Writing

Atlas Journal

Editor-in-Chief and Art Director of Atlas Journal. The first issue of the magazine revolves (ironically) around the theme of farewell and includes amongst other things:

- a feature and interviews with expatriates from London including Chinese novelist Xiaolou Guo (nominee Orange Prize for Fiction) and fashion designer Ann-Sofie Back (Elle Designer of the Year)

- visual obituaries for recently deceased Sol Le Witt including contributions by renowned graphic designers and artists such as Daniel Eatock, Ed Fella, Åbäke and Zak Kyes.

- a re-published abstract by Gustave Flaubert entitled ‘A Sentimental Education’

- a report on the early days of Hip Hop in socialist East Germany

- a magazine sculpture by Walid Raad

- photos of Britney Spears and graveyards

- an essay about the end of print in publishing by Monika Parrinder

Atlas Edition

Atlas Edition is a publishing concept with focus on innovative printing technologies and explorations in future publishing strategies. Atlas two divisions include:

Atlas Limited – specializing in producing titles with limited print run and high production values.

Atlas Unlimited – focussing on digital technologies and on-demand printing.

The output of Atlas is unified by a totalitarian look and a unique colour code assigned to each release.

Shown above is a 450 page referece book entitled Sun with a collection of over 20.000 solar related images.

Other titles available: Grace Jones, Autograph

The Moroders

Creative Direction and transmedia storytelling campaign for The Moroders, a DJ-Team from Dresden/Germany. The name and story is inspired by an eponymous family dynasty based in the southern region of Italy that famously includes the Oscar-winning record producer and performer Giorgio Moroder.

The story

The story of The Moroders unfolds in Ortisei, a town of 4,500 inhabitants in the Italian region of Southern Tyrol. Here in the shadows of the Dolomiti Mountains, amidst beautifully tend half-timbered houses, succulent dark green meadows and adjacent pine forests lies the ancestral seat of the Moroders dynasty. Born to parents with progressive dispositions, the three boys spent all their childhood here, sheltered away from the hustle and bustle of modern society, scaling mountains, tending sheep and engaging in the traditional sport of ‘Roll-Igel’ (which basically entails rolling down a hill wrapped in a rug). But as they grew older, a crevice of doubt began to yawn in the solid veneer of their jaunty milieu. Their minds began to misgive that something appeared fallacious: The perennial blue sky that was never clouded! The grass, so green as if synthetic! And is this a plug instead of a teat protruding from that cow’s udder? Even the cordiality of people surrounding them suddenly inferred doubt, elicited by the observance of a certain programmed repetition in the moving corners of their crimson, grinning mouths. After a number of failed attempts to get a club night started in one of the local bars and an antisocial-behaviour-order looming over their heads due to charges of indecent attire and noise pollution they were eventually faced with a difficult decision… (Read More)

From Here to Eternity

From Here to Eternity is was a blog curated by The Moroders and friends. It functions both as archive of past activities as well as showcasing some interesting things from the fuzzy area where music and culture merge. Categories, amongst others, included:

Straight Up: Gonzo-style interviews with random people met at parties.

Oh Giorgio: Giorgio Moroder of course.

Sheep Thrills: A category showcasing a disturbingly fond obsession with things made from sheep wool.

In Da Club: Musings on club culture.

Think Pink

To launch the website for The Moroders, a group that has famously adopted light pink as part of their identity, a viral video entitled ‘Think Pink’ was posted on a number of blog’s and social networks celebrating the colour pink in all its frivolous facets.

Drink Pink

Limonata Morosa is a unique cocktail inspired by snow-capped Dolomiti mountains.
It was created together with award winning barkeeper Thomas Sargollo (Eckberg Palais). The cocktail is tasty and contains the following ingredients:

2oz vodka
1oz fresh lemon juice
1oz limoncello
1/4oz cranberry juice
+ secret cosmic desiccated coconut

MORE

MORE is a collective of artists and designers that work individually or collaboratively concerning themselves with the consequences of mass production and consumerism. It was founded together with Ben Smithers and Jonathan Duncan in April 2008.

MORE Brand Identity

The challenge creating a brand identity for MORE was to conceive a visual look that was simple and highly recognisable but had an industrial and utilitarian feel. For the brand identity a customized sans serif typeface was drawn up based on Machine ITC: The typeface encourages connotations of industrial processes and has been used for all communication materials. The logo is inspired by the standard symbol for volume in mass-production processes. The brand identity was developed to be applied to all communication materials and was extended to non-traditional media forms such as packaging tape or word based sculptures.

