Alphabet (ABC)

Coit created “Alphabet” in 1976 as a new interpretation of the ABCs.  Influenced by animation cells, the artist made multiple hand-colored variations on an edition of 50 prints, creating playful, narrative movement. In a 2019 interview, she describes its unfurling choreography:

“As a visual song, it goes: A, B—Ceeeeeeee, the E changes shape into eff-eff-eff-eff, G rocks off into H…I goes I, I, I? I. It grows more clear in its affirmation…M skitters away and knocks into the N, O, P…U has flowers, V, Double you, an X which lies down, and the Y is a bed (“why?” because children want to know why they have to go to sleep), and the Zzzzs, a snore.”

“As these adventurous letters—some decorated with delicate roses, others a hybrid between a bridge and a piano keyboard—push, prod, and embrace each other, they embody the playfulness of Italian artist-designer Bruno Munari’s ABC book for children…at the same time, this alphabet literally speaks for itself, a concrete poem accompanied by an unabashedly sexy spoken word performance. In what sounds like a single breath, Coit voices each letter, from A to Z, oscillating between snappy, poppy, and almost mechanical sounds to breathy, sensual, and suggestive calls to her listener.” - Jennie Hirsh, from “Before and After Language: The Art of Madelin Coit”

Another component of "Alphabet (ABC)” is a recording of Coit reading the alphabet, evoking each letter’s individual character: