SATOR Square


Created:

Last Update:


updated 21 Oct. 2022


The SATOR Square is a Latin Palindrome. The keys read the same backward and forwards, from bottom to top. As a result, the SATOR Square evokes a calming sense of order and complete symmetry. The earliest datable square was found in the ruins of Pompeii, which was buried in the ash of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79, almost 2000 years ago.

SATOR Square is a series of 25 objects. All objects are signed and framed:
25.5cm x 25.5cm x 4.5cm, approx. 1.2kg

🇩🇪Das SATOR Quadrat ist ein lateinisches Satz Palindrom. Die Tasten lassen sich gleichsam vorwärts und rückwärts, sowie von oben nach unten und von unten nach oben lesen. Dem Quadrat wird eine beruhigende und magische Wirkung zugeschrieben. Das früheste datierbare Quadrat wurde in Pompeji gefunden, einer Stadt die 79 n. Chr. vor fast 2000 Jahren, bei einem Vulkanausbruch unter der Asche des Vesuvs begraben wurde.

Die Serie SATOR besteht aus 25 Objekten. Jedes ist signiert und gerahmt:
25.5cm x 25.5cm x 4.5cm, ca. 1.2kg



SATOR Square #25
Black-Yellow Cross

SATOR Square #24Nsold

sold to C. Defrance, Brooklyn, NY


SATOR Square #23
White Cross

SATOR Square #22 Hebrew Keyboard keys IBM T20

Set in used Hebrew Keyboard keys from the IBM T20 (KFRK) Notebook Series. The keys were made in 2007 in China and printed in Ireland.


SATOR Square #21 – sold

sold to R. Pohl, IL, US

Sator Square #21 by Harald Geisler

SATOR Square #20
set in Apple A1243 keys
ca. 2007 – 2009.

The keys used are taken from four Apple A1243 Keyboards, which were introduced in 2007 and produced until 2009.

Typographic Detail: Up until the 2000s, the letters of Apple keyboards were positioned in the lower left and not in the upper left like most PC keyboards. Instead of an extended upright typeface
with a rather static look, the typeface used here is condensed and cursive, which gives the keys a fast appeal (See SATOR Square #11). Later this style was replaced with a rounded upright Futura variant, centered on the key, as shown here on the A1243.


SATOR Square #19
Notebook keys Chicony – sold

created NOV 10, 2015

sold at Buchstaben Museum, Berlin (JUL 25, 2018 sold to unknown.)


SATOR Square #18
Notebook keys black

created NOV 2, 2015

on display at Buchstaben Museum, Berlin


SATOR Square #17
Notebook keys – lost

created NOV 2, 2015

lost at Laden 100, Frankfurt a. M. Germany


SATOR Square #16
set in mixed-color notebook keys – sold

sold to M. Miedema – Zorgring
Heiloo, Noord-Holland


SATOR Square #15
Cherry Keyboard keys – sold

created NOV 2, 2015

sold to B. Corrà, Zürich, Switzerland on NOV 11, 2015


SATOR Square #14
set in IBM Model M keys
ca. 1985 – 1989. – sold

sold to M. McGregor, Brooklyn, USA

The keys used are taken from four IBM Model M Keyboards designed in 1984 and presumably build around 1989 (see picture below). The IBM Model M Keyboard was manufactured in the United Kingdom.

SATOR Square #14 IBM backside

In PCWorld (Jul 8, 2008) Benj Edwards writes about the Model M:
“Stung by the criticism, IBM assembled a ten-person task force to craft a new keyboard, according to David Bradley, a member of that task force and of the 5150’s design team. Their resulting 101-key design, 1984’s Model M, became the undisputed bellwether for the computer industry, with a layout that dominates desktops to this day. As we peek under the hood of this legend, you’ll soon see why many consider the Model M to be the greatest keyboard of all time.”


SATOR Square #13
Apple keys 1989-1992 – sold

created JAN 20, 2014

sold to P. Krapp, Irvine, CA
U.S.A. on AUG 22, 2014


SATOR Square #12
Black cross – sold

created JAN 20, 2014

sold to Y. Kafai, Philadelphia, PA
U.S.A. on NOV 26, 2015


SATOR Square #11
set in black Apple keys ca. 2000 – sold

sold to S. Schiller, Frankfurt Germany

The keys used are taken from four Apple Pro Keyboards that were built around 2000.
The Apple Pro Keyboard was assembled in Malaysia and designed in California.


SATOR Square #10
White cross – sold

created 2013

sold to J. Rutherford, Weimar, Germany on DEC 28, 2013


SATOR Square #9
Black cross – sold

created DEC 12, 2013

sold to S. Hall, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. on DEC 13, 2013


SATOR Square #8sold

created 2013

sold to A. Sobczak, Warsaw, Poland on DEC 5, 2013


SATOR Square #7sold

created 2013

sold to B. Montgomery, Dublin, Ireland on NOV 27, 2013


SATOR Square #6sold

created 2013

sold to M. Prior, Malvern East, Australia on NOV 25, 2013


SATOR Square #5sold

created 2013

sold to S. Landau, New Jersey, U.S.A. on NOV 23, 2013


SATOR Square #4 Black Keyssold

created 2013

sold to Julio Terra, Planet Earth on NOV 20, 2013


SATOR Square #3sold

created 2013

sold to A. Comfort, Verginia Beach, VA, U.S.A. on NOV 20, 2013


SATOR Square #2 – sold

created 2013

sold to W. Gardner, York, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom on NOV 18, 2013


SATOR Square #1 – sold

created 2010

sold to B. Munro, Perth, Western Australia on NOV 16, 2013