MORE Uniforms

MORE Uniforms and masks were specifically created for MORE performances. The design serves to remove any emotion, personality or human-ness from its bearer. This reduction to machines comments on the lack of humanity in mass-production processes especially evident in Chinese factories. The masks were designed and produced with assistance of Dutch product designer Kees Van der Graaf.

Mixed Materials, Tyvek, Thermal moulded acrylic

MSP-LL-300408-UK

The slogan ‘Volume is the benefit’ was discovered on a factory wall during a research trip to Dafen (Guangdong province, China), a town famous for it’s replication of oil-paintings by masters such as Van Gogh or Warhol. The abstruse denotation of the phrase is further exemplified by being sprayed on directly on one of the gallery walls during a MORE performance thereby referencing graffiti employed to communicate social and political messages.

MNO-JBLLBS-290308-UK

Object MNO-JBLLBS-290308-UK was discovered in a landfill in Worcestershire, England. Its simplistic Modernist form permits its function and meaning to avoid finite definition and instead allows the space for subjective associations. The objects discovery, in context, suggests that it is a defected excess by-product from a mass-production process

Once found the object was mass produced by casting it in Alpha K, thereby mass-producing not the object but it’s re-appropriation. The mass produced re-appropriation of a surplus object reveals and stresses the role of wastage in the production process. Such re-contextualisation explores the grey landscape between such concepts as quality, quantity, value and the loss of humanism within mass-production.

MDS-LL-270408-UK

Edited quote taken from an interview with the philosopher F. Cabello that classifies consumerism into three components: Consumption, Digestion and Exploitation. The inherent consideration for humanism within the quote was juxtaposed with the process by which it was created.

6mm CNC routed acrylic with black infill, 100 x 270mm

The Yuan Paintings

The People’s Republic of China has the second largest economy in the world after the United States with a GDP of nearly $7 trillion (2010). The government’s focus on foreign trade for economic growth has demonstrated the ability to conquer one export market after another by what has been coined ‘The China Price’, which allows manufactures to significantly undercut prices offered by its foreign competitors. Today, as a result of the China Price, China produces more than 70% of the world’s DVD’s and toys and has established dominant market positions in nearly all other market segments.

This has also given rise to a number of forgeries from western countries and China is now also the highest producer of plagiarism, an elaborate, government-sanctioned system of counterfeiting and piracy which plays a vital part in the success story of Chinas economy.

The challenge
How do you show the ugly side of Chinese counterfeit culture in an art context?

The solution
Beat them at their own game!

The Story: On the 28th of March 2008 I contacted a suspected counterfeit factory in Dafen (China) posing as a gallery owner and enquired if they could produce an replicate of Andy Warhol’s famous ‘Dollar Sign’ screen print. Due to a recent demand for Chinese themed art I asked for a slight modification to the original design, namely to replace the dollar sign with the Chinese currency symbol. No other instructions were given. This is what they came up with…

Hardcover Book (documenting the email exchange), 2 x Oil Canvases each measuring 228.6 x 177.8cm

MBV-LL-200408-US

Part one of the Superfluous Publication Series; 24 on-demand printed magazines, each one containing 24 different variations of the name MORE.

Perfect-bound magazines 270 x 209mm, 1 colour, 120pp, Edition of 24

(Category: Art)

MBV-LL-200408-US

Part two of the Superfluous Publication Series; The MORE colour book explores the relationship between colour and connotation in the creation of logos for corporations and in marketing materials. The book stresses the use of colour as a device for the subconscious communication of meaning.

Hard-cover book 270x209mm, 4 color, 450pp, Edition of 3

MPS-LL-150408-UK

The series of post explore the rise of online shopping sites as an extension of high street consumerism. A software program was written that would automatically order items tagged with the title ‘more’ from auction site Ebay and arrange items to be shipped to a exhibition space without revealing their content. By the time the show opened a large pile of mail had amassed in the entrance hall of the exhibition. The packages haven’t been opened since.

Mixed Media, Dimensions variable

MB-LL-200408-UK

MORE billboards are text-based works reminiscent of official public announcements. The colloquial expression ‘Yeah, I know’ used in the billboard above is trying to point out the skewed relationship between what we know (f.e. the effects of climate change) and what we do, thereby highlighting how the gulf between knowledge and behaviours shapes contemporary culture.

Billboard, 1682 x 2378 mm

(Category: Art)

MORE Trash

Trash turned into ambient advertising for MORE. Made from custom-made packaging tape printed on low noise polypropylene.

