An Incessant Unknowability: An Archive of Protest Inspired Typography and It’s Open Source Uses is an exhibition created for ICA LA’s Annex gallery in conjunction with the Bookshelf Residency with GenderFail. The installation is based entirely on a publication of the same name in early 2024 by GenderFail. It presents the ongoing series of open-source fonts sourced from and inspired by protest signs of events since the Stonewall Riots in 1969.

This exhibition features 12 risograph printed font specimen posters to showcase ten protest fonts created since 2018. Every time these fonts are used in a poster, publication, or graphic, their source is incendiary linked to its source materials—fonts sourced from protests for Free Palestine, the historic Seize Control of the FDA action for ACT UP, The Brooklyn Liberation March for Black Trans Lives in 2020 during the pandemic; protests for fair union contracts for adjunct or support staff at RISD and Parsons;  the unending protest signs of black people murdered by police or a single protest sign stating “MOTHER NATURE IS A LESBIAN” and “I AM YOUR WORST FEAR I AM YOUR BEST FANTASY.” The history of these events lives on each time future generations of Queer, trans, and non-binary people use the font.

Twenty-five open-source work examples printed exclusively for this exhibition are also featured. These works thematically and broadly fit into four categories: personal, collective, institutional, and protest. All featured works were created by others using the open-source permission model, which allows participants to use these open-source fonts freely for their own personal, fundraising, or for-profit purposes.

Download the fonts yourself at genderfailpress.info.

A commissioned essay by emily sara of Cripple, the artist’s purposely non-linear publishing initiative supporting disabled artists and designers, is also on view. sara presents their new protest-inspired font, 504 font, with letters pulled from posters of the 504 Protests. sara states:

“Only ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ and 504 and ! are available. Z, missing from the documentation, is an image of Judy Heumann—who continues to live on through the protests and the innate fiery nature of our crippled community.“

In conjunction with An Incessant Unknowability: An Archive of Protest Inspired Typography and Its Open Source Uses, Genderfail has compiled all 12 risograph prints included in the exhibition for sale in a limited edition of 25. The print collection can be purchased at the ICALA until March 02, 2025, or online directly through GenderFail.