Verehrtes Phantom, – Kat Dogtok

Almost ten years ago the author Kat Dogtok for the first time discovered the zig-zag-lined signature in a forest on the outskirts of Leipzig, Germany in 2012. A deeper meaning of the rather casual and random looking symbol was unknown to her back then, but started a chase for the logo which led the ethnologist and social scientist into a situation, where the more she looked for the sign, the more signs seemed to appear.

In the following weeks and months Dogtok tries to research the mystery, its creator and a possible story behind the logo. Soon she discovers a scheme concerning the places where the line can be found, even spots which are visited and marked regularly seem to exist.

The sign’s omnipresence reminds of works by Joseph Kyselak, Walter Josef OZ Fischer or the New Yorker PRAY, although in this case no letters are used and the logo is not signed, but maybe is a signature itself. During her meticulous research she compares the zig-zag to crook tines, the spiral series OZ did in Hamburg, the morse code and finally indentifies it as graffiti-like I was here-phenomenon, although there is a lack of stylistic development.

Verehrtes Phantom, is an homage as well as a letter to the creator, at the same time an invitation to the reader to look out for the logo, follow it and pay attention to eventually existing local similiar signs for comparision. To not destroy the ongoing hide-and-seek game, the book is not about demasking the originator, but more on the fascination of the mysterious game. The chase is better than the catch.

The 3rd and final edition was released in June, includes 14 additional pages (a larger photo part and a 2021 epilogue by the author) and has a new designed dust jacket.

96 pages, 15,5 cm x 23 cm, 3rd Edition, new designed dust jacket
Author: Kat Dogtok
Language: German
Release date: June 2021
Publisher: Possible Books