5:1

The overall concept of the 2009 Degreeshow show of graphic design students at the London College of Communication was displayed under the theme of 5:1. This is the work from students of one course with five different pathways. To communicate the show title and make the exhibition more engaging an interactive signage system was devised that allowed visitors to collate their own show catalogue from students of all 5 pathways.

On entering the exhibition, visitors were provided with a ring binder containing an introduction to the show and the five pathways. This included the booklet ‘Work for the Public Good’, a brief anecdotal history of the LCC with contributions from Richard Hollis to Nick Bell and illustrated with previously unpublished work from the university archive.

When exploring the exhibition visitors were guided by a system of individual pages which in addition to containing the details of the students, doubled as the interactive signage for the show.

The concept, identity, catalogue and signage was devised together with by James Allen, Elliot Hammer, Simon Hessler, Dan Mather and Cian O’Sullivan
.

Still

Still is the last official record by Joy Divison after the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. It is an attempt by the record company to sweep up any unreleased tracks along with a live recording of Joy Division’s last concert. It was released partly in response to the number of Joy Division bootlegs that had appeared and the title alludes to this; the original bootleggers used stills to distil liquor during the prohibition era. The British Designer Peter Saville designed the sleeve but misinterpreted the word ‘Still’ as a synonym for ‘quiet’ and went for a subtle and subdued design approach: Simple white lettering and a cover intentionally left bare, leaving the surface to collect dust and traces of their owners over time.

I have been collecting copies of Still since 2007. Each unique record is housed in a custom built acrylic case whose design is based on cartons used for shipping records in Germany (Instead of a straight envelope records are usually posted in a 30cm x 14cm angular box, in order to comply to certain postal restrictions).

The resulting sculpture allows for multiple readings between the transitoriness of life, the standstill of presence and the finality of death

Photographers’ Gallery Transition Identity

The Photographers’ Gallery is the largest public gallery in London dedicated to photography. The Gallery needed a temporary identity to highlight its current state of transition after having left their original home and opening up a temporary space elsewhere. The challenge: Highlight the state of transition in the identity but keep the original logo. As a solution a CD system based on L.E.D was devised that would create an identity in flux: Constantly changing messages could be displayed on all communication materials with the identity extending to non-traditional marketing means such as packaging tape, sandwich boards and a L.E.D display signage. Concept and design with Anne Odling-Smee at O-SB Studio.

We Make Magazines

Edited by passionate magazine connoisseurs, the book We Make Magazines features exclusive interviews with international magazine experts and illustrates the diverse topics that are fundamental to magazine publishing. While showcasing more than 100 independent magazines from 30 countries around the globe with stunning spreads and layouts, it also includes a directory to over 700 of the most cutting-edge independent magazines.

Art Director: Jeremy Leslie
Design: Alex Hunting, Lars Laemmerzahl

Cosmic Lover

Cosmic Lover is an annual event at the Altes Wettbüro Dresden. It usually takes place around Valentines Day and revolves (surprisingly) entirely around the theme of love.

To advertise the night a viral video showing footage of young men desperate to find love circulated weeks before on the internet.

Free giveaway on the night: A mix-CD with love songs. Of course.

An excerpt of some live visuals shown at Cosmic Dancer Love Party in Dresden 19th of September 2009. Visuals: The Moroders Song: A Mountain of One – Intro

In the middle of the night, following a volley of upbeat love songs a scene from the Greek tale of Cupid and Psyche (Amor & Psyche) was re-enacted. Thank Zeus, almost all footage of the performance has since been lost.

An romanticized account of the happening appeared 11 years later in the Anthology “Cosmic Dancing. The Wonder Years” by Hans Schwertner. The author states that “during the first notes of John Paul Young’s song ‘Love is in the Air’ balloons, suspended from the ceiling fell down on bewildered revellers, resulting in a mass kissing frenzy, that saw people of all ages and backgrounds engage with each other in archaic ways. Disconcerted bar staff had to call in riot police to separate mating lovers and avoid broken hearts and furniture.”

Chief Superintendent Günther Grabowski a spokesman from the Dresden police force, said: “I am extremely disappointed that some members of The Moroders have used today as an opportunity to commit disorder and undo much of the excellent work that has been done by both the police, council and community leaders to ensure the strict separation of sexual intercourse and beat music.

After the arrest of all the Moroder members and the ensuing media frenzy that followed the aftermath of the event the German government, which already has comprehensive guidelines and laws surrounding the protection of youngsters from music with repetitive beats, has announced it is bringing into force a new directive aimed at vetting employees of clubs and concerts.

