THE WORDS BEHIND THE WORKS What do you read? How do you use text? 24 interviews with end exam students graphic design

THE WORDS BEHIND THE WORKS What do you read? How do you use text? 24 interviews with end exam students graphic design

LAS VEGAS On Learning from Las Vegas 2

Rebecca Stephany

When Modern architects righteously abandoned ornament on buildings, they unconsciously designed buildings that were ornaments. In promoting Space and Articulation over symbolism and ornament, they distorted the whole building into a duck. They substituted for the innocent and inexpensive practice of applied decoration on a conventional shed the rather cynical and expensive distortion of program and structure to promote a duck: minimegastructures are mostly ducks. It is now time to re-evaluate the once-horrifying statement of John Ruskin that architecture is the decoration of construction, but we should append the warning of Pugin: it is all right to decorate construction but never construct decoration. (from: ‘Learning from las Vegas. The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form’ by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour) CHECK On a dictionary and thesaurus 2

Clare Mc Nally

dissuade n give advice or exercise influence to discourage or divert (person from) (from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary)

commun, l’ordinaire, l’infra-ordinaire, le bruit de fond, I’habituel, comment en rendre compte, comment l’interroger, comment le décrire? (from: « Notes sur ce que je cherche » , this text is the introduction to « L’infra-ordinaire » from Georges Perec) SYSTEEM Over kleuren in romans 4

Marit Molenaar

[...] en ik keek 3 uur uit het raam en ik zag 5 rode auto’s achter elkaar en 4 gele auto’s achter elkaar wat betekende dat het tegelijk een Goede dag en een Zwarte Dag was dus het systeem werkte niet meer. (uit: ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ geschreven door Mark Haddon) ADVICE On books that give advice 4–5

2

Ingeborg Scheffers

I hop bt you can cup to mi put go we have arirht mt you get pit up mi himo ten you will go to the zigmoo and you tisti and ten you zaim sas and go me zup voms wot ut at vet and mi the will I him ll (tekst van een 12 jarige dyslectische jongen uit een door Ingeborg samengestelde reader over dyslexie,)

GØR NOGET VOVET UNGÅ AT FORELSKE DIG I DEN SAMME IDÉ IGN OG IGEN BRYD MED RUTINEN SÆT TID AF HVER DAG TIL AT TÆNKE OG STILLE SPØRGSMÅL SKIFT DIN FRISØR

2–3

Jonathan Puckey

function init() { count=0; timer=null; cur_letter=-1; //number of steps / letter y=3; a=3; r=3; d=3; s=2; e=3; b=3; c=2; t=3; f=3; g=3; h=3; i=2; j=2; k=3; l=2; m=3; n=3; o=2; p=3; q=3; r=3; u=3; v=2; w=3; x=3; z=2; word=[“”]; pasted=[“”]; } (beginning from script by jonathan for a font-tool in illustrator) GELD Over kunst en zaken 3

Vincent van de Waal

Forget beauty - this is all about money (uit een interview met een kunsthandelaar) ORDINARY On Georges Perec 3–4

Paul Gangloff

Ce qui se passe vraiment, ce que nous vivons, le reste, tout le reste, où est il ? Ce qui se passe chaque jour et qui revient chaque jour, le banal, le quotidien, I’évident, le

RHIZOOM Over wikipedia 6

5

Naama Iron

132-134 SKETCHING: CONVERSATIONS WITH THE Brain. Worried about the loss of personal and local character in the design of his students, Chris H. Vermaas decided to make them sketch, because sketching is a way of visual thinking that can set the creative mind free. (from: Morf. Tijdschrift voor vormgeving, nummer 2, mei 2005, Amsterdam) REVOLUTION On situationists Joseph Miceli

1 Tutta la vita delle società nelle quali predominano le condizioni moderne di produzione si presenta come un immensa accumulazione di spettacoli. Tutto ciò che era direttamente vissuto si è allontanato in una rappresentazione.’ (from: ‘La società dello spettacolo’ by Guy Debord) FORUM On technical questions 5–6

Liron Ross

savonge 21.01.06 [19:08 UTC] i’ve started playing around with vvvv very recently and i’m working on something with a camera-tracking module someone gave me. it tracks the darkest point it finds.my problem is that when tracking movement the identification point jumps from one point to another whilst what i need it to do is to move from one point to another. since i’m working on very contrasted camera views the jumps are not that big but i still need some code that will tell it not to jump from one point to the next but to travel in straight lines. any help would do. thnx savonge www.savonge.org (liron as savonge on http://vvvv.meso. net/, )

Timo Hofmeijer

A Gray code is a binary numeral system where two successive values differ in only one digit. Gray codes were originally designed to prevent spurious output from electromechanical switches. Today they are widely used to facilitate error correction in digital communications such as digital terrestrial television and some cable TV systems. The code was designed by Bell Labs researcher Frank Gray and patented in 1953. (van: http://en.wikipedia.org/)

new symbols appeared on his calculator. (from: ‘The Foundation: psycho-history’ by Isaac Asimov) DAILY On papers and magazines 9

USEFUL On second-hand books 9

TRAINING On typography Selina Bütler

Der Wortabstand im normalen Block Satz (50 bis 80 Zeichen pro Zeile) sollte im Minimum nicht mehr als 150 Prozent, im Maximum nicht mehr als 150 Prozent des Normalwortabstand betragen. (from: Satztechnik typografie, teil 2, GPD-Autorenkollektiv, Richard Frick u.a.) OORSPRONG Over eerste woorden 7–8

Celine Wouters

A is een aapje dat eet uit zijn schoot B is de bakker, die bakt voor ons brood. C is Charlotte, die drinkt chocolaad. (uit een alfabet leerboekje) LIST On a wordlist 8

Jens Schildt

work worry wrap write – (from a word list Jens made)

ABSTRACT On fanzines 9–10

Matthias Kreutzer

Can you learn to live with the question? (short note published with a record release from Ebullition) TRIGGERS On RSS feed 10

Peter Ström

New analog synths on Engadget The Keytar reborn! Wireless MIDI goes mainstream Incredible spooky video about resonance (and rice) Roomba hacked into slightly cruddy musical instrument The Japanese War Tuba and other strange devices Incredibly cool hardware remix project (from Peters’ RSS feed) SONGS On music 10–11

Ian Brown

a callepa acid rock alternative barbershop barrelhouse bebop (from a list of music genres from the Oxford American Dictionary on Ian’s computer) POETRY On analyzing language 11

CRITICISM On science fiction 8

Robin Gadde

Meubilair voor binnen en buiten, zoals deze ligstoel met voetenbankje, bestaat slechts uit plastic buis, canvas en enkele bevestigingsmaterialen. U kunt dergelijke meubels in enkele uren maken. (from: ‘Kreatief zijn thuis’)

Felix Kramer

Tags are descriptors that individuals assign to objects, in the practice of collaborative categorization known as folksonomy. Graffiti is often a simple signature known as a tag. (van: http://en.wikipedia.org/)

Risto Kalmre

Loomakaitsjad jäid varjupaigata TÖÖINSPEKTSIOON leidis Tartu kodutute loomade varjupaigast sedavõrd palju möödalaskmisi, et linn otsustas vaid viis kuud varjupaika hallanud Eesti Loomakaitse Seltsiga (ELS) lepingu lõpetada. (from: ‘Tartu Postimees, 13-06-’06)

TAGS Over del.icio.us en graffiti

7 CAPTIONS On starting and not finishing

Marriëlle Frederiks

Maar dat is een ander verhaal en moet een andere keer maar eens worden verteld. (laatste zin van: ‘Het oneindige verhaal’, geschreven door Michael Ende)

(FROM: IDÉBOGEN – KREATIVE VÆRKTØGER OG METODER TIL IDÉ- OG KONCEPTUDVIKLING, DORTE NIELSEN)

5 SCRIPT On programming languages

6

6–7

GÅ EN NY VEJ TIL ARBEJDET RADEN Over dyslexie

EINDE Over romans

Lane Kristensen

OVERRASK DIG SELV

1

Assaf Bezalel

“These symbols show in which stage the Imperium is at the moment.” he said. “That can not give a complete overview.” Gaal said finally “True, it’s not complete.” said Seldon. “I’m glad you’re critical, but it’s only an approximation. Are you agreeing with that?” “That’s depending on the results of my investigation into the usability of the variant”, Gaal said carefully. “Perfect. But if you add the probability of attacks, the larger frequency of economic depressions, the decreasing planet explorations and ...” he proceeded his argumentation and every time

Hilde Meeus

(1a) Een woord kan worden gedefinieerd als een minimale taalkundige eenheid die zelfstandig in een groter geheel, bijvoorbeeld een zin, voor kan komen. (1b) (from: Algemene Nederlandse Spraakkunst, W. Haeserijn e.a.) SOURCES (DISCUSSED AND OTHERS) 12

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LAS VEGAS On learning from Las Vegas Rebecca Stephany

I found it accidentally, just by looking at titles in the library of the Rijksacademie. Maybe I’m treating books a bit superficially, but I was just looking at the architecture desk, and there was this book titled ‘Learning from Las Vegas’, and I was like: YEAH! I WANT TO LEARN FROM LAS VEGAS! That sounded like something that had to do with me, not like a historical architecture book. It sounded like architecture can be fun, can have a meaning for today also. When I opened it I realized it was an analysis from the seventies of the structure of Las Vegas. They treated it as serious architecture. The writers, Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour, were teachers at Harvard and they did a student research there. They did it in a way like you would analyse medieval architecture, in an honest way — not judging anything. I thought: ‘Wow, you can also analyse recent history and take profit from it, also from popular culture’. Then I went to school, and I said: ‘I cannot do this model yet (an assignment from Experimental Jetset about making a pavilion model), I have to read this book first.’ And then Danny said: ‘Yeah, that is considered as the Bible of postmodernism!’ I didn’t know that, I just started reading it. Some parts are really dry. Not so interesting. The second part is about their theory about constructed decoration or decorated construction and it shows examples from recent architecture. They have a kind of war with these people who are designing these kitschy round buildings, people like Frank Gehry. They say it in the last sentence, which sums up pretty much what I think is important: IT IS ALL RIGHT TO DECORATE CONSTRUCTION BUT NEVER CONSTRUCT DECORATION! Venturi, Brown and Izenour are saying that all these modern designers are making buildings like ‘ducks’ (there is an image of a building that looks like a duck, which is of course an extreme example of a building as a constructed decoration). The conclusion I took out of it was: if I do something decorative then I do it intuitively, without thinking about it, I don’t construct it. They play with elements from the past also. They don’t try to come up with a new way of how it should be, they rather say: ‘A house works like this and that, we just stick to what has been working for the past centuries’. And then they play with it. While these new architects that build these kind of blobs have the aim of creating a new world, a new vision. When I see this strange bulb architecture I think: HE COME ON, IT’S A HOUSE, WHY DON’T YOU JUST MAKE FOUR WALLS! ‘Care for the fact that it is accessible and has nice light, maybe you can paint it in a nice way.’ I think it is also more honest to people, this new architecture is this new thing, this Utopia. Most of these things turn out to be not so handy I think the writers say that architecture should just be what it is and not in its shape symbolize something. If it’s a house, just name it house. This was the first theoretical (art history) book where I really read every single word and I loved it, I just ate it. It opened my mind so much. It inspired me, but also it was so much of what I was thinking about already. I found so much of myself in this book, I mean they are talking about architecture and I am doing graphic design, but still.

It’s about integrating ugliness in your work, making it work. They say: ‘Okay, a Las Vegas sign, why should we say: this is not our culture? It’s today, it is here today, so we should also look at it and not say that things from the past are much more beautiful’. Everything you need is right there, IF YOU THINK IT IS UGLY, THEN TAKE A BETTER LOOK AT IT! Try to analyze why. Because I think ugliness is a matter of perspective, it’s not such a matter of ugliness or beauty, it’s a matter of context. That’s why I very often use commonly considered ugly things, but try to put them in a certain way so they work, they become beautiful in a way. I am also a bit on the daring side, I WANT TO SEE HOW FAR I CAN GO.

CHECK On a dictionary and thesaurus Clare Mc Nally

My Oxford Dictionary is an old edition, but I trust it and it is simple and manageable. I like being able to see it somewhere. It must be visible and accessible to me always. I think it is always part of my work. Perhaps even more than my computer. But I don’t only use it for reference, I also often refer to it for inspiration. every time I open it I find something new, this amazes me after having this one book for almost ten years. If I am using it for its intended purpose i.e. looking for a word, and I cannot find it in there, then I look further on the internet or ask an English friend. With the Pocket Reference Thesaurus in A-Z form I have a similar relationship. It is one of the only thesaurus’s I have seen that is simple to use and yet still useful. It is also not too big and so you feel like you will not get lost. It often sets me on a new linguistic path and the interplay between this book and my dictionary is constant. Not to get too poetic or anything, but they really are like an old married couple. In these two books there is everything. having these books on my table is like a visible quantity of words that I can see. The fact that I can see them is important. Of course I can also find meanings on the internet, but there you can get lost, and here I know exactly where I am. Even other books wouldn’t work. It’s like being in a house; knowing where everything is. As an advertisement person — I used to work as a copy witer in a commercial agency — I was always trying to find different ways to say the same thing. You are constantly trying to find different ways to say things like ‘wonderful’ and ‘amazing’. The thesaurus is possibly even more important than the dictionary in this way. It is linked to persuading people. It’s also about second meanings (idioms). You could say when you have to write something about a car: ‘So the next time you buy a blablabla, put your foot down and insist on a blablabla.’ So ‘put your foot down’ means to insist, but in terms of driving it’s to accelerate. It’s good to have a second meaning that’s also linked to the thing you’re advertising. But you also try not to be that obvious, to hide it. I am very aware of language, being in Holland and at this school. It’s strange, everybody thinks it is an advantage: being able to speak proper English, and it would be if everybody else was speaking properly, which they don’t. That can be frustrating sometimes. You can’t take it to the next level. And sometimes you can’t help it when you go to the next level and then wonder if people understood what you just said. It’s a subtle thing. I am always aware of what other people say and how they say it. It’s not particularly about mis-

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takes, for me it’s quite charming. For instance French people would have a certain way they always phrase something. When you are interested in languages and also speak different languages and come from a country that has all different languages (South-Africa) and when you are at the Rietveld with all kinds of languages, it’s like a big playground. You are always seeing little differences. For instance Dutch people would say: ‘Can you turn on the lightning?’ and it’s ‘lighting’ of course. But now you even hear other people saying this. Or they would talk about a ‘long man’ and a ‘thick person’, while there’s no such thing. It’s a tall man or a fat person (thick means stupid). Mispronunciations are sometimes funny, but you can’t laugh because someone is giving a lecture. There was a guy saying ‘dis-cra-pansy’ instead of ‘dis-cra-pansy’. When somebody gets it that wrong I have to laugh, especially because ‘pansy’ is a flower, it’s also a term for a gay guy. What I like in dictionaries is how objective they try to be and how many words they need to describe a word. A very simple word like ‘bed’, they really bother to describe it in this way: ‘bed' n 1. thing to sleep or rest on; mattress (feather bed etc.); framework with mattress and loverings’. It’s a strange kind of clinical, informative, neutral and hard to understand language. It’s official and you can trust it, like a man in a suit. But this doesn’t mean I only use it in a strict way. For instance when I’m searching for the word ‘check’ I’ve already seen chance, chancy, I didn’t even mean to look for them, but immediately I’m thinking ‘Chancy, what a weird little word’. And it says: ‘chancy is dangerous or dicey, dodgy, hazardous, problematic, risky, speculative, uncertain’. And immediately I am thinking: ‘Chancy is not a word I ever used, but I would love to use it, because it’s a bit nineteen fifties’. But I’m not looking for it, I don’t say: ‘Let me look for the word ‘check’ and hope I’ll find some words along the way’. I would never intend to find anything but the word check. But the other way I do use a dictionary is sometimes, when I’m bored or stuck, I actually do just go and read the pages of the dictionary, which is a completely nerdy thing to do. For me it’s not about difficult words or even strange words, it can be any word. What I like is that you’re immediately reminded of one single word. You never get that in real life, because every word is always in a sentence, a context, a text. While in a dictionary you see ‘swap’: ‘Oh swap, nice’. Nobody would ever walk up to you and just say ‘swap’. So it talks to you in a strange way, a way that people don’t talk to you. Because each word is bold, each word gets its own attention.

