From all 135 chapters of Moby-Dick, Madeleine Boschan selects the shortest:
Chapter 122.

Midnight Aloft.

A moment of pure height.
The highest point of the Pequod.
Tashtego in the crow’s nest.
Thunder. Lightning. Sound.

“Um, um, um … we want rum.”

It is a chapter of voice, rhythm, and elements — not narrative flow, but condensation. Language as weather. Sound as body.

Boschan translates this maritime state of extremity into a precisely composed booklet: a filet edition of 460 copies. The design is based on international maritime signal flags — Papa, November, Victor, Charly. Signal alphabet. Coding. Communication across distance.

Letters become color.
A call becomes a sign.
Literature becomes signal.

The Special Edition (40 copies) extends the work into space:
Each copy was accompanied by an original maritime flag, individually signed by the artist. The booklet is not only reading material — it becomes a statement. A marker. A sign in the wind. The special edition is sold out.

Moby Dick special edition of forty sea flags (V | 40)

Madeleine Boschan, Vienna 2015

40 international maritime signal flags, individually signed by the artist
size variabel (up to 20 x 28 cm)