The Prophets

The Prophets is a book dedicated to the eponymous artwork by Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens. As they describe:

The Prophets (2013–2015) is a delicate handmade collection of 412 small, whimsical sculptures made from everyday materials that renders economic graphs into makeshift models. The forms the artists drew upon to make the piece date from the beginning of the use of diagrams in political economy in the 18th century to the present, including many seminal graphs in the history of economic thought. They include concrete data and mental abstractions, law curves and fact curves, positions drawn in logical time and in historical time, as well as a number of other forms and procedures common to economic analysis and representation. The structure of the book reflects the different iterations of the work through visual sections dedicated to specific exhibitions.

As people who examine the destiny and moral character of a nation, economists are modern-day prophets, and the charts and diagrams they produce are their prophecies.

The book was edited by Ana Barajas, designed by Michael Barker / Acme Art & Design, published by YYZ Books, and printed by Andora Graphics. Neue Haas Grotesk was used for the titles, Classic Grotesque for the subheaders and captions, and Tiempos Text for the body text.