RADEN Over dyslexie Ingeborg Scheffers

Ik heb proberen te omvatten wat dyslexie precies is, ik dat eigenlijk zelf niet zo goed weet. Op mijn twaalfde is het getest bij mij, en toen hadden ze dus door dat ik dyslectisch was. Toen zei mijn moeder: ‘Ja, leer er maar mee leven, want het is een handicap.’ Ik werd heel erg kwaad, ik was niet dom, en ik zat niet in een rolstoel. Het probleem dyslectici is dat veel mensen denken dat ze dom zijn, vooral als ze jong zijn, omdat ze dan nog geen strategie hebben ontwikkeld. Zeker in mijn tijd, toen hebben ze kinderen die niet brutaal waren als ik op LOM

scholen gezet. Wat er gebeurt bij dyslectici eigenlijk: Je ziet iets, je oog constateert het, maar je hersenen zien het niet. Er mist een soort schakel. Ik lees met mijn rechter hersenhelft, met mijn beeldend vermogen, terwijl normale lezers met hun linker hersenhelft lezen. Je hebt spellers en raders onder dyslectici. Spellers lezen letter voor letter, heel langzaam, maar wel begrijpend. Ik ben rader. Als ik een tekst lees, kan ik woorden overslaan invullen met een ander woord. Ik zie niet dat ik het oversla of invul met een raar woord, waardoor de tekst verkeerd begrijp. Ik heb oefeningen moeten doen die mijn ogen trainde, coördinatie oefeningen. Een balletje aan het plafond met een touwtje, mijn ogen het balletje volgen, tien keer op en neer en heen en weer. En ook een matje dat een beetje ruw was, daar moest ik overheen wrijven met mijn vingers. Ik snap niet hoe het werkte. Ik vond afschuwelijk. Maar het heeft wel geholpen. Het waren een soort van concentratie oefenen. Het heeft te maken met leren kijken op een speciale manier. Als ik me op een woord moet concentreren gaat de hele tekst dansen. Volgens mij denken dyslectici vaak anders. Het heeft iets te maken met grote stappen maken, bijvoorbeeld niet de rekensommen doen zoals het hoort, niet in logische stappen, maar in één keer, en dan wel goed. Ik heb fotografie gestudeerd. Maar in de techniek bijvoorbeeld ben ik niet zo goed, ik doe het op gevoel, ik heb een beeld in mijn hoofd en ik maak het. De directe weg. Eigenlijk is het heel logisch dat veel vormgevers dyslectisch zijn. Vormgeven is een soort van beeldontwerpen. Zelfs een typograaf kijkt niet naar de letter d als een letter, maar een object.

SCRIPT On programming languages Jonathan Puckey

{there are certain levels of programming languages} {there is for instance c++ and java, languages which are very complicated and which have been extended in a lot of different directions} {thatʼs why they are so complicated, and they are also quite abstract} {the program languages i work with are more simplified in a way that you write the program and it is interpreted by another program that makes it more abstract, the second level of complexity is solved by that} {iʼm making scriptographer scripts now} {scriptographer is a programming environment that makes you able to create your own tools for illustrator (a computer drawing program)} {itʼs developed by a swiss programmer and graphic designer} {he had the idea to open up all the possibilities from this application, so you can make your own tools} {usually when youʼre designing in illustrator you work with separate pre-defined tools, like a pen, scissors etc } {you are working in separate steps, actually a bit like a computer} {you first have to do this, then that} {the tools are fixed, you cannot adapt them, youʼre always depending on how they are made, on the way illustrator is programmed} {but with scriptographer you can

say: i want to link these steps} {so youʼre working with it instead of having to make all this steps after each other} {when youʼre programming it evolves very naturally} {before you start you have to have an idea, which would be so simple if you could just do it by hand} {and then you have to think: ok, what if I donʼt have my brains to think, whatʼs the logical way to do this} {and you have to start describing in detail how to do it} {the computer has no idea what i want to do, so i really have to describe every step} {itʼs creating a kind of logic, a number of steps youʼre going through, with conditions: if this happens then do that, if that happens then do that} {these are functions, little pieces of code that you go through} {basically itʼs like youʼre describing a story of what you want to happen} {the first thing you see in this script is about initialising the tool} {itʼs a tool to design your own letters, or actually itʼs a font} {youʼre writing a sentence, it places the letters in your illustrator document and then by a number of clicks and drags you can stretch the letters on different points} {when it initialises, for every letter it says: i have a certain number of steps i have to go through, so for the y for instance i have three points from which i can stretch the letter}

{if i would say: i take this code and i want to make it much smaller, then i would have to make it more abstract} {i could do that} {but as long as it goes fast enough it doesnʼt matter, of course the more code you make, the more it has to go through} {to me there is a difference between beautiful language, or optimized language} {the more you optimize a language, the more and more abstract it gets, and then you cannot really read it anymore} {i think when mathematicians talk about a beautiful function they mean a very short function that does a very complicated thing, in a beautiful, fitting way} {but when i talk about beautiful i talk more about the story of the whole thing as being beautiful} {the code, the way i order the story, to me is beautiful} {what comes out of it is another thing, thatʼs what i wanted to do} {i hardly ever speak about these scripts, or show them to others} {i think the only moment i talk about this code is when i get into a bug, i try everything and if it still doesnʼt work, then i go to another programmer and i show it to him and we talk about it and come to a solution} {but otherwise these are my little stories}

GELD Over kunst en zaken Vincent van de Waal

{itʼs funny because when youʼre explaining a script, it sounds like itʼs going through all these steps, really slow} {but because the computer does it really, really quickly, it happens naturally, completely fluently} {maybe it sounds a bit like mathematics} {but itʼs not mathematical at all, or then itʼs really simple mathematics} {itʼs like the first time you learn how to count, thatʼs how simple it usually is, although it can be much more complex} {with programming is all about setting up a system of logic} {if i can tell you the story of how it will work, then i can also program it} {but when you talk about mathematics, i canʼt tell you the story of mathematics, thatʼs so complex} {programming has more to do with language then with mathematics} {in a way itʼs like a big dictionary, everything has to be defined} {if you for instance speak about colour, colour is defined as rgb, so i talk in rgb language} {rgb is a nice example, the function rgb is: rgb open brackets, close brackets and in between that it says: ʻr comma g comma bʼ} {and iʼm saying for the r I want 15, for the g I want 10 and for the b I want 5} {it puts all these things together and what comes out of it is a colour} {every programming language has an api, which is a whole list of all the functions} {all the basic elements of the program and itʼs saying how you can use them, what ingredients you can put in them, what comes out of it} {so for illustrator it has points, it has lines, it has fills}

Met Matthias was ik begonnen met een serie posters voor de ‘Rietveld naar de beurs’ (in de Beurs van Berlage organiseert de Gerrit Rietveld Academie elk jaar een beurs waar studenten werk kunnen verkopen). Toen hadden we het erover dat het eigenlijk zo’n tegenstrijdigheid in zich had; als je opeens op de beurs dingen moet gaan verkopen, terwijl je hier op school werkt op een vrije manier, je maakt de dingen echt voor jezelf en je hoeft niet na te denken over dat je er opeens geld mee moet gaan verdienen. En toen kwamen we uit bij Donald Trump, die mensen heel zelfverzekerd vertelt hoe je moet zakendoen, die dat ook echt als een kunst ziet, haast net zoveel kunst bij wijze van spreken als beeldende kunst, dat vonden we interessant. We zochten naar quotes, een goede quote van Donald Trump en een paar andere mensen die over hetzelfde onderwerp praten. Zo vonden we van Donald Trump uit een boekje ‘The art of the deal’: ‘Picasso obviously viewed his art as business, which it was, I view my business as an art, which it is, you should view your work that way too.’ De quotes zijn allemaal in het Engels, dat geeft ze extra kracht, daardoor krijgen ze iets van die schreeuwerige advertisement wereld. Daar hebben we een serie posters over gemaakt, maar ik heb dat onderwerp zelf ook gebruikt als onderwerp voor een krant, want ik vond er nog veel meer inzitten. ‘The art of getting money’ is een stuk dat ooit (in de negentiende

eeuw) is opgesteld door ene P.T. Barnum, een showman uit Amerika. Hij is eigenlijk vergelijkbaar met zo iemand als Donald Trump. Hij was volgens mij de uitvinder van het circus, tenminste van het commerciële circus. En hij heeft ook twintig regels opgezet, eigenlijk zijn het hele algemene, logische regels, zoals: ‘Use the best tools’ en ‘Avoid debt’. Hij heeft hier een heel boek over geschreven en het schijnt dat als je dat opvolgt, je dan succesvol zult zijn. Dat fascineert me wel, die zekerheid, die haast onwaarschijnlijk moet zijn. In mijn krant ben ik begonnen met quotes te verwerken in beeldende pagina’s, zodat je de quotes kan lezen door de manier waarop ik typografie gebruik. Later heb ik die quotes helemaal weggedaan. Nu heb ik alleen maar losse woorden gebruikt, en gespeeld met de betekenis. Bijvoorbeeld het woord ‘painting’ veranderd in ‘paint thing’, wat hetzelfde zegt als dat soort quotes. Het geeft een soort kritiek en dubbelzinnigheid, iets van niet weten of kunst en zaken samengaat, of ze elkaar nodig hebben of niet. Ik heb ook artikelen gevonden. Een interview met Charles Saatchi, een van de grootste en bekendste galeriehouders in Londen. Ik was vooral geïnteresseerd in zijn visie, hoe hij de verhouding tussen kunstenaars en de mensen die in kunst investeren ziet, in wat voor een geval hij kiest voor een nieuwe kunstenaar, of hij kiest omdat hij denkt dat het een goede investering is, gewoon zakelijk. Dat is de grens die ik interessant vind. Gaat het dan eigenlijk wel om de kunst? In een interview met een grote kunsthandelaar uit Londen, Philip Hofmann, staat: ‘He did something unusual: he bought a painting that he actually likes’. Normaal gesproken gaat het er voor dit soort mensen helemaal niet om wie of wat het precies is: ‘We take a completely cold view’, kunst is business, net alsof je in aandelen handelt. Andy Warhol is ook iemand die daar heel veel mee bezig is geweest; die scheiding tussen kunst en geld, of die eigenlijk wel nodig is. Dit is een quote van Andy Warhol, die bijna precies hetzelfde zegt als die van Trump:. ‘Making money is art art, working is art and good business is the best art.’ Supercommercieel. Pop-art was natuurlijk ook een hele snelle manier van kunst maken, best commercieel gericht. Toen is er denk ik heel erg veel veranderd. Er bestaat nog steeds het romantische beeld van de arme kunstenaar, als een Vincent van Gogh. Maar ik denk dat als je gaat kijken in de kunstwereld waar veel geld in omgaat, dat soort kunstenaars zijn allemaal business mensen, die lopen in pakken. Een onopgemerkte, arme kunstenaar, die pas honderd jaar nadat ie dood is opeens miljonair wordt, bestaat volgens mij helemaal niet meer. Die dingen, dat vind ik wel interessant, om daar over na te den-

ken. Dat probeer ik allemaal te verwerken. Ik heb niet al de boeken helemaal gelezen. Ik was op zoek naar hele goede zinnen, naar korte directe statements, of een heel goede opsomming. Ik probeer het natuurlijk zo te vertellen dat mensen erover na gaan denken. Ik zet het veel meer zwart-wit neer. Ik denk dat als je een boek als ‘The art of the deal’ leest, je kan inzien dat Trump misschien wel ergens gelijk heeft, dat hij slim is in dingen en dat zakendoen ook echt een kunst is. Maar ik wil natuurlijk iets anders laten zien. Eigenlijk heb ik nog het meest gehad aan uittreksels, samenvattingen van het boek, omdat die vaak een beetje bot zijn. Heel veel heb ik ook gevonden door gewoon ‘art’ en ‘business’ op google in te tikken. Dan vind je grappige dingen zoals: de ‘Unstoppable Artists Business School’. Het klinkt als een grap, maar het is serieus. Je hebt dus scholen waar je wordt opgeleid tot succesvolle artiest: ‘Some say it’s all about luck, we laugh at those people,’ en daar hebben ze ook regels voor. Het gekke is, als je het doorleest kom je erachter dat het allemaal heel nietszeggend is. Zo’n naam alleen al: ‘Monroe’s Mann Unstoppable Artists Business School’, dat kon misschien al een ding worden. Zo ben ik op zoek gegaan, niet perse naar lange teksten, zo’n stukje zegt eigenlijk al genoeg over hoe raar het soms is.

