For the covers of the double issue, called ‘The Fever’, Donnachie & Simionato created a custom-coded word-art which automatically generates what appears at first as a bold (sometimes cryptic, occasionally nonsensical) statement on art. In fact, each statement is a result of an automated search for strings of words containing ‘art is’ (for Vol 59, Issue 2) and ‘art is not’ (for Vol 60, Issue 1) published in an Art + Australia edition since 1963. 

This automated process happens with each new visit to each issue on artandaustralia.com, the reader can generate a unique cover using a new found phrase, alongside a link to the original Art + Australia issue in the archive.

This artwork, which Donnachie and Simionato describe as “computational typography” reveals a kind of living ‘manifesto’ spanning over 60 years of publishing.