“On the Uses of Absence”is the title ofSoapbox, issue 6.0: Can we speak of a turn to absence? Across the contemporary academic conjuncture, theory is reapproaching the absent in its varying figurative and fleshly forms – revalorising the presence of absence as a critical matter. Whether in queer theory, trans studies, Black studies, Eastern European studies, or literary studies, enduring scholarly investments in re-presenting and re-presencing the absented body have become supplemented by an affirmative interest in staying with absence as such. This scholarship locates absence at the heart of myriad resistances against exploitation, appropriation, undoing, and normativity. For its seventh issue,Soapbox: Journal for Cultural Analysishas invited scholars and artists alike to submit work on the uses of absence in and outside of theory today. As an object of study, a critical figure, and rhetorical tool, absence is given a shape, meaning, form; it is put in writing, where it has a function, a flavour, and a politics. Absence, in other words, fails every time to be purely nothing. How, then, to think the contradiction and the provocation of a contemporary aesthetics of absence? The graphic design was made byAlice MachadoandPaolo Barbieri. They usedAdriane TextbyMarconi Lima,HarberbyBenoît BodhuinandModulo– an uncredited and unreleased design byNebiolo, used here in a version byAlessio D’EllenaandAlberto Malossi.
This typography system embodies intellectual rebellion and academic avant-garde sensibility. The combination of Harber's geometric precision with Adriane Text's scholarly authority and Modulo's industrial heritage creates a sophisticated tension between theoretical rigor and experimental publishing, communicating a journal that challenges conventional academic discourse while maintaining scholarly credibility.
Harber's geometric construction provides contemporary editorial structure while its distinctive letterforms add personality to headers and display text. Adriane Text brings necessary readability and academic gravitas to body text with its balanced x-height and moderate contrast. Modulo's revival of the uncredited Nebiolo design adds historical depth and typographic archaeology that perfectly aligns with the journal's mission of examining "absence" in theory—using a literally absent/uncredited typeface.
The three-font system creates sophisticated informational hierarchy through contrasting approaches to modernism—geometric (Harber), humanist scholarly (Adriane Text), and industrial revival (Modulo). This creates productive tension between different eras of design thinking, allowing the layout to shift between authoritative academic voice and experimental contemporary expression, perfectly supporting content that bridges traditional scholarship and cutting-edge theory.