ORDINARY On Georges Perec Paul Gangloff

I think Georges Perec is interesting because he works outside of what is normally considered literature. In this text that is called « Penser, classer », (Thinking and classifying ), he says that he tries to never write two times the same kind of book, or to go back on the same way. Seeing has a big place in his writing. He is for instance sitting in a café and quickly setting up the surroundings, the streets, the architecture, the trees, stuff like that, and then describing the cars, buses, persons that come by. Really common things. He uses a quote from someone else: « Look with all your eyes », like: « Pay attention and observe ». But he is not looking like a visual artist. He tries to question things that you usually don’t question. « Notes sur ce que je cherche » (Notes about what I am searching for) is the introduction to his book « L’infra-ordinaire », infra is as in infra-red and ordinaire means ordinary, so meaning the thing that is even more then ordinary. He says: « What talks to us, it seems to me, is always the happening, the event, the extra-ordinary, big titles in newspapers, trains only start to exist when they crash, planes only exist when they are hijacked, cars only exist when they hit a tree. What is truly horrible, a scandal, is not when an accident happens in the mines, what is horrible is not this, but is working in the mines. Social crisis’s are not preoccupying

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in the times of the strike, they are horrible twenty-four hours a day, every day. » Perec is interested in this twenty-four hours. He is not interested in the newspapers. What they actually say is: « Calm down, don’t worry, you see there are a lot of worse things happening in the world ». This information is more something to make us not worry. It is only about happenings. It doesn’t question the things that are always there, so the things that are always there don’t change; social situations and structures of power. Perec is not really an anarchist or politically engaged, but I think he is truly engaged by doing that. He asks: « What is really happening? How do we really live? What is the banal, the daily, the obvious, the usual, the ordinary, the background noise? How to describe that? We are not used to questioning that, and it doesn’t question us, it doesn’t make a problem actually, because that’s what we live in, so by definition it is what we are used to. So it’s harder than writing about a plane crash. We are asleep, we are not aware of things, we are sleeping through our life. Where is our life? Where is our body? Where is our space? Maybe it’s now time to start our own anthropology, and not anymore go in to exotic countries and looking for so-called primitive tribes, but make our own anthropology. What are our table manners, our tools, time-tables, how do we walk, how do we go downstairs, how do we open the door, how do we eat, how do we lie down on a bed. How, where, when, why? Describe a street, describe another one. Compare. Make an inventory of your pocket or your bag. Ask for each thing where it comes from, what it is used for and what it will become. Question your teaspoons, what lies under your wallpaper. It doesn’t matter that these questions are fragmentary, little bits of questions that don’t indicate a product or a method. What matters really much is that they seem futile, or trivial. That’s what makes them very essential, to captivate something of our truth. » In « L’infra-ordinaire » he says something like: I put a painting on my wall. And then I forget there is a wall, I don’t see the wall anymore. And then I don’t see the painting anymore, because somehow the wall made the painting disappear and the painting made the wall disappear. I’m just producing this gesture, this social gesture of putting something on a wall. But I’m not anymore thinking that if I live in a place it’s because there are four walls, what is behind those walls? Who is behind this wall? How thick is this wall? Perec takes the freedom of being neither a scientist, nor an architect, a sociologist. But he is producing texts. It’s not anymore literature, or novels, sometimes it’s on the edge. I think he is someone that made a first step in, let’s say, what graphic design is nowadays; building understanding of things. I’m interested in questioning. Deleuze

says, quoting from somebody else: The real fascism or totalitarianism doesn’t lie in what is forbidden, they lie in the things that you anyway have to do, that are not questioned anymore. The rules that you don’t even question, the things you do automatically. These rules can be laws or social rules or also a way architecture is built, a way a street is built, a way a car is built, a way to talk etc. Design is producing daily things, mostly. You can design a chair or a building, or clothes or a book or a newspaper, they are daily things, things that are massproduced, and distributed and used. Then I think the task of the designer is also to question: How does that work, how is that used? Not only in the old meaning of functional, because I don’t think we need only the necessary. I think we also need unnecessary things. But I think the things that are called research and design should pay attention to the unnoticeable things, really question the ground, the basis of things. And that’s hard, because we don’t know where to start, how to set up a research, there is no method and there should not be a method. There is a research piece that is trying this, it’s called « L’invention du quotidien », it’s made by three people. The main author is Michel de Certeau. In English it has been translated under the title of « The daily practice ». It’s trying to define culture as something that is not held by institutions, like schools and museums and universities, but that is something that stands in the way we live in a house, how we talk, how we shop, the way we cook, the way we save food and money. All these little inventions, trying to detect them. I like how it is analyzing on a certain level, more then in a certain domain. It’s talking about architecture, urbanism, cooking, talking. But it’s on the really small invisible thing, that you learn through your mother, that is almost unconscious, but that you know how to do. You can look at the use of things and learn from that, learn from the user that invents little tricks. Using and practising are inventing, in that sense we are all designers. But it can be trained and improved. We are some kind of professional of non-professionalism. I don’t want to be a specialist that is very good at something. That’s of course hard to state, because what are you good at then? You won’t ever get a job if you’re not good at something, if people can’t say: « Oh, I need that guy because he is good at that ». But I just want to also be a bit of a sociologist and an anthropologist and a writer and some kind of scientist and developer. Not professional, just as someone that not only is curious, it’s more than being curious. I like people that take their freedom, people that are not scared. I think that’s such a good human quality: don’t be scared, don’t see the world as a hostile thing. We live in a world where already so much is made for us, where we just have to consume, and that’s enough. We have to now maybe say: let’s make something, let’s take a risk.

SYSTEEM Over kleuren in romans Marit Molenaar

‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ is een heel simpel boek, je hebt het in een dag uitgelezen. Het is wel een boek voor volwassenen,

maar ook een beetje op een kindermanier geschreven, zogenaamd door iemand die vijftien is. Het gaat over een jongen die autistisch is. Hij houdt heel erg van wiskunde. Daarom zijn alle hoofdstukken met priemgetallen genummerd, omdat hij dat hele fijne getallen vindt. Hij houdt niet van getallen die je kan delen. En er staan ook allemaal puzzeltjes in, omdat hij de hele tijd rekent, als hij aan het rekenen is wordt hij heel rustig in zijn hoofd. Hij houdt ook van astronauten en dat soort dingen. Maar hij heeft dus een hekel aan bepaalde kleuren: geel en bruin, die kleuren raakt hij niet aan en weigert hij op te eten. En rood is juist zijn lievelingskleur. Je leest het alsof hij het boek schrijft, als een project voor zichzelf. Het wordt heel duidelijk hoe hij echt regels nodig heeft als autist. ‘Ghosts’ is een verhaal uit een trilogie van Paul Auster, De New York Trilogie. Ik heb het een paar jaar geleden al gelezen. Het gaat over Blue, dat is een detective, en die krijgt de opdracht van meneer White dat hij Black moet schaduwen. Dat doet hij het hele boek. Voor jaren. En achteraf komt hij erachter dat White eigenlijk Black is die hij moet schaduwen, en Black is een boek aan het schrijven waarin hij gevolgd wordt. Uiteindelijk vermoordt Blue Black. Hij heeft zijn eigen leven opgegeven, om helemaal in dat achtervolgen op te gaan. Het is best wel een apart boek, soms ben je helemaal in de war als je het een tijdje aan het lezen bent, dan snap je het niet meer. De personages verwisselen ook van karakters, daarom is het moeilijk om het verhaal na te vertellen. Volgens mij is het een boek dat wel meer grafisch ontwerpers interesseert, misschien omdat de schrijver van systemen houdt. Ik heb in allebei deze boeken de kleuren omcirkeld. Daarna heb ik voor elke voorkomende kleur stipjes gekozen, een soort van stickers, die heb ik in chronologische volgorde achter elkaar geplakt op een A-3. Daarnaast heb ik bij Paul Auster ook een vel gemaakt met alleen maar zwarte en blauwe stipjes, omdat het verhaal daar om draait: twee mensen die elkaar in de gaten houden. En bij Haddons boek heb ik ook een extra vel gemaakt met alleen rood, geel en bruin; zijn lievelingskleur en de twee kleuren die hij echt haat. De andere kleuren zijn meer neutrale kleuren. Dit geeft een heel simpel overzicht van het boek, misschien is het ook een soort analyse. Het is denk ik leuk om te zien: ‘O, zo kan je het ook bekijken.’

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THE WORDS BEHIND THE WORKS

ADVICE On books that give advice Lane Kristensen

WHAT YOU CAN DO SOMETIMES TO GET FURTHER. I NEVER READ IT FROM BEGINNING TO END.

I USED TO USE IT MORE THAN I DO NOW.

MAYBE I HAVE READ EVERYTHING BUT NEVER IN ONE GO.

BUT SOMETIMES WHEN I’M REALLY STUCK I HAVE TO GO LOOK IN IT.

I THINK YOU CAN ALSO ALMOST FEEL STUPID IF YOU READ TOO MUCH OF IT.

IT’S REALLY STRANGE, BECAUSE IT’S ALSO KIND OF STUPID.

IT’S TOO MUCH POINTING OUT.

THIS CHAPTER IS CALLED: ‘GOOD ADVICES’.

IF YOU’RE STUCK, YOU SHOULD SIMPLY JUST DO THIS AND THIS.

IT SAYS: ‘SURPRISE YOURSELF’. DO SOMETHING YOU OTHERWISE WOULDN’T DO OR THAT YOU DIDN’T DARE TO DO. AVOID TO FALL IN LOVE WITH THE SAME IDEA AGAIN AND AGAIN. BREAK THE ROUTINE, WALK A NEW WAY TO YOUR WORK. PUT TIME OFF EVERY DAY TO THINK AND QUESTION. USE PROVOKING QUESTIONS AS A SPRINGBOARD TO NEW IDEAS.

AFTER A WHILE YOU’RE LIKE. SHUT UP. STOP SAYING WHAT I SHOULD DO. IT’S NOT SOMETHING THAT ANYBODY SHOULD HAVE AN ANSWER TO. THE OTHER ADVICE BOOK IS A BOOK THAT I FOUND IN A SECOND HAND SHOP. IT’S CALLED ‘THE WEDDING BOOK’.

CHANGE YOUR HAIRDRESSER.

IT’S FROM THE SIXTIES AND IT’S ALMOST LIKE A JOKE.

TURN THINGS UP-SIDE-DOWN.

IT’S ABOUT WHAT KIND OF RINGS YOU SHOULD CHOOSE.

IT’S SO CONCRETE BUT AT THE SAME TIME SOMETIMES YOU REALLY DO THESE THINGS.

ABOUT HOW TO SET THE TABLE.

I’M SO AWARE OF IT WHEN I’M STUCK AND THAT’S A GOOD THING. OTHERWISE I’M DOING THE THINGS I ALWAYS DO. THERE ARE SOME PAGES WITH JUST A LOT OF WORDS ON IT LOOSE ON THE PAGE.

ABOUT THE SILVER COLLECTION AND PRESENTS YOU SHOULD ASK FOR THE TABLE. LIKE A CUCUMBER SET AND A FRUIT KNIFE AND A VEGETABLE SPOON. OR WHAT SHOULD BE ON ‘THE SMOKING TABLE’:

REALLY COMMON WORDS.

ASHTRAY, CIGARS, CIGAR-CUTTER, CIGAR BOX, CIGARETTES, CUP.

THEY SAY IT’S COINCIDENTALLY CHOSEN WORDS.

I REMEMBER MY AUNT AND UNCLE HAD ALL THAT.

‘CHOOSE BY CLOSING THE EYES AND LET YOUR FINGER POINT ON A COINCIDENTAL WORD’.

THEY MUST HAVE READ THE BOOK.

SO NOW I’M GOING TO DO IT.

THE FACT THAT THEY CAN WRITE A BOOK LIKE THIS FASCINATES ME.

IT’S ‘PRESENT’.

TO HAVE A GUIDE FOR A COUPLE THAT JUST GOT MARRIED.

IT’S A BIT STUPID .

HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS LIFE.

BUT IT’S ALSO KIND OF FUNNY.

WHAT’S EXPECTED FROM YOU.

IT’S LIKE GOING FOR A WALK AND THEN YOU EXPERIENCE SOMETHING YOU DON’T EXPECT.

IT’S NOT SOMETHING I HAVE OUT OF MY SHELF OFTEN.

IT COULD BE A BIRD LOOKING FUNNY OR...WHATEVER...

IT’S MORE TO TALK ABOUT THESE KINDS OF BOOKS.

IT’S ACTUALLY A BIT TALKING ABOUT WHAT I DO WITH SECOND-HAND BOOKS.

I OFTEN GO TO SECOND-HAND SHOPS.

I GO THROUGH DIFFERENT THINGS.

BUY ONE FOR TWENTY CENTS.

I USE DIFFERENT MATERIALS TO GET INSPIRED. I’M NOT LOOKING INTO GREAT DESIGN BOOKS. YOU JUST WANT TO DO THE SAME THEN. THIS BOOK IS IN MANY WAYS RELATED TO A MUCH MORE COMMERCIAL WAY OF DESIGNING IT’S SAYING THINGS LIKE: ‘YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO EXAGGERATE!’ IN A WAY YOU CAN ALSO TRANSLATE THAT INTO OUR WAY OF DOING THINGS. WE ALSO HAVE TO BE CONSEQUENT. IF WE CHOOSE A DIRECTION THEN WE ALSO ALMOST HAVE TO EXAGGERATE IT. IT’S MADE BY A VERY GOOD GRAPHIC RESEARCHER. A PROFESSOR FROM A DANISH DESIGN SCHOOL. SHE HAS A VERY CERTAIN IDEA OF IDEA GENERATING. SHE IS GIVING A MANUAL TO CREATIVE PEOPLE. HOW THEY CAN INCREASE THEIR IDEA GENERATING. IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE IT’S TALKING TO GROWN UP PEOPLE. BUT IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE A GROWN UP INSPIRATION BOOK. IT’S WRITTEN VERY CLEARLY. THERE’S NOTHING TO QUESTION. SHE DOESN’T WANT PEOPLE TO THINK. SHE WANTS PEOPLE TO GET HER POINT. SHE WANTS PEOPLE TO LOOK AT IT ANOTHER WAY. I THINK IT’S DONE IN A WAY THAT WAS TRENDY BACK THEN IN THE NINETIES. THIS WAS PROBABLY SOMETHING THEY LIKED THEN BUT I DON’T LIKE IT. IT’S WEIRD . THE MAKER REALLY BELIEVES IN SOME STRONG VALUES THAT I ACTUALLY ALSO BELIEVE IN. BUT IN HER DESIGNS IT’S AWFUL. EVERYTHING THAT’S IN IT IS SOMEHOW OBVIOUS. IT’S JUST REMINDING YOU OF WHAT’S IMPORTANT .

