Writing as Active Thought

Giancarlo Iliprandi's School Diaries, 1941-1953

Abstract

Writing is a primary aspect of Giancarlo Iliprandi’s work. His writing brings together graphic and typographical qualities, political engagement and personal reflection. This paper aims to identify his seminal reasons through the analysis of some of his hitherto unpublished school-period writings and diaries, that shows how writing was Iliprandi’s first essential form of expression. The study will focus on two diaries he kept during his study trips abroad while attending the Brera Academy – to the Salzburg Seminar in American Studies and to the HBK in Berlin – and the dissertations for his degrees in painting and stage design, which serve as an introduction to Iliprandi’s interest in the theatre, predominant in these years. Finally, it mentions his first encounter with Bruno Munari and Iliprandi’s involvement in MAC (Concrete Art Movement) as the pivotal transition from his studies to the profession.