On the Almanacco Bompiani 1962 (edited in 1961), Giovanni Anceschi published a work, described in a long title: In dieci tempi nove rettangoli orientati verticalmente decrescono da 9 a 0 mentre nove rettangoli orientati orizzontalmente crescono da 0 a 9 secondo schemi diversi (In ten steps nine vertically oriented rectangles decrease from 9 to 0 while nine horizontally oriented rectangles grow from 0 to 9 in different patterns).

It is the definition of a program of figural generation determined via combinatorics. Almanacco Bompiani is a forced exemplification of just one of the almost-infinite possible metamorphic paths.

Some time ago, with the help of the young interaction designer Beppe Modeo, Anceschi initiated the development of an effective interactive implementation.

In 2011, affirming the anticipatory nature of these things, there is an app, developed with the young digital designer and publisher Antonio Prigiobbo, titled InNoveTempi and running on iPhone and iPad: it complies, with full philological rigor, with what was invented in 1961.

By shaking iPhone – on iPad by touching the white dashes – the sequence that always begins with 9 lying dashes and ends with 9 standing –  restarts again and again. The only instruction for use is to pay attention to what happens between the first and the last “time”. The sequence of appearances and disappearances is essentially always different.