The Dinosaur, Protoform Stencil Edition

2025 

Laser cutting and engraving on stainless steel

Nine parts, each 325 x 120 x 0.4 mm, 285 x 120 x 0.4 mm, 275 x 165 x 0.4 mm, 430 x 45 x 0.4 mm, 440 x 45 x 0.4 mm, 330 x 45 x 0.4 mm, 100 x 140 x 0.4 mm, 100 x 155 x 0.4 mm, and 90 × 190 x 0.4 mm

Protoform is an alternative historical fiction written in the form of a typeface to explore the origins of unsquared Hangeul. Inspired by Cho Young Jae’s 1976 proposal for restructuring Korean characters for typewriters, Protoform revisits the ideas of unsquared Hangeul and demonstrates how Latin alphabet letters could be reimagined through a three-tier matrix derived from the initial-median-terminal structure of Hangeul syllables.

The Dinosaur, Protoform Edition is part of an ongoing series that we have been working on since 2017. Each edition translates and publishes El dinosaurio (1959) by Augusto Monterroso, one of the shortest novels in the world, in a different form. This 2025 version is created as a trilingual edition, with the Spanish original text alongside English and Korean translations.

There is no inherent connection between Protoform and El dinosaurio.

• Exhibited as part of:
• The Types of The Foundries (PCO, Seoul, 2025)