MAYBE ONCE A YEAR.

JUST TO LOOK AT BOOKS. THIS CAN REALLY LIGHT ME UP. BY THE WAY IT WAS DONE. OR THE TYPEFACE THEY USED. OR THE IMAGE MATERIAL THAT WAS IN IT. OR JUST THE PAPER. IT DOESN’T MATTER SO MUCH FOR ME. THAT’S ALSO WHY I HAVE SO MANY BOOKS. I THINK I LIKE BOOKS MORE AS AN OBJECT ALMOST. THE WAY THEY LOOK. I DON’T LIKE TO READ SO MUCH ABOUT GRAPHIC DESIGN. IT’S MUCH MORE REFRESHING TO LOOK AT SOMETHING THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THAT IS DONE WITH GRAPHIC DESIGN, THE MORE NAÏVE THINGS. IT’S NOT A DIRECT INSPIRATION. BUT IT INSPIRES ME. I’M NOT THINKING: THAT’S A NICE ILLUSTRATION. MAYBE I COULD USE IT. MAYBE I COULD DRAW SOMETHING LIKE THAT. BUT I THINK IT’S VERY UNCONSCIOUS THAT A LOT OF IT GETS IN YOUR HEAD. I DON’T KNOW IF NAÏVE IS THE RIGHT WORD. IT’S THE WHOLE INTENTION THAT I LIKE. THE BOOK IS MEANT REALLY SERIOUSLY AND I CAN LAUGH ABOUT THAT NOW.

myself to finish the article. But it doesn’t work like that. IT CAN BE WHATEVER SENTENCE THAT SUDDENLY gives me the feeling: ‘Oh, that was what I was looking for’, or: ‘Oh, yeah, that’s the direction’. For example, with these Morf magazines, they were lying on my shelves for really long, and then in the beginning of the entire process, one morning when I wanted to start I didn’t feel like going out, to the library for example, and then this is what I had at home, so I think: ‘Okay, maybe I can read it’. I read the titles and subtitles. Only this little information, the angles that people can choose to approach subjects can already be so inspiring. I SEE FOR INSTANCE A TITLE LIKE ‘SKETCHING: Conversations with the brain’. ‘That’s a nice title’, I think. And then it says: ‘Sketching is a way of visual thinking that can set the creative mind free’, which is of course exactly what I am searching for: ‘Set the creative mind free’. So this is the moment when I throw the thing I was reading away, and go to write my ideas and feel open suddenly, like everything is possible. I THINK I USE READING AS A METHOD TO come into the right state of mind, at a point when I need help. It’s kind of another method to start working. It could also be taking a walk outside by the Amstel. In a way it’s like looking around, if I’m not in a research stage and I just want to get going, to get into some kind of mood, then I read on a wide variety of topics, it doesn’t matter that much what exactly. Morf isn’t especially a magazine I like, and many times when I read further I’m disappointed. But in a way that doesn’t matter, because the moment when I’m into a project, the entire existence around me is one big link to make my project grow. I’m really wandering around in the way that I’m thinking. It’s like day-dreaming, or fantasizing about something very concrete: my work. I THINK THAT WHEN I’M READING YOU CAN many times find me gazing into the distance. When I sit like that, looking around, reading a little piece, it can go on for hours. Then at one moment comes the butterflies. Then the thing I’m reading is way behind me and it happens in my head. I go through this magazine or article like a hunter. I’m coming to hunt this butterflies. When I have it, then I just sit behind my computer to work. EVEN IF I WOULD INTEND TO READ FROM beginning to end, it wouldn’t be a linear reading. At a certain point it would become multi-directional, it would be reading one or two chapters, starting working, and then the reading starts to be in conversation with the work. I feel that everything around is moulding towards my project, like pouring itself into my project. IN A FURTHER STAGE OF THE PROCESS I’M more into reading things on the web. That’s more the instant stuff, when I already know what subject I want to read about. In this jungle of internet, many times I come across something and I don’t immediately have the time to read it, I then put it in my bookmarks, and I use it later, for instance to get back into a project that I wasn’t busy with for some time. I could read my own notes in this case, but that’s boring, so I would start to read on the internet. It’s not so much about butterflies anymore, and it’s also not so much about knowledge anymore, because I already gained the knowledge earlier in the process, but I would use it to come back to the neighbourhood. To remind me where it was that I wanted to go. It’s also a method to step out the cage of my own brain.

REVOLUTION On situationists CAPTIONS On starting and not finishing Naama Iron

I CAN BE COMPLETELY TAKEN BY A CAPTION, A headline, a foreword, and I can stop my reading there, sometimes. Maybe it says something about the way I divide my concentration, and I don’t necessarily like that that’s the way I do it, I would expect from

Joseph Miceli

1 I met a weird guy in New York, we were having some conversations about politics and he suggested a book called ‘Communists like us’ by an Italian guy who’s in prison and writes books from there. I expressed that I didn’t really like the core ideas in it, and then he asked me: ‘Have you ever

heard of the situationists?’ and he gave me this name ‘Guy Debord’. So I went and looked up this guy and found this book ‘The Society of the Spectacle.’ From the first time I read the first page, I really got into it. 2 It reminded me of the experience with Taoism. When I was young I was very much into Taoism, through Buddhism, just reading about it, not practicing it. In Buddhism I found some theoretical idea’s I didn’t agree with totally and Taosism was like situationism, it worked in the same way. There’s a kind of a parallel in the sense that Taosim is a very independent, non institutional kind of theology. They had a saint who was a drunk, part of what he was about was that he was not a perfect individual. I found that very open and flexible. 3 So I guess in a similar way I liked situationism; it also doesn’t really have a definition or a sort of manifesto. It’s a kind of critical thought. I think what characterizes the situationists’ thinking is that it doesn’t limit itself in speaking about superficial problems, like other kind of political theories such as communism. These theories always talk about what seem like little bubbles on the surface of a huge thing. Situationists want to talk about something called ‘the totality’, which is, how I understood it, more of a world view, seeing how things are interconnected to other things. I call it political, but that’s not really the right term for it. They also talk a lot about everyday life, as a term. 4 Communism has big ideas, but communism I think at the source already sets up some structures with which it wants to either help or control certain things, where situationists are more into allowing diversity. The quickest way to say it is that situationism is the ideology of no ideology. 5 Guy Debord put together the Situationist International. That was the original grouping of people interested in this, and they put out a journal called The Situationist International. That journal was their interface and their study ground. Before Debord used to be in a French avant-garde group called the ‘Letterist International’, a sort of literary movement that dealt a lot with poetry and free writing, Raymond Queneau was also involved. One of the concepts that was born during the Letterist period was the idea of creating situations. Situations that would liberate people’s desires. Psycho-geography for instance came out of this idea. In fact the first place they did psycho-geographic experiments was in Amsterdam. They tried to connect parts of the city through the idea of humans acting freely upon their desires, and not follow into the way the urban space was planned. That was one of the first situations; it was a material event, which had an effect on the people doing it. 6 ‘The Society of the Spectacle’, is the central document in which the situationists’ ideas are expressed. The whole book is written in an interesting form, it’s written in maxims. That’s a literary form where condensed paragraphs of information are presented separate from one another. It’s not a flowing text. When I read this book I would read one and go and think about it for half a week. It’s almost similar to a religious text in its form, but not at all in its content. 7 The style of writing is also very interesting because it’s a reference to Marx on one side and to Sun-tzu on the other side, that’s a Chinese philosopher, who wrote ‘The art of war’. What I liked so much about Debord, which connects to my fascination with Buddhism and eastern thought, is that he often uses the parable way of describing things. In parables they say things like: ‘The poverty of architecture, the architecture of poverty’, thess weird back and forth things, that make you think.

8 The first phrase is: ‘All life in those societies where modern conditions of production prevail, presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles.’ It means: anywhere in the modern world where things are governed by economy and industrial modes of production and relations, life presents itself as an accumulation of appearances and spectacles. It doesn’t mean life is not real, but there’s an unspoken setting. The way you know what’s proper, how we’re dressed; it’s kind of made up, it’s a mediated, myth-like relation ship to what’s actually happening. Debord came up with a lot of words that became famous and one of the biggest ones is ‘the spectacle’. It’s his term for this invisible, these intangible agreements that keep the social order through appearances, through the visual. It’s very much about visual communication. 9 This Italian edition of it includes two books, ‘The Society of the Spectacle’ which he wrote in 1956 and ‘Comments on The Society of the Spectacle’, that he wrote in 1988. It’s basically a part two, where he’s updating his ideals. Everything written in1956 is very scarily similar to what has happened. It’s almost like a Nostradamus kind of thing. The things he was describing were already present in the background by the time he wrote them, and today they’re much more in our face. 10 This is a book that is also very important to me: ‘Teaching as a Subversive Activity’. It’s written by two American educators from the sixties, who both worked in very normal public schools in America. It’s a research on what the educational system does to people. How it causes them to think. This was written in the sixties and seventies, so it’s easy to understand that they were attracted by these sort of revolutionary ideals and bringing them into schools, about more freedom etc. 11 I’ve never been into these hippie kind of things, or anarchist kind of ‘not give a fuck about anything’. The reason why I like this book, and also the situationists is because it’s revolutionary, but it’s not negative, it’s proposing real methods for taking it back. The main concept in this book is about question-based education. There’s a part that I always remember where they say: if you ask a child: ‘What’s the main river in Uruguay’, or you ask a child: ‘How would you find the main river in Uruguay?’. You can see that through those two questions the motor turns on in a different way. If you ask: ‘What’s the main river in Uruguay?’ either you know or you don’t, those are the possibilities, but if you ask:‘How would you find it?’, there are millions of ways to find it. They’re more for this kind of questioning. 12 These guys never went beyond writing this book and being academically revolutionary. In a way I like this because if you ask me: ‘Joe, how do we do the revolution?’ It’s not like: ‘Let’s all get guns and shoot the bad guys’. It’s more like: ‘Make really cool schools and make bullshit proof people’. That’s a term they use. It’s a way of describing this general sense of awareness that’s more than just receiving things, but understanding them. I’m not sure what revolution means, I believe in the need for change. In differentiated change, every block, every country, every region. Not a big thing where some guy comes in with a formula and we all do it.

FORUM On technical questions Liron Ross

liron 08.05.06 [13:08 UTC] i have to deal with a lot of technical stuff for the website i’m making for radio rietveld. what i wanted to do is make a radio station that is very open in communication, and also in what it can do;

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THE WORDS BEHIND THE WORKS

that it can play music but also vj, or that also you can have a direct conversation with the dj at that time. liron 08.05.06 [13:12 UTC] this (http://vvvv.meso.net/) is an address i got from jonathan. i told him my problem and what i wanted to do and he suggested i should try this. first i was working with Flash and i didn’t find it useful for what I was doing. and then he said: ‘yeah there is this programming thing called vvvv.’ liron 08.05.06 [13:17 UTC] this program is made by co-operative people, they are called ‘meso’, i think they are germans. i don’t know how long they exist, i think they have been around for a while. what they do is really nice, they are developing this program that lets you hook up everything to everything and basically do everything you want. you can hook up the computer to a motor or whatever. It’s for free, you can download it from their site. people do all kinds of crazy things with it, they make for example big shows with the help of this vvvv. liron 08.05.06 [13:31 UTC] the vvvv is a kind of visual programming, it’s different from the normal way of programming, which is ‘coding’. the visualization really helps: instead of you spending time learning how to code, the program knows them and translates it in a visual way for you. i found the site of meso extremely helpful. i could stay at home and start using it with their help. i knew very little about this kind of programming, there are also simple tutorials on the site, but it was especially nice to work with it because anytime i was stuck with something i just asked them a question on the forum and i got an answer. all these ‘savonge’ messages is my questions, like: savonge 21.01.06 [19:08 UTC] i have a stream of values that i’m receiving from one of my modules and what i would like to do is to save the parameters at constant time-intervals, let’s say every two second, is there a simple way to do that? anonymous 22.01.06 [01:33 UTC] saving into file, or using in the patch...? savonge 22.01.06 [10:44 UTC] save into file liron 08.05.06 [13:42 UTC] here this person gave me an answer, but later i had another problem and then someone just sent me a little piece of module that does that. so i can ask them things, but they can also send me ready structures if i need it. they also give workshops. you can apply to a workshop that has a couple of people in it. but what’s really nice about this is that i can go to a page and download all the little modules they did in the workshop, and then i can just study what it does. you can have the same material as they made. this way you learn incredibly fast, it is much more helpful than some kind of handbook would be.

