Enzo Mari, L’ALTALENA – SEE-SAW, 2019

A book, a game or a long, fun strip to hang… L’altalena can be all of these things. The accordion-folded pages depict stylized black and brown animals chasing each other, overlapping, jumping with their “heavy bodies” on the ends of the simplest of swings in search of a possible balance. A garish green and red cover envelops heavy elephants, sinuous snakes and statuesque kangaroos. The wordless book speaks conceptually to children about quantities, shapes, weights and balances. The first draft of this book (and the limited edition) are from 1961.