Between 1910 and 1915, Russian painters and poets invented an experimental language called “zaum,” which emphasizes sound and is characterized by indeterminacy in meaning. These artists used “zaum” to create handmade artists’ books that are meant to be read, seen, and heard. Nancy Perloff, author of “Explodity: Sound, Image, and Word in Russian Futurist Book Art,” takes us to the archives at the Getty Research Institute to examine two fascinating “zaum” futurist books and to discuss a number of the visual and literary artists of this period.

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