A film warning as part of the governmental Sex ist Mies. Beat is Mies. (Sex is Rotten. Beat is Rotten) campaign was also introduced and will be shown to children across the country after its premiere this week. The clip can be seen here. Spread the word.

I am in Paris

Garments for transnational endeavours based on a scene of Michelangelo Antonionis Film ‘Blow Up’.

Thomas: [seeing Verushka, the model, at a party the evening of the day she had just told the photographer that he'd better hurry because she had to catch a plane to Paris] I thought you were supposed to be in Paris?
Verushka: [taking a toke of her marijuana cigarette] I *am* in Paris!

Sketchbook

The degree show catalogue for the BA (Hons) Illustration of the Camberwell College of Art takes on the form of a sketch book; a tool that is integral to the practice of an illustrator.

Additional to presenting artist statements, illustrations and all students work in situ the catalogue also includes room for notes and pieces of ephemera stuck inside as starting point for further explorations.

Concept and Design with Amy Knight and Ted Lovett.

Get Rich or Die Tryin

Since 2007 I have been playing the lottery. Every week. Without fail. Each week my numbers are dictated by one of the words from the album title ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ by American rapper 50 Cent. Until now I have probably spent over 1 grand and have received about £60 in return. It’s a little bit frustrating sometimes. Especially if you have numbers like: 35, 36, 37, 38, 44, 48! I mean, what are the chances? But, now that I started it I might as well keep on tryin. I kind of owe that to my homie 50 Cent.

(Category: Art)

Germany

1. The flag of Germany displaying the national colours black, red and golden. The black horizontal band was increased 33% in size in relation to the 3:5 ratio of the flag.

2. Excerpt from Xiaolu Guo’s book A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers:

Then I see the flag, drifting on top of a massive building on a big square. Three bars: black, red and yellow.

I stare at the flag, stare at this black red yellow bars. ‘Why the black bar on top of the flag?’ I ask. ‘It looks so dangerous!’

He laughs again, but then he stops. He raises his head and looks up the flag as well.

Black bar of flag is powerful and heavy blowing on top, and I feel a little bit scared.

(Category: Art)

Rivane Neuenschwander Invite

Suspension point was a solo-exhibition by celebrated Brazilian artist Rivane Neuenschwander at the South London Gallery. In her site-specific installation she transformed the gallery space by drilling holes directly into gallery walls. This is the private view card with a die cut hole in the centre. The photo on the front of the card is cropped so that the position of the die cut is identical to the position of a hole drilled by Neuenschwander in the gallery space. Concept and design with Anne Odling-Smee at O-SB Design.

Dialogue

Dialogue was a degree-show exhibition at the London College of Communication.
The title of the show was chosen to highlight the fact that for the first time in the recent history of the college, students of different disciplines were curating a show together. The varied connotations of the word dialogue where played out in a number of ways in the exhibition and on promotional materials.

Concept and design with Nina Jua Klein and Leena Kangaskoski

Summer Madness Aftersun

Every year in July the nightclub Altes Wettbüro in Dresden celebrates summer with a garden fête and club night for friends and family. The cherished event is called Summermadness Aftersun for reasons that have since escaped our memory. For the 2009 edition we invited kids from a nearby kindergarten to join the festivities and offered them a whole range of games and activities such as a colour-in-record-sleeve competition, David Bowie face-painting stalls and a special kids disco where DJs played nursery rhymes that had the crowd go absolutely mental. Really. The evening was complemented by DJ Hunee who delivered a bag full of disco goodies that put a smile on everyone’s faces, young or old.

Bla Bla Blarchitecture

I was asked by WHAT_architecture to introduce an element of the The Sun into the Architectural Association Summer School by leading a studio committed to the tabloid newspaper as an urban communication conduit. The result was bla-bla-blarchitecture a ‘publish-on-demand’ newspaper with a straight talking, though sensationalist, style of journalism common to London’s numerous tabloids that ‘tell-it-like-it-is”. Top shelf stuff!

Kitsuné Tour Visuals

Kitsuné is a record label founded in 2002 in Paris by Gildas Loaëc, Masaya Kuroki and the London-based design studio Åbäke. For a mini-tour of Kitsuné artists they required some simple visuals as a back drop for shows. I devised an animation that spells out the name Kitsuné in in the languages of the country visited and a computer program that pulls videos tagged with the word fox from video sharing site to create an multi layered and always changing back drop for live shows.