EINDE Over romans Marriëlle Frederiks

IK LEES VOORNAMELIJK ROMANS, om in het verhaal op te gaan, mijn hoofd leeg te maken. Ik lees meestal in

de trein, op een dag is dat een uur heen en een uur terug (van Tiel naar Amsterdam), dat is mijn tijd om te lezen. Ik lees van alles en nog wat. De wat meer serieuze literatuur lees ik alleen als ik in de stemming ben (wakker en geconcentreerd), ik hou ook van de wat lichtere boeken. Soms heb ik iets van: ‘ik wil klassiekers lezen’. Laatst heb ik van Charlotte Brontë ‘Jane Eyre’ gelezen, dat vond ik echt super. Dat oud-Engels vind ik altijd mooi geschreven. Ik lees en koop bijna altijd boeken in de oorspronkelijke taal, omdat alles dan klopt, zoals de beeldspraak. Vaak is het wel goed vertaald, maar toch, die ene klik, ook de namen en dat soort dingen. Alleen Franse boeken, dat lukt me niet. Dat is te lang geleden, te moeilijk. Ik denk dat het merendeel van mijn boekenkast Engels is. Meestal ben ik in de eerste plaats met het verhaal bezig. Maar als ik begin, dan blader ik er even door, om een gevoel van het boek te krijgen, net zoals je dat ook doet met een tijdschrift. Soms lees ik zelfs het einde al, de laatste zin. Is het cryptisch, dan ga ik het lezen, soms heb je ook zo’n zin die het al van te voren verpest. Maar soms koop ik ook een boek omdat het er zo mooi uit ziet, dat is denk ik een ontwerpers tic. De boeken van Dave Eggers bijvoorbeeld, hij geeft zelf vorm aan zijn boeken en dat is best bijzonder. Hij maakt er iets anders van dan een standaard boek, of eigenlijk speelt hij daarmee. Hij houdt zelf van negentiende-eeuwse boeken en typografie, en dat is ook wat hij gebruikt op een bepaalde manier. Zoals in zijn tweede roman ‘You Shall Know Our Velocity’, daar begint de tekst voorop, het verhaal begint al wanneer je ernaar kijkt. Er zijn geen schutbladen, geen titelpagina, geen ‘opgedragen aan’. Op de omslag vervagen de letters nu langzaam een beetje. Aan de ene kant is dit jammer, aan de andere kant is het ook wel mooi dat er zo een stukje verhaal verdwijnt. Ik heb ergens gelezen dat de mensen van Penguin books, die ook Dave Eggers uitgeven, vonden dat er een nieuwe kaft moest komen, dat niemand het boek kocht, omdat er geen plaatje op stond, dat de (enige) mensen die het kochten grafisch ontwerpers waren. Er zijn meerdere redenen waarom ik het boek mooi vind. Sowieso om de kaft. En de goede typografie, met aandacht voor de details, de em-dash is mooi, er staan wel een paar van die zogenaamde ‘hoerenjongens’ in, dat is dan wel jammer. Er staan ook plaatjes in. Het lijkt wel alsof dat tegenwoordig meer gebeurt. Mark Haddon bijvoorbeeld van ‘The Curious Incident Of the Dog in the Night-Time’, gebruikt ook plaatjes in zijn boek. Het gebeurt steeds meer dat mensen dingen anders aanpakken, dat ze gedeeltelijk in een boek blijven werken, maar daar op de een of andere manier iets extra’s mee proberen te doen. Ik denk dat Eggers hier wel een belangrijke rol in heeft gespeeld. Hij is een goed voorbeeld van de ontwerper als auteur, of de auteur als ontwerper. Hij probeert de tekst op de een of andere manier te verbeelden. Op een gegeven moment is er een passage over een boot die een golf raakt en in de lucht wordt gelanceerd. Om dat gevoel van in de lucht te zijn te benadrukken stopt de tekst. Er komt een hele lege pagina en nog één en nog één. Tot op driekwart van de volgende pagina, waar de boot weer landt en de tekst verder gaat. Je kan het zien als een truc, het is een manier om te laten zien wat er in het verhaal gebeurt. Dat hij het niet oplost met een plaatje, vind ik hierin eigenlijk het sterkste. Soms storen die plaatjes me een beetje, dan denk ik dat het niet zo nodig is. Laatst heb ik een geïllustreerde versie van ‘De Da Vinci Code’ van Dan Brown gekocht omdat ik hem zo belachelijk vond, en toen heb ik ook maar het verhaal gelezen omdat iedereen het erover had. Daarin staat, als het bijvoorbeeld gaat over de Eiffeltoren, een foto van de Eiffeltoren; alsof je niet

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weet hoe die eruit ziet. Het zou een soort luxe versie moeten zijn, waarbij de plaatjes een meerwaarde geven aan het boek. Maar het doet juist af. En dan is het met van dat half-glanzende papier, wat al niet zo lekker leest, en met van die full-color plaatjes ertussen. Het is echt zo’n boek dat marketingtechnisch op de markt is gezet, zo van: ‘Dat moet geld gaan opleveren’. Ik denk dat het hele gebeuren van geïllustreerde romans voor volwassenen een soort mode is, net zoals nu ook de gesproken boeken populair worden. Ik weet niet of het goed is, dat heb ik ook met verfilmingen van boeken, Harry Potter bijvoorbeeld, die boeken zijn zo goed voor die leeftijd geschreven dat je de films niet nodig hebt. Ze zijn alleen leuk om te zien als je het boek niet wilt lezen, misschien. Het lezen is bij mij denk ik gekomen op de basisschool. Ik las ‘Het oneindige verhaal’. Het begint met een verhaal van een jongen die een boek steelt en het gaat lezen op een zolder van zijn school. Er zijn twee verhaallijnen: het verhaal dat hij leest en het verhaal over de jongen zelf. In de versie die ik laatst kocht (dezelfde die ik vroeger zo mooi vond) hebben deze verhalen twee verschillende kleuren, rood en blauw. En elk hoofdstuk begint met een versierde kapitaal. Bij kinderboeken gebeurt het natuurlijk wel iets meer, dat soort dingen, die illustratieve ingrepen in de tekst. Op een gegeven moment staat er zoiets als: ‘Als je niet begrijpt waarom hij dat boek pakt, dan weet je niet wat de kracht van lezen is’. Dat je gaat huilen als het boek voorbij is, wanneer je niet meer kan genieten van de mensen in het boek. Dat was zo sprekend, zo is het ook als je leest, in het begin denk je: ‘Oh, ik heb dit nog te lezen’, maar op het einde denk je: ‘Oh, ik ben er bijna door’. Dat is een teleurstelling, je wilt het gevoel vasthouden, maar er komt dan niks meer achteraan. FIN

RHIZOOM Over wikipedia Timo Hofmeijer

Eigenlijk ben ik non stop dingen aan het opzoeken, het opzoeken gaat gewoon achter elkaar door, tijdens het werkproces en daarbuiten. Op wikipedia, (www.wikipedia.org), of via google, maar google is minder effectief. Van google tussendoor gebruiken word je echt schizofreen, maar in een meer georganiseerde vorm gebeurt dat ook met wikipedia. Dan ben ik iets aan het lezen en word ik weer afgeleid door een link die ik in de tekst tegenkom en dan kan ik verleiding niet weerstaan om daar dan ook een klein beetje van te weten. Zo ben je heel veel tijd kwijt aan allemaal kleine flarden informatie, waardoor je wel meer vat op dingen krijgt, maar het is ook zo’n overdaad dat je het meeste eigenlijk weer vergeet. Je zou dit oppervlakkig kunnen noemen, maar je komt wel dingen tegen waar je normaal niks vanaf zou weten. Je zoekt altijd wel naar dingen waar je voordat je gaat zoeken niet aan zou denken, echt nieuwe dingen. Zoals met ‘grijs’. (Timo doet een project over de kleur grijs), dan ga je op ‘grijs’ zoeken en dan kom je echt een hele wereld tegen, met informatie vanuit die wereld en dan heb je ook nog links naar verschillende kleurspecialisten, die allemaal heel specifieke technische kennis hebben die ik interessant vind. Dan gaat het voor mij heel erg leven, maar er is wel het gevaar dat het voor buitenstaanders misschien een beetje ontoegankelijk wordt.

Het is denk ik te vergelijken met wanneer je een woord in het woordenboek opzoekt, dan krijgt een woord in een keer veel meer betekenis dan wanneer je het gewoon in de taal gebruikt. En als jij dan dat woord hebt gelezen, heeft het voor jou in een keer een zwaardere lading. Maar ja, schrijf je het op een briefje en geef je het aan iemand anders, dan is die lading in een keer weg. Ik hou van een hele gedachteconstructie die ergens achter zit, een structuur die iemand anders hoogstwaarschijnlijk niet meteen zou kunnen lezen. Dat vind ik ook mooi aan de graycode die ik gebruik voor mijn posters. Als je een externe structuur jouw ding laat bepalen, dan heeft het altijd die onregelmatigheid die heel verfijnd is. Die krijg je niet zomaar als je iemand zou vragen wat willekeurige stippen op een papier te zetten. Dat soort chaos heeft niet dezelfde schoonheid als die van een externe structuur. Het fascineert me, hoe de informatie aan elkaar hangt in draadjes op internet. Het kennismodel was al extreem complex en nu is het echt helemaal gestoord. Wij zijn nog een beetje in de oude wereld opgegroeid, wij zitten in een heel rare fase. We hebben het allemaal wel meegekregen, het ontstaan van internet; we hebben het wel zien gebeuren, maar we zijn er niet van kleins af aan in getraind om ermee te werken. We zitten in een overgangsfase. Het einde van de wereld waar informatie in een boek is geselecteerd en een begin en eind heeft, is wel echt serieus ingeleid. Informatieve boeken lees ik eigenlijk nooit meer. Het probleem is: daar kan je niet hetzelfde in vinden als op internet. Ik vind het mooi om vanuit een lekenstandpunt te kijken naar allerlei verschillende gebieden, ook al wordt je er ook onzeker van, want je bent je altijd bewust dat al die anderen er zoveel vanaf weten. Ik zou niet zo in de diepte kunnen duiken, het heeft ook iets bizars dat ieder onderwerp zo z’n eigen subwereld heeft, met z’n autoriteiten. Op de een of andere manier zijn die autoriteiten net van die modeltrein-bouwers met van die hele mooie treinen op hun zolderkamer. Zo wil ik niet zijn. Ik wil meer een soort losse module zijn die van hot naar her springt. Mijn onderzoek gaat nooit zo heel erg in de diepte, of het gaat wel diep, maar op een heel specifiek persoonlijk onderdeeltje waar ik toevallig tegenaan gelopen ben. Het is niet zo dat ik eerst helemaal ga kijken wat zo’n wereld nou eigenlijk helemaal inhoudt. Ik pak het interessante eruit. Ik werk als een soort rhizoom, een term veel gebruikt door Gilles Deleuze, dat is een wortel die niet systematisch vertakt, maar die overal weer aan elkaar groeit en dat is eigenlijk ook wel hoe internet in elkaar zit.

TAGS Over del.icio.us en graffiti Felix Kramer

Ik ben registered op del.icio.us. (http://del. icio.us/, op del.icio.us kan iedereen zijn eigen verzameling links naar favoriete sites maken). Del.icio.us werkt net zoals mijn eigen bookmarks, die bij mij in de browser staan, maar hier doe ik het ook voor andere mensen. Ik heb vijftig items getagged. Hier

zeggen ze: ‘A tag is just a word that describes an item saved on del.icio.us.’ Mijn tags zijn automatisch gelist. Ik heb: activism, divertissement, blog, Blogs. Design, download, fonts, graffiti, logo’s, music, tagging, theory, tods, typo, typography, vector, video, video’s, webdesign. Als ik iets zoek, dan kan ik naar google toe gaan, maar ik kan ook hiernaar toe gaan. Ik denk dat zoveel mensen zich inschrijven bij del.icio.us, omdat je weet: iemand die dezelfde tags heeft als ik, kan weer andere sites hebben. Zo vind je misschien een heel interessante site die je via google nooit had gevonden. Het gaat er om aparte sites te vinden, rare, kleine dingetjes. Vrienden sturen ook links toe van iets en dan kijk ik: ‘Is het interessant, dan tag ik het even’. Als ik denk: ‘Dat is een coole video’, dan krijgt die van mij een video tag. Laatst heeft iemand me ‘Cold as ice’ gestuurd, dat is een video waarin allemaal naakte mannen dansen op een old scool liedje, zo grappig, allemaal rare mannen, uit de jaren tachtig met van die lange haren, allemaal naakt, en allemaal maken ze een solo dansje. Dan denk je: ‘Oh, dat is zo cool, dat moeten andere mensen ook zien.’ Je kunt hier ook zien hoe populair een bepaalde site is. ‘Thinking with type’ is bijvoorbeeld ‘saved by 1329 other people’, en eronder staan allemaal usernotes, van meerdere mensen die dit ook gesaved hebben. Die hebben er allemaal iets over geschreven. En dan kan je bijvoorbeeld bij user ‘Aldo’ kijken, die heeft hem ook gesaved, misschien heeft hij ook nog wel andere interessante links. Dan kan je in Aldo’s items kijken, hij heeft veertig items, dan kan je zien: ‘O, die Aldo heeft allemaal van die computerdingen, niet zo’n coole gast, hij dus niet.’ Ik heb ook een tag die ‘tagging’ heet. Tagging in de betekenis van graffiti. Daar heb ik bijvoorbeeld een site waar iemand met video op een muur heeft getagged. Bij hem is het eigenlijk meer spelen met media geworden. Dat is wel interessant, als je het ziet in de originele zin van het woord, een tag is volgens wikipedia een soort aanraakspel (tikkertje): ‘Tag is an informal sport or game (see also playground games) that usually involves one or more players attempting to “tag” other players by touching them with their hands’. Ik ben zelf niet meer zo bezig met graffiti nu. In ’84 begon ik ermee, toen was ik 15 of 16. Ik heb laatst nog wel ergens iets in Zeeburg in een hall of fame gemaakt, dat was eigenlijk het laatste. Het is niet meer zo dat ik ’s-nachts echt de straat op ga. Een tag in graffiti is eigenlijk je naam. Ik zou wel Felix kunnen schrijven, maar ik heb een synoniem gekozen. Mijn synoniem is Phil. Phil de vriendelijke is het in het Latijn, of de zachtaardige. Mijn eerste tag was dyz. Dat betekende niks, maar het klonk zo raar dat ik dacht: ‘Dat heeft wel uitdrukkingskracht’. Dat was mijn eerste woord. Het is ook een spel, waarbij je een onbekende naam opeens overal terugziet. Het is natuurlijk leuk als een synoniem ook nog iets anders over jou zegt. Ik denk wel dat dat ook een andere layer geeft. Het is ook zo dat je dan meerdere dingen kan maken. Ik kan me wel Felix 1, Felix 2 en Felix 3 noemen, maar het is veel interessanter als je kan zeggen: Phil dat wordt misschien ineens Phol. Je kunt meerdere identiteiten hebben en elke identiteit kan weer een andere stijl hebben. Bij muziek is dat ook zo; elektronische bands die een project doen waarbij ze van die heel rare krasse muziek maken, en die daarna opeens hele mooie, zachte muziek onder een andere naam maken. Wat je vaak op straat ziet, dat iemand zomaar een woord schrijft, dat vond ik eigenlijk nooit zo bijzonder, dat heeft me nooit zo gepakt. Ik heb meer met kleuren en beelden maken. Met graffiti tast je ongevraagd andermans spullen aan, je weet niet of ze het willen. Met echte pieces, die heel mooi

en beeldend zijn is het toch wat anders. Die brengen wel wat in. Eigenlijk ben ik begonnen met grafisch ontwerpen omdat ik het interessant vond om letters te maken en te kijken hoe je bijvoorbeeld met kleurgebruik kan werken zodat het past bij de manier waarop het op straat werkt. Snel en duidelijk iets neer zetten dat iemand anders weer kan herkennen. Dat was niet perse een motivatie om hetzelfde in grafisch ontwerpen te gaan doen, maar een aanleiding om daar over na te denken. Wat zou dat betekenen in grafisch ontwerpen? Hoe kan je omgaan met dat gegeven; dat je dus iets moet ontwerpen met een eigen herkenbare stijl.

TRAINING On typography Selina Bütler

I got these books seven years ago in the school that I did then. It was kind of guiding us through the typography lessons. It’s a series of four books, it’s made, or compiled by Richard Frick, who was our typography teacher. He’s quite famous in Switzerland. He was also quite a character. We had strict lessons. We had to learn the material and we had to do tests and we got grades for it. Then we for instance all got a piece of text and had to deal with it. Or we had to answer questions, or fill out numbers. In a way of course it was annoying, but on the other hand it was quite nice, because you really had to learn it, you really studied it. I had all the parts of the series, but some of them were filled with basic stuff about forms and shape. The first one is called ‘Grundlagen’, it’s about basic structures of typography. The last one is also quite basic; about shapes, training your eye to make graphical observations. I don’t really remember them so well, because I never looked at them again, but in these two middle parts it is very much about micro-typography. These are the ones I still use now. There’s Satztechnik, it’s about how to set space inbetween lines and different cuts in fonts, or the wrong capitals, or the difference between cursive and oblique. And also about working with a program. Then number three is called ‘Avor text, Avor DTP’, it’s like zooming in even more; it’s going in the text also, it’s about details like dots and dashes. In general they are talking about different levels of text. It’s not only talking about... I don’t know the word in English. That’s the thing, I learned all the words in German, I don’t know the words in other languages, In German it’s Flatter Satz, or Block Satz, it means small text, a lot of text. It’s also explained if it’s posters, how this reacts on the typography, what the scale does. It’s really talking on typography on all the levels. But legibility is the main goal. The books are quite old now, of course not everything in it is so handy, it’s also made for Quark Express (a design program, now Indesign is more used). And it’s all in German, so it’s only in German that I know all this different things. In Switzerland we also have French and Italian as languages, but still these are not in there. In French a lot of things are totally different: punctuation, space before and after. It’s also a pity that I don’t know the terms in English. It would be nice to have an international typography book, also to see the difference between the languages. I think it’s really good to know all these things, to have learned to look at the space between the lines, the space between the letters etc. To have learned to judge, to train your eye in seeing what is wrong and what is correct. But then what I learned here at the Rietveld is that it’s also okay if you do it different.

It’s just important that you know what you are doing, that you do it on purpose, deliberately. That you are aware of what you’re doing, and that you do it through the whole text. Consequent.

OORSPRONG Over eerste woorden Celine Wouters

De informatie voor mijn woorden~ project heb ik uit~eindelijk uit ‘The Oxford Dictionary’ gehaald. Ik heb woord~en uit~gekozen, hele simpele Engelse woorden zo~als ‘atom’ en ‘sex’, woorden uit het eerste woorden~boek. Ik heb gekeken welke woorden erom~heen zijn ontstaan en wanneer. Dan krijg je de geschiedenis van die woorden, maar je krijgt natuur~lijk ook een geschiedenis van de wereld. Het is zo ‘niks’, of zo mini~maal, maar het zegt toch veel, de woorden zijn beladen. Dit is waar ik geëindigd ben, maar eigen~lijk zit er een heel verhaal achter. Als ik al de boeken die ik hier~voor heb gelezen bij elkaar zie, denk ik ook: ‘Poeh, wat veel’. In de bieb (de Uni~vers~iteits Biblio~ theek) kwam ik zoveel tegen, dat ik op een gegeven moment niet eens meer echt op zoek was. Ik was misschien wel op zoek, maar niet naar iets specifieks, ik vond het gewoon interessant om daar rond te lopen en te kijken wat voor een boeken er alle~maal zijn, waar mensen mee bezig zijn Hele~maal in het begin, de eerste paar weken, heb ik het boek ‘The art~ificial language move~ment’ gelezen. Ik was al eerder met de kunst~matige taal Esperanto bezig geweest. Dit boek ging over andere art~ificiële talen, bedacht vóór het Esperanto, rond zeven~tien~ honderd. Verschillende mensen hebben talen verzonnen die echt bedoeld waren als officiële wereld~talen. Ze hadden hierbij als een soort regel dat de taal nooit gebaseerd mocht worden op een bestaande taal. Dus baseerde ze hun talen op filo~sofie of zelfs op wis~kunde. Sommige mensen waren ook wis~kundige. Die hebben talen bijna op een wis~kundige manier proberen op te lossen. Eén iemand had het hele woorden~boek genummerd en was met die nummers aan de slag gegaan. Dan had je cijfers, maar als je die aan elkaar verbond kreeg je weer andere woorden, heel in~gewikkeld. Twee keer drie, dan had je zes, en dat kwam weer uit bij het goede woord en dat kon je ook weer delen. Er moesten ook klanken uit~komen natuur~lijk, dus dan had hij ieder cijfer weer een bepaalde klank gegeven. Uit~einde~lijk kwam hij er niet meer uit. Het moest alle~maal heel simpel zijn, maar wel zo dat de taal alle nodige woorden omvatte. Iedereen probeerde het zo een~ voudig mogelijk te maken, maar uit~einde~lijk werd het zo on~ logisch en in~gewikkeld. Er zat ook een soort ideaal achter: als we die taal hebben, die uni~versele taal, dan zijn we weer samen. Ze geloofden in het verhaal van de toren van Babel, dat er zo’n ideale taal was geweest. Als we dat konden bereiken, dan was de wereld weer in

vrede. Dan was alles compleet. Ik denk dat ‘Mijn Derde Spaansch Boekje’ daarna is gekomen. Het is een leer~boekje van mijn oma, wat zij op de basis~school moest leren. Wij hadden een heel ander soort boek voor Frans. Ik vind het interessant wat mensen als eerste woorden leren, waar ze mee beginnen en waar~om. Soms zijn het hele rare woorden. Wij moesten echt van die Suske en Wiske dingen leren, heel vrolijk en kinder~lijk, met woorden als ‘krokodil’, ‘tafels, ‘mannen’, en ‘pop’, terwijl zij zinnen moesten leren als: ‘Ik zal trouw zijn’, ‘Ik zal stand~vastig zijn’, ‘Ik zal dapper zijn’. Dat zijn dan de eerste dingen die je moet leren in een vreemde taal, het lijkt bijna wel alsof je wordt opgevoed in plaats van dat je een taal leert. Ik was benieuwd naar hoe je helemaal begint met het leren van een taal, met welke woorden en waar die woorden op gebaseerd zijn. ‘A is een aapje, dat eet uit zijn poot’ was een boekje van mijn vader om het alfa~bet te leren. Waarom kiezen ze ‘aapje’ en niet ‘ananas’? Het ging me om de oorsprong van taal. Wat zijn de basis~woorden van een taal? En hoe ontstaan er nieuwe woorden in de loop der tijd? Er zijn complete woorden~boeken die bestaan uit de nieuwe woorden van een bepaalde tijd. Het is niet zo dat als je zo’n boek koopt, je het naast je woordenboek kan zetten en dan een vervolg hebt op je woordenboek. Het is meer zo’n soort speciale uit~gave. Ik denk dat het om de zoveel jaar gebeurt, als er weer een nieuw woorden~boek wordt uit~gegeven. Als een soort extra uit~gave. In het Duits hadden ze op inter~net hele lijsten waarin ze bijna precies konden vermelden welke dag het was dat een bepaald woord voor het eerst gebruikt werd. Die exact~heid en compleet~heid vind ik mooi. De andere boeken zijn vaak veel minder volledig, dan worden er van één jaar maar tien nieuwe woorden gegeven, terwijl er wel zes~duizend zijn bij gekomen. Op de een of andere manier wil ik een soort volledig~heid hebben. Ik wil uitgaan van een boek waarin al die woorden staan, dan kan ik zelf nog een selectie maken, anders is het al zo beperkt. Maar dit heb je alleen maar van het Duits, in het Duits hebben ze op de een of andere manier veel meer van dat soort dingen. Ik wilde toen eigenlijk verschillende talen met elkaar vergelijken. Bij~voor~beeld een datum uitkiezen, zoals 9-11 en kijken welke nieuwe woorden er zijn bijgekomen vanaf die datum, in het Duits, Engels, Nederlands, Spaans etc. Maar je kan dit soort woorden nooit zo precies per taal vinden. Al die talen kan je ook nooit omvatten. Ik dacht: Engels is de taal hier op school en ook een soort wereld~taal, daar ga ik me op concentreren. Ik wilde in kaart gaan brengen hoe en waar het Engels is begonnen, vanaf het begin van de historie van het Engels, ook met welke woorden het is begonnen, dus telkens een woord laten zien uit een bepaalde eeuw. Toen ben ik ‘The meta~morfoses of English. Versions

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THE WORDS BEHIND THE WORKS

of other languages’ gaan lezen. Het begon met 1500, toen het eerste officiële woorden~boek is gemaakt. Toen werd Engels alleen nog in Engeland gesproken. In 1600 kwamen de kolonies erbij, later Amerika etc.. Dat heb ik in kaart gebracht met een filmpje. Maar daarna dacht ik: ‘Dit kan helemaal niet, want dan moet ik eerst heel die geschiedenis kennen. Over hoe het precies in de kolonies ging, waar de taal echt werd gesproken etc.’ Ik had inmiddels zoveel kleine, losse dingen gevonden, over de geschiedenis van het Engels, hoe zo’n taal groeit, waar die woorden vandaan komen. En ik was tussen~door ook nog afgedwaald naar rijm~woorden~boeken, boeken met leen~woorden, boeken over zogenaamde ‘valse vrienden’, over taal in de journal~istiek, over vertaal~machines, spreek~woorden, reclame~taal, etc. Zoveel dingen, en ik kon ze niet allemaal laten zien. Op een gegeven moment ben ik maar gestopt met zoeken. Ik dacht: ‘Ik ga niet meer naar de bieb’. Anders heb je zoveel en weet je niet meer wat je ermee moet doen. Ik wilde niet een soort reader maken waarin alle soort informatie stond die ik had gevonden. Niet iets van: ‘Dit is de informatie’ en ‘Ik ben naar de bieb geweest en ik heb een nieuwe selectie gemaakt’. Die boeken bestaan al, dus ik zie niet in waarom ik ze bij elkaar moet zoeken. Ik wilde iets doen met mijn blik hierop, mijn visie, in plaats van dat letterlijk kopiëren. Uiteindelijk is het toch wel zinnig geweest, al die boeken, al dat verdwalen. Ik was hier niet op gekomen, denk ik, als ik al die boeken niet had gebruikt.

LIST On a wordlist Jens Schildt

I just started collecting words I thought were connected with graphic design somehow — I went from A till Z in the dictionary and I also listened to what words were used in the discussions at school — approach is a very common word for

example and abstract and association also — I didnt have a system to pick out the words — but it is words that I think are connected — I made categories for all the words — that is how the structure of the whole book was made — as a graphic designer

I can — I can be — I can do and I can have — I also made sentences with them — the wordlist is really dry but these sentences make it a bit more alive — sentences like I can be well-read on a certain subject — I can visualize my ideas — I can mix different typefaces — and I can bother people with my opinions — for the X the Y and the Z I could not find so many words of course — the X is xylophone that was an instrument so I had to add it — and x-ray like in — I can do an x-ray — the Y

was just one word in the category I can do — I can do yearly trips to places I have never been — for the Z I had I can zap I can zoom and I can do zigzag-typography — it became my personal view on it what I think graphic design is and also what I think graphic design can be — it became proposals of what it can also be — I can do something else than these regular posters — maybe you can find words that suggest another direction — it is also to give inspiration — I realize now when I do this book again for the whole Rietveld it has to

be a bit more general — the words are still pretty good as a general list of words for an art-student — I just have to take away some specific graphic design words like agency and a sentence like — I can have an elastic band to bind a book with — is not working anymore — I will take away some words and add some — I will go through another dictionary this time — the online Oxford dictionary — I look at the words and if I

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THE WORDS BEHIND THE WORKS

do not connect them at once they will not be part of the list — it is not about showing off with fancy words it is just a matter of making connections — for instance maybe abracadabra — a word said by conjurers when performing a magic trick — I would pick — yes that could be art — the word things is not in the list yet but now it has to be — I can do things — that is general enough

CRITICISM On science fiction Assaf Bezalel

It’s a series of books written by a Russian author called Isaac Asimov. He started to write this series in the fifties. He’s a chemist and his novels are based on real science. This specific series of books, the Foundation series, is about a mathematician who developed a way to foresee the future in a mathematical way, which is based on a real mathematical theory. Of course it’s a theory, but Asimov made it into a real thing. In short, the whole series is about how they make this kind of foundation, an institute. Its job is to foresee the future through this

mathematical principle and guard the galaxy. There are quite a lot of books in the series. He started writing it in the fifties and he finished in the eighties. You get the feeling in this book that he is criticizing the government and the organisations that human kind makes. There’s an emperor for example in here, it’s kind of a totalitarian government, which he is criticizing in a way. But there are no distinct links to our times. The whole book is going from this year into a thousand years into the future. He’s talking about a lot of emperors and leaders and people that work in consuls. So you do have a lot of criticism about governments, but it’s not as specific as for instance in Animal Farm from George Orwell, where you have specific criticism to the communist regime in Russia. There you have the pig Napoleon that is Trotski, but in these books there’s nothing like that. It’s trying to show that humankind is hectic and unpredictable, even though it is about predicting the future. It’s showing that many times it is impossible to predict things. A lot of times things are going wrong, not according to their plans, because the human spirit is something you cannot really grasp. I was kind of inspired by this book because I’m making a work about statistics; how today we use statistics in everyday life to try and see what will happen tomorrow: in economy, weather etc. I’m looking for a way to show the interesting part of statistics, not just to write figures. I want to show that it can really change how we live. It’s not just numbers. It’s actually something that is governing our life, without us knowing it even. For instance they say: ‘We know statistically that the economy is going down’, and then it goes down, because everybody is not buying shares, or not selling their shares. It’s kind of making the people feel something so it will really happen. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. That’s also something Asimov is talking about; maybe half of the things that are happening in this book are actually because the people know, so you don’t know if you really predict the future, or you give some kind of hint that it will happen. I think today the media is doing things like that already: giving the people hints about all kinds of information, be it the war in Iraq or economy, politics, it doesn’t matter. To make people already believe in something, so maybe then when it happens people are already used to it. In general I like science fiction a lot. Science fiction is a very old thing actually. If you take Jules Verne for example, which everybody knows I think, you can admire the power of science fiction. He wrote about a lot of things that at that time were not there, or did not happen, and not so long after all this things happened. That’s one thing I admire in science fiction. A lot of times the things that are happening are coming from the imagination of peope. Why did we get to the moon? Maybe if Jules Verne never have written From the Earth to the Moon, we would never have thought about it even. I doubt it, but still… Or Twenty thousand Leagues under the Sea also, maybe there would not be submarines, and so forth. The other reason why I like science fiction is because of its criticism about society. In science fiction it ‘s very easy to criticize certain aspects of humanity, because there we can go into the extreme. It’s not supposed to be real, but at the same time we can criticize things that are real for now. You can take certain subjects of today and think how it will be in ten years and then criticize actually the times of today with the future of it.

DAILY About papers and magazines Risto Kalmre

These are regular papers THAT ARE published in Estonia. I probably wouldn’t read them in Estonia, because it’s so normal there. Here I could read them online, but I don’t do it. But since my father sends me all these kinds of newspapers –– I didn’t even ask, but he just sends me –– I read them. He works at this big newspaper called ‘Postimees’ (Postman), he used to be a chief editor and now he’s kind of a strange thing; half in design, but also in this kind of directing. It’s the biggest newspaper in Estonia, but then again it owns all these little newspapers and magazines, it’s a big co-operation. He just sends me all these papers all the time. I think he wants me to be aware what’s going on there. I’m not saying that I don’t care, obviously I care, but I don’t care that much, I don’t have time for it basically, but he sends me all this stuff and then I have it on my table. It’s so comfortable to read Estonian for a change, that’s why I read it when I have breakfast or something. He sends me HIS OWN paper, but also other, random things. The funny thing is –– the design is horrible, you have to accept that –– this newspaper, the ‘Tartu Postimees’, is from Tartu, the city where I was born. It’s an insert, a little newspaper in a big newspaper. This is like super local stuff. I’m reading what’s going on in the university, what’s going to be the new street or something. It’s just so funny to read this kind of thing. It doesn’t have anything to do with my work, it’s more like a break from everything else. He also always sends me THIS weekly paper, it’s a cultural addition to this daily paper, he never sends me the outer bit. That’s also something from parents, or what other people think you’re interested in. He kind of figured out maybe that I’m interested in this, that I read this more than other things. He also sends me THIS one, the ‘Eesti Päevaleht’ (Estonian daily newspaper), which is actually in competition with the other one, it’s the second biggest daily newspaper. I have a strange connection to that one, actually I have more a connection with that one, because I did a magazine that they sponsored. They paid for everything and they didn’t want anything for it, they only dealt with the ads, they weren’t even mentioned, maybe very small in the colophon. I started it in 2003 LIKE three years ago, before I studied graphic design. I obviously developed and when I look back at it, some issues look terrible for me now, but the concept or whatever is still there and it still has potential. It was quite a proper thing, full colour, 80 pages, 3000 copies. It’s called ‘Sahtel’ (Drawer). I did it together with some friends. The starting point was because I rode BMX bikes (a special kind of bicycles with small wheels) and one of my friends skateboarded. Here of course, in bigger places and countries, you can do very specific magazines, about one thing, but since Estonia is so small we just did one together and that worked really nicely. We were kind of in charge of how the magazine looked like, and there was two photographers, also my friends. It was more like a friends-project. That’s what it was and then of course we asked a lot of contributions text wise. We didn’t only write ABOUT skateboarding and bikes, we wrote about many things there, about music, art and design. It was about what interested us, so it’s connected for us, but maybe not necessarily for other people. We did interviews with bands and with music groups that we knew, or we knew people who knew them. That was actually quite nice because we ended up doing interviews with people who really weren’t known anywhere, but then they actually became known a month later or so. So we kind of

introduced them, and then later the bigger magazines and papers had interviews with them. Of course it’s way easier TO DO a really known magazine in Estonia, because there isn’t so much going on, but in a way it became quite established after a while. It’s still published, but I’m not so much connected anymore, I’m still in a way publisher, but I’m not doing anything for a while now. It’s nice to make a magazine IN A self-learned way. Since you don’t have knowledge of some things, quite nice things actually come out of it. You don’t really care about the rules, because you actually don’t know them. But of course you can do it here now as well, when you know about the rules you can also ignore them. After doing this magazine FOR SUCH a different context and really like a self-learned thing, it was quite nice to do GRAy magazine (Risto did the Gerrit Rietveld Academie magazine together with Clare and Lane). I think THE THINGS I’m interested in are mostly connected to the really contemporary things, things that are published now, with which you can get an insight of what happens now. Like blogs, they kind of disappear in this big net thing, of course the content will be there, but if you don’t read it, you can’t find it anymore. It’s even more the case with newspapers, of course you can go to an archive, but you only do that when you look for something specific. Normally I don’t deal with things like that, I don’t search for anything specific or read a book from A to Z, I just pick things that are nice.

for, and you immediately go to the nature part, or the design part. You don’t really wander around, or at least in my case. I don’t give the other subjects a chance at all, I immediately walk to one corner. I like that it’s mixed in a second-hand shop, or flea market. Then you can find a lot of things by accident, things you never thought about. These accidents are a nice affect. I’m not this kind of person who’s reading a lot, my interests are not really in books. So for me books are more things I find in between other stuff. I have to find it by accident or somebody has to tell me about it. What a person tells me about the books has to take my interest, then I will go to a bookshop, otherwise not. In the normal bookshop you can buy a book for around twenty euro. But 99 percent of most of the books is not completely good, not every page is really fantastic. So there’s one article, or one picture that is great. In the second-hand shop you can find a book with one article you really like and the rest you don’t like at all, you don’t care because it’s only fifty cents. In a regular shop you would never do that. I actually like magazines more than books. If you for instance compare books about graphic design with magazines about graphic design, then I would always choose for the magazines, like: Frame and Wallpaper, all these kinds of magazines. They deal with more subjects, they are richer. I lately discovered ELLE Wonen, about the arrangement of your house. You see pictures of rooms with interviews. The interview is about why they choose to design this room like this. I like the way of showing things in this magazine. To look at these arranged rooms is inspiring for my project (Robin is making the end exam exhibition for graphic design). And it’s also inspiring on the technical side. There’s no explanation of how they did things, but you just see pictures, and there you can see exactly how they did it.

USEFUL On second-hand books Robin Gadde

It’s called Kreatief zijn thuis. I found it in the Juttersdok, a second-hand shop. I’m going quite often there, just to look, to hang out, not knowing if I will come out with a book. I cannot explain so well why I like a book, I just have to see it and then I like it, maybe it’s a strange picture, maybe it’s a strange construction, maybe it’s a strange material. But not really because this guy did an amazing, fantastic job in typography for example. I’m more interested in the content. When I saw this book I thought: ‘Many subjects that you maybe can use’. There are a lot of different techniques in here (biezentrekken, pottenbakken, pijpen maken, plastic buisconstructies, schuimplastic meubilair etc.). It’s always nice to have some construction books, I would say. The second thing I was thinking was: ‘How much is it?’ And then I looked: ‘Okay 50 cents, nothing wrong’, and then I took it. It almost looks awful, but I like it. It’s from the seventies, and actually a lot of books I have are from the seventies. I once found a box of books from the library that was completely about wood work, so I took it home. These were all old books, so this is why I have so many books from the seventies. Most of these books are quite creative, they’re not so much designed, they’re just useful. That’s what I like about them. And they’re not meant to be a joke, it’s serious. I also use ideas from these kinds of books. Me and my girlfriend made out of pipes a kind of thing where you can hang your clothes, so we worked with this pipes idea, which is nice because it’s not expensive to do. At the second-hand shop you also have to discover the shop yourself, it’s not as organized as a professional bookshop. There they have ordered the books according to specific subjects. You immediately know which kind of book you’re looking

ABSTRACT On fanzines Matthias Kreutzer

I don’t buy fanzines so often anymore, but that’s somehow how I came to like printed stuff. Fanzines were the first printed matter that was really close to me. Then it was more about the things that were written in it and not so much how they looked like. It was all connected to music, they were mostly filled with reviews of concerts and interviews and some of them were also full of little jokes about politics, small crappy cartoons or also these really angry articles. I always liked this when I was sixteen or seventeen, because I’ve been pissed about things and there I could find that back. In Germany I have a whole collection, here I don’t have any. There’s one fanzine from Amsterdam, RE/fuse, that some friends of mine are doing, that’s the only one that I sometimes have here. It’s not such a ‘real’ fanzine. It has the form of a newspaper, it’s really properly designed and somehow there’s this clash between the content and the form that doesn’t work for me. Obviously they have a designer involved, and then you have some articles which are written by non-professionals, they’re quite crappy, which is nice, but together with the form it

doesn’t feel right. The ones that I was reading before were mostly these copyand-paste-put-together kind of fanzines. There was one called Plot, which was my favourite. I always used to buy or order it, mostly at concerts. That’s the way they were distributed: they were released in small editions, like a hundred or two hundred, and then there were people who had so-called ‘distros’ at concerts; they ordered records from small labels, always one for themselves and then five more, and the same with all kinds of stuff, like t-shirts and fanzines. Plot was a German fanzine, which was connected to one of the oldest German punk labels: X-mist records. They were in the eighties in Germany one of the earliest labels releasing punk records. They still exist and they always tried to release things that weren’t popular. People from the label were also involved in the fanzine. Of course they were writing about bands from the label, but there wasn’t an obvious connection. That’s also something that I like about fanzines: that it is really about the music, and not so much about a purpose like selling something. I guess a fanzine is something people do because they’re really interested in some things and they want to spend their time with that. For instance going to lots of shows every weekend and seeing bands and writing reviews of these shows. That was always a big part of Plot, like 6 or 7 pages. But it wasn’t divided in different concerts or different bands, it was more a long story of a couple of months where one person wrote the story of going to shows. And then quite small parts were actually about the concerts themselves. It was showing the music connected to life, to things you do and not only focusing on a band playing. It was also a kind of a cynical, or rather ironical fanzine. In the way they used language, the way they wrote. That’s maybe somehow how it influenced my work. Not that I’m such an ironical person. It’s difficult to explain, it of course also has to do with a political attitude. I think when you talk about something you don’t agree with, you don’t analyze it and make it really understandable for other people, but you comment on it in a way that maybe some people wouldn’t understand because they don’t talk a certain kind of language. That’s also something I’m sometimes a bit trapped with. For instance with the Yogurt Release (Matthias made an antiyogurt fanzine as part of a recipe book) I really didn’t care if what I was doing was reaching the people I gave it to. It was a little bit cryptic, because it was somehow all built on things I believe

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in. That’s also the case with a lot of fanzines; they are quite abstract. If you access them that means you’re already within a certain circle of people and there are already a lot of things that don’t have to be explained. That I find quite interesting; these publications that are addressing a certain group of people. Then the language, or the way things are shown, is really different from for instance a magazine, which is addressing a big group of people. They want basically everybody to be able to read and understand what they’re writing, so they always have to be really clear. Fanzines often use a coded way of saying things. I don’t think it’s necessary to always talk a clear language. That’s also something we work with in school; we try to make things that are subtle, not really obvious. But still I think you also have to work out such a way of communication. Also this Yogurt Release is really closed up, it is hard to access for a lot of people, which is ok, but that’s not what I always want to do. I would like to work in such a way, but I want to improve it, to also give openings to other people. I think that was very often the problem of these people doing fanzines. At a certain point you felt: ‘It’s really not open-minded anymore.’ Plot for instance turned at a certain point into a fanzine that was only whining and complaining about things. They got a lot of criticism about what they wrote, because they were really harsh and that was also one reason why they at a certain point stopped the zine. They started really small, then they grew to quite a thick publication, offset printed with a real cover, and then at a certain point they reconsidered. I don’t remember exactly anymore, but at a certain point they said: ‘We want to boil down the things we talk about’. All of a sudden they released an issue which was again photocopied A-4, and it only had 5 or 6 pages. And on the cover there was a star, and in the star was written: ‘Finally again with a star on the cover.’ This shows what happened to the whole fanzine: it was totally boiled down and ate itself. After that they did one other photocopied issue and then they stopped. In these two issues they were only talking about the thing itself; explaining how they came to the point that it all of a sudden didn’t make any sense anymore to write concert reviews etc. I think it’s the drive that is behind running a fanzine which I also somehow feel with the things I’m doing. I always consider: ‘This is something I do for myself’. I try to bring something across, not necessarily personal believes I have, but for instance if I have material which I work

THE WORDS BEHIND THE WORKS

with, like a text I get – for instance for the reader for the Public Space (Public Space With a Roof is an art space Matthias does work for, together with Selina and Paul), I want to find something valuable to communicate in it, something that gives me a reason to do it. Another thing in this whole world of fanzines and music that I like is that very often when there was a 7-inch record released, you had all kinds of papers in the sleeve of the record. It wasn’t like this one strong object, but it was something where in all the parts there was something nice. This influenced me: I don’t think something has to be strong in one specific sense. I believe something can have lots of different parts that all come together at a certain point. There is actually one note which I always carry around with me, for since ten years already. It’s a little note, which says: ‘Can you learn to live with the question?’ It has something to do with what I said before, with this abstract thing, it doesn’t tell you so much, but for some reason I really like it. It’s just a piece of paper with that sentence on it, really not more. And then I wonder: why did he put that in this record, this guy? That’s what I like: it makes me think about it.

TRIGGERS On RSS feed Peter Ström

There is this special kind of way to subscribe to website’s newsfeed, which means as soon as there is something new you get a message. This is called RSS (Really Simple Syndication). It of course makes it so easy to just add new websites to it. It’s so easy to do and you want to see ‘Oh, what is going on there’. So I have now 137 different websites that I subscribe to, I always have like 308 unread messages. Some days I don’t read it at all, some days I go through some of them. I guess quite a lot of things that I’m interested in are published in this kind of way, RSS enables me to see what has been going on. I never visit websites frequently. If I can’t put them in here, if they don’t have the RSS feed, then I don’t read them. Sometimes you can read the whole thing simply in here, through the RSS, but for example if there are other comments, you can’t read it in here, then you go to the website. And sometimes it just gives a more condensed version, only one line from the article and you have to go to the website to read the article. Then it works like a trigger. That’s good, because in this one sentence you can see if you’re interested. I’m spending so much time with the computer that I have to organize all this. This is the structure of the whole, my sections. News När had man tid över (When I have extra time) Peter Ström Konst & Teknik Nyheter (News) Data/Mac Grafisk Design Digital Konst Typografi Blandat (Mixed)

Pluxemburg Design, Data & Kunst Musik News Instrument Skivbolag (Record labels) Podcasts Personer (People) Mp3blogs. Blandat (Mixed) Delicious Personer Kompisar (Friends) Icke Kompisar (Not-friends) Kul (Fun) Blandat (A mixed folder in the mixed folder). I read for instance a lot about musical equipment. It’s strange, it doesn’t have to do so much with graphic design, but I just find it very interesting. In the music folder I have ‘instruments’, there I have all these different things from sites that talk about instruments and equipment. When you see that it is updated you go to the website. ‘Simply astonishing casio c k 1 mot’ This one is about circuits bending, that’s basically when you take old electronic equipment apart to use the parts to make new things. There is such a big thing going on; people take whatever to get new sounds, it could be anything, any electrical device, like a tape recorder or a mixer. I saw a performance a while ago with a kind of doll, there was a voice coming from it when you would turn it. They just remade it so that it made this crazy sound. I really like these kinds of technical sites, because I have no idea how they make this technical stuff, I could never do these things. I like that people are spending so much time on these things, there are fairs going on, it’s a whole world. News This is not really something for me, it’s because I do this project with Jonathan about news (Jonathan and Peter made a newspaper about online news). När had man tid över This is called: ‘When I have extra time’, it’s basically things that I don’t really need, but that could be nice. There’s ‘I love music’, an American online forum about music, but it’s about any type of music, meaning that you also have to find your way through. It’s very chatty, but sometimes you can find nice things there, although I can never have the time to go through all this. In this folder I also have this one website where you post links basically, just nice links from people. But I never need this one either. So there is not much to be there. And I have 99music, a Swedish online forum for producers of music, it’s really good, it’s the only production forum that I’m interested in actually, I make a little bit of music myself, so sometimes I go there for real questions and real answers. Here you also have to find your way, sometimes it’s about music you have no relation to, but I found a way to search for what I want. Peter Ström I also have a folder with my name, it’s a lot of things that have to do with me. This one is very geeky, it updates every time my laptop is in a new place. But it’s also if someone puts a picture on ‘Flicker’, if someone ads a tag with my name in it, then I get a message. I have friends who put all their pictures there, so there are some pictures there with my name, or quite a lot. And it’s mostly old

11

THE WORDS BEHIND THE WORKS

pictures, of which I’m kind of embarrassed, so I want to make sure that if something ends up there I know about it. So I can also tell them to just remove it. Konst and Technik Art and Technology is a name I’m using with a friend of mine for when in the future we will make great work together. We heard that design comes from when they needed something that explains thing that are in between art and technology. We liked that. We liked to use the word ‘konst’ and ‘technik’ in one name, because we don’t do one or the other but, we feel closely related to both things. And also I like to have a name in Swedish, because we’re Swedish, although you can understand both words if you know German or Dutch, or even English. Somehow I’m very interesting in adding some Swedish thing to what I’m doing. I can’t put words on what that means, but there’s something Swedish in what I do. In this folder I have things for in the future. My friend and I have some systems to gather things we’re working on. We have a flickr-account with pictures and we started making a kind of manifesto, to give an idea of how we see what we’re doing. It’s on a website, so we can update it, both of us. And therefore it’s here, to see if he updated it. When you read shorter versions of text, you just base your opinion on this short piece, or on the picture sometimes, because it’s so much to read. Now, when I open this up I have 300 unread things and I can’t spend more than a very tiny second on each one. It’s a different way or reading. It’s not like sitting down.

SONGS On music Ian Brown

Sometimes when you put on some music, you feel connected to a certain kind of people. I think each music genre can be tied to a certain ideology, or mind thought and then to a whole society. It’s strange, a lot of graphic designers say this, but I find it true that when you listen to a certain kind of music, it influences your way of working. Sometimes I like to listen to electronic music, the kind of music where you take little bits, fragments of things and you very carefully put them together and make sure you realize which parts go back and which parts come forward. I like to listen to this, because it works a bit in the same way as graphic design, and also because often it’s quite repetitive, so you can sort of take it if you want. Sometimes when I’m listening to jazz, I find it difficult to do something. When I have to do

something ordered and structured, the design starts to become free, while in the making I didn’t even realize that the music influenced me that much.

base player here to play this’, and then he gets him in and puts him in a booth and just records that. And then he can do whatever he wants with it.

Bach is also really good to listen to when making graphic design. It’s proving how beautiful it can be if you choose the right mathematics, it’s about the harmonies that are inherent in mathematics. The thing with Bach is that he works with counterpoints. You have one element and then you repeat it, but then you overlap it just a little bit, in a different colour or whatever. So you get different voices that are talking to each other and that are answering each other. He’s the master of that.

This process is much closer to graphic design in the sense that it’s about choosing and bringing things forward and pulling things back, and also about collecting. The whole thing with samples, with collecting and cutting up and re-collaging and putting out again.

There’s not so much text involved in Bach maybe, but you can still call it very lyrical. It’s strange, music has it’s own personality in a way, a song is like a little being, it has a personality and it can talk to you, even though it doesn’t have a text maybe. A lot of people say music is time-based, like it has a beat and it goes on and on. But to me it’s more about space. It’s really physical somehow. It fills you up when you turn music on. And it also fills the room, and if the door is open it also fills the room next to it. I don’t understand how, but I think music is really tangible. The best manifestation of that is dancing, there’s nothing there, but it just makes you move and sweat. Sometimes the music is really stronger than the visual for me. There are a lot of people that do both. That’s also maybe a strange thing, There are a lot of graphic designers that also make music. There’s a lot of dj’s that we know, and then there’re also a lot of guys that produce music. It seems that music nowadays is very production oriented. Before when you made music you had a band and you made songs, where now there are tons of sorts of music that are production oriented, that are made either in a computer or in a studio. Where a guy says: ‘Okay, I need one

There are a lot of producers that don’t play any instruments. That’s maybe what I would have become if I had gotten into music. The role of the producer is very much like that of a graphic designer. You can hear what’s needed, or which way it should go. You have to know a little bit about everything. You’re the one that is between the public and the artist in a way. This project with the posters (Selina and Ian made the poster and invitations for the end-exam show), the way we are distributing them, designing them, what we choose as the formats, is directly being influenced by this new kind of production, where you take samples from music. We found that song titles can really be used as slogans. When they get taken away from the music they become a little abstract and they get this other kind of power, another kind of quality somehow. We’re just picking song titles that can be used for the end exam. It’s sort of a random slogan generator. It also has to do with the fact that within music there’s also this individuality, the whole picture of singles and tracks. A lot of record labels just put out one single first. It’s like looking at a record as a whole group of singles. Like the end exam: a whole group of single persons.

POETRY On analyzing language Hilde Meeus

(1a) It’s called Algemene Nederlandse Spraakkunst, it’s two parts, two very thick and heavy books. (1b) To be honest I don’t look at them everyday, they are normally in my bookcase serving as holders for the other books. (1c) I would never have bought them just for myself; I had to buy them for my studies (Dutch at the university). (2a) The first book is about the word; it’s looking at words as loose parts and classifying them. (2b) The second is about the sentence and it’s looking at groups of words, what function they have in the sentence. (2c) I like the basic character of them, the dryness. (2d) There’s for example a paragraph that is called: ‘The word, general introduction’, where they say: ‘A word can be defined as a minimal linguistic entity that can appear independent in a bigger whole, for example a sentence.’ (2e) I like the fact that they try to define what is a word. (3a) Sometimes the language around it, the language to describe the language, can become really complicated. (3b) It’s in a way language that you don’t normally meet in the streets, like: ‘Het imperfectum en het plusquamperfectum en hun pendanten in een conditionele zin’ (The imperfectum and the plusquamperfectum and their pendants in a conditional sentence). (3c) And then the sentence they give as an example is shorter than the description: ‘Als ik jou was, deed ik het’ (If I were you, I would do it). (4a) It’s not very normative; it’s mainly trying to describe something that is already there. (4b) It makes you think about how you use language, you normally don’t think about it, it’s a natural thing, but here it’s so much zoomed in and trying to analyze it, that it suddenly makes you more awake. (4c) I like this moment when you wake up. (5a) So I like to really go into it, as I had to do when I was studying it. (5b) But now, because I’m not so close to this world anymore, I can read it in a different way. (5c) And I also can look at how they use typography, this whole scientific way of treating text; all these paragraphs and sub sub subparagraphs, all the little numbers next to the text. (5d) They use a lot of little dashes, brackets and other symbols, for instance to describe that something is left out, or that this word has this and this functions. (5e) You need a certain kind of typography for that, which in a way becomes ridiculous if you don’t get into it. (5f) If you view it from the outside it looks really strange, you don’t see that in a newspaper, or a magazine. (5g) It’s not meant to be read fluently, it’s meant to make you look at the language, that’s a difference. (5h) Certain words are, for instance, suddenly italic, to make clear that they are from one category. (6a) They also make whole schemes in which they cut up sentences. (6b) That makes you read a sentence like: ‘De jongen die we verwacht hadden / is / toch niet / komen opdagen / gisteren / de sufferd /.’ (the boy we expected / didn’t come / after all / the loser).

(6c) This guides you into a special kind of reading, normally you read a sentence from beginning to end, but here you read it in pieces. (7a) Through this scientific way of dealing with things you can get some kind of poetry. (7b) You get this strange little list of words. So for instance here you have a few verbs in a little row: ‘gaan, vergeten, verliezen, volgen’ (to go, to forget, to lose, to follow). (7c) I like that these words are just there. (7d) They are not placed there for their meaning and they’re not meant as poetry, they’re only there to give an example of something, for instance here as an example for ‘het gebruik van hebben en zijn bij enkele afzonderlijke werkwoorden’ (the use of to have and to be in combination with a few separate verbs). (7e) But then they also have meaning. (7f) I like to read it in a different way than you’re supposed to. (7g) You feel there is a certain connection when you read little lists like these, even when you don’t completely understand them. (8a) In general I like the way these books make me look at a text. (8b) For instance I immediately see all the ‘lidwoorden’ (articles), all the ‘de, het, een’ (the, a, an) in a text. (8c) I like to look at specific pieces of a text, and to also identify with certain words. (8d) This maybe sounds a bit strange, but for instance these small articles; the fact that they don’t have meaning themselves, that they’re there to support others, to classify the other words, that makes me like them. (8e) To look at language as something where every little thing has it’s own function, and to sometimes identify with one of them, or with the other, really seeing the words as persons almost.

12

THE WORDS BEHIND THE WORKS Sources (discussed and others)

Rebecca Stephany

Naama Iron

LEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS – THE FORGOTTEN SYMBOLISM OF ARCHITECTURAL FORM Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, Steven Izenour (1972/1977)

MORF – TIJDSCHRIFT VOOR VORMGEVING

DETAILTYPOGRAFIE – NACHSCHLAGEWERK FÜR ALLE FRAGEN ZU SCHRIFT UND SATZ Friedrich Forssman, Ralf de Jong (2004)

REALITY MACHINES – MIRRORING THE REAL IN CONTEMPORARY DUTCH ARCHITECTURE, PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN Linda Vlassenrood (2003)

HOW TO PLAN PRINT John Charles Tarr (1938)

272 PAGES Hans-Peter Feldmann (2001)

HYBRID ARCHITECTURE FOR MACHINE TRANSLATIONS Gregor Thurmair (2006) PROVERBS Jerzy Gluski (1989)

TRAVELS IN HYPER REALITY Umberto Eco (1991)

OLOGIES AND ISMS – A DICTIONARY OF WORD BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS Michael Quinion (2005)

BROOKLYN FOLLIES Paul Auster (2005)

THE METAMORPHOSES OF ENGLISH – VERSIONS OF OTHER LANGUAGES Richard M. Swiderski (1996)

ONE YEAR IN THE WILD Jeroen Boomgaard (2004) Jens Schildt

Clare Mc Nally THE CONCISE OXFORD DICTIONARY J. B. Sykes (ed.) (1987) POCKET REFERENCE THESAURUS IN A-Z FORM (1988) THE FLIER’S HANDBOOK – THE TRAVELLER’S COMPLETE GUIDE TO AIRPORTS, AIRCRAFT AND AIR TRAVEL Pan Books (1978) CONCISE ATLAS OF THE WORLD National Geographic (1997) THE KEY TO CHARACTER READING Andrew Abbott (1959)

Joseph Miceli

BASIC BANALITIES Raoul Vaneigem (1962–1963) TEACHING AS A SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITY Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner (1969) THE ART OF WAR Sun-tzu (500 BC)

SAVAGE CINEMA Rick Trader Witcombe (1975) LOVE FOR SALE – THE WORDS AND PICTURES OF BARBARA KRUGER Text by Kate Linker (1990) THE COMPLETE WORKS OF OSCAR FINGAL O’FLAHERTIE WILLS WILDE – STORIES/ PLAYS/ POEMS/ ESSAYS Introduced by Vyvyan Holland (1990) OPEN HERE – THE ART OF INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN Paul Mijksenaar / Piet Westendorp (1999)

Ingeborg Scheffers READER ABOUT DYSLEXIE Co m piled by Ingeborg Scheffers

