The Poetics of Urban Space: The Asemic Writing of Rosaire Appel
Left: Winter Song, No Words. (2026). Digital print. Right: Yesterday, 1:14pm. (2026). Digital print. To Wander, To Wonder Asemic writer Rosaire Appel’s recent hybrid photo-based works emerge from a wide range of material practices shaped by a long-evolving set of approaches and sensibilities. Reflecting on her background, Appel writes: “I am an ex-writer/visual artist working with interconnections among reading, looking and listening. The vehicles for my explorations are drawings (digital & analog) and books… including graphic novellas, abstract comics, asemic writing and asemic music.” This breadth is evident in the multifaceted methodology of these works, where the interplay of forms deepens their poetic resonance and articulates a layered sense of space—perceptual, experiential, and subtly socio-urban. While much of her earlier work operated within the space of writing, two recent works— Winter Song, No Words (2026) and Yesterday, 1:14pm (2026)—shift toward incisive photograp...