Buon Natale

On the night of the 18th December 2009 the interior of the Altes Wettbüro club was transformed into a life-size model of a ceppo – the Italian version of a nativity play. Pine trees were erected in the middle of the club and the floor covered with treated wood shavings. Videos of rural Italian winter settings were projected to each of the walls. The stage was transformed into manger scene complete with colored pennants, stars hung from the ceiling and resident DJ’s The Moroders dressed up as the Three Wise Men. But this is just the beginning of the story…

Video projection of a ceppo, the Italian version of a nativity play, on all walls of the club.

Spectacular Sigfried and Roy magic show featuring artist group Zombocombo.

Ludicrous Christmas presents of a dubious origin from the urn of fate – a modified cement mixer.

La Befana – a kindly old witch – is giving out freshly baked panettone and chocolate meringue to hungry revellers.

Or why not take part in funny catch-the- sausage-game catering for all meat-loving-palates.

And there was holy music and traditional dancing of course.

Faxen

A publishing experiment where pages of a magazine containing office humour and titbits of highbrow information were faxed to randomly picked fax numbers in the UK. The German word ‘faxen’ translates to ‘pranks’ and ‘to fax’ at the same time.

Shown here are pages of the magazine send to a fax machine installed at the Photographers Gallery London during the exhibition Found, Shared.

Create Don’t Hesitate

Create don’t hesitate is a irregular series of workshops for aspiring producers.
Past Guest have included Thavius Beck, Rainer Beckmann und Soeren Matschiste, Mick Huckaby, Schleck^Stecker, Jacob Korn, Sankt Göran, Noize Creator, Mr. Incognito, Cuthead & NDK.

The identity was created together with the super talented illustrator Thomas Manig and features intrepid characters made of musical equipment. The idea: After attending one of the lectures, one wouldn’t be scared of music technology anymore.

Cosmic Barber

Cosmic Barber is an annual event that takes place at the end of November at the Altes Wettbuero in Dresden, Germany. It is part of Movember, a month long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer and depression.

The challenge: To communicate the event to a media-savvy target group of 18-35 year-olds on a shoe-string budget. The solution: Facial hair. Everywhere!

The guerrilla graffiti artists The Moustaches defacing billboards all around town with pink moustaches. The viral video was posted a week before the opening of the night on social network sites such as Facebook.

Digitally printed flyer featuring 100 different images of moustached men.

A special radio show featuring music and interviews with famous bearded guests. Pictured here in the studio: Norbert Jaeger, founding member of East German rock-super-group Stern Combo Meissen (think the German Pink Floyd) alongside a picture in his heydays.

A free mix CD called ‘Beardos’ featuring only musicians with extensive facial hair was given out for free in shops and bars.

Moustache admission stamp.

A real barber (in fact the only one we could find in the eastern region of Germany) was
hired for the event and relieved people of their facial hair during the end of the night.

Visual Editions Contract

Contract for publisher Visual Editions and author of children ghost stories Seonaid MacKay. The contract is housed in a translucent sewn case. In order to read the contract the cover has to be ripped open thereby releasing the ghost of corporate publishing. Booh.

Median Rd Dinner Club

The Median Rd dinner club is a gathering of those in search of an unique social experience. Offering food and fun within an informal atmosphere, the Median Rd Dinner Club strives to create an culinary playground in cosy ambiance.

Each event features a theme specific meal accompanied by beverage and entertainment. The success of each event depends on the participation of each guest, through attire and attitude relevant to the theme of the night.

Past events have included an Italian theme where decoration and dishes adhered to a strict green, white and red colour code or a Valentines day special for lonely hearts where aphrodisiant feats and ludicrous valentines presents took centre stage. Shown here is a poster for a French evening with ambiguously named food. The signet at the right lower corner was kindly designed by the super talented illustrator Seif Al Hasani.

BOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYSSSSSSSS

An excerpt of visuals shown at the October edition of Cosmic Dancer. Sabrina Salerno’s infamous liberal performance of her tune wedgie ‘Boys’ is pleasurably prolonged by recompressing the speed of all video frames by 10%. Unfortunately the projection had to be terminated fairly early in the night after some male members of the audience became so fixated by bouncing balls that the DJ felt like he was (direct quote) ‘playing for drooling zombies’. The video has received over 32.000 views on youtube! Probably all art house buffs.

Debasser- Fat Girls

Script for a music video for the song Fat Girls by British producer Debasser. Winning entry of the 4 Minute Wonder Music Awards.

RWOACY2K

35mm short film about a young boy struggling with life and a cobbled street. The film was never completed: turns out 35mm film is crazy expensive.