts, sometimes there are gaps in the narrative. The content of this thesis started growing years before I planned on bringing it together. Now, I am aiming to structure and present my research in one place. My process became the final piece. Due to the variety of information, I decided to work with different writing styles describing my findings and to reflect on them personally. I use type design, -technology and typography to explore abstract concepts such as ephemerality, conservation, decay or contextualization. Working in the field of type production myself and using type for more than a decade made me realize how deeply design, technology and context are linked. Every shape has a historical connotation that can tell you us about the past of humanity. Many of the principles that are related to letters can be applied to any other type of visual culture. It was important for me to back up my theoretical research through practical research. Besides reflecting on my own practice I had various conversations with friends and colleagues about their experiences. The selection happened naturally and includes mostly people I knew before. I selected people whose work had interested me and from whom I was curious to hear more about. Some people I wanted to talk to were unavailable, other conversations happened spontaneously. All interviews were recorded conversations and therefore had to be edited. Sometimes I had to translate from German to English and in every case I had to take out and rephrase parts. Information is always distorted when being reproduced and so is the information you will find here.

Colophon IT IS NOT SET IN STONE 2019 Céline Hurka Text, design and typefaces: Céline Hurka Thesis Supervision: Füsun Türetken Merel Boers Matthias Kreutzer Silvio Lorusso Jan Robert Leegte Proofreading: Tânia Raposo Jan Egbers Typefaces: Candide Oxford No. 2 Archiva Alfarn Includes personal conversations with: Ursula Beerhorst Jens Baudisch Françoise Berserik Erik van Blokland Just van Rossum Mona Franz Frank E. Blokland Rickey Tax Susana Carvalho Kai Bernau Ferdinand Ulrich Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, January 2019 All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be printed or used in any form or by any means without Permission in writing by the Author. I would like to thank Ursula Beerhorst and Jens Baudisch for initially sparking my interest in restoration many years ago and for all the inspiring discussions ever since! Erik van Blokland, Ferdinand Ulrich, Frank E. Blokland, Françoise Berserik, Just van Rossum, Kai Bernau, Mona Franz, Rickey Tax and Susana Carvalho for letting me use our conversations and for your trust, support, questions and feedback. Füsun Türetken, Merel Boers and Matthias Kreutzer for guiding this thesis. Daniël Siegersma for lending me your project title. Tânia Raposo for reading and advising and for our weekly visits to the book market. Jan Egbers for supporting me in All possible ways: for reading, discussing and listening. And finally, my parents, thank you for your endless encouragement. Bibliography Conversations Personal Conversation Frank E. Blokland Personal Conversation Mona Franz Personal Conversation Rickey Tax Personal Conversation Erik van Blokland Personal Conversation Ferdinand Ulrich Personal Conversation Françoise Berserik Personal Conversation Just van Rossum Personal Conversation Susana Carvalho and Kai Bernau Personal Conversation Ursula Beerhorst and Jens Baudisch TEXTS Allmen, Fred von. 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