The Obscenity of Text

There is something obscene about text, that is lettering which is larger in appearance than the size of text in a book. When, for example, we see the large neon signs on very tall buildings (especially in New York and Madrid) they are placed at such a height that the effect of their vista on the view is only that of the size of text on a page, or slightly larger.

When confronted, however, with the abnormally large text of a larger advertising hoarding, something obscene occurs - the text becomes didactic, authorial, dominant. We feel overwhelmed by the power of tour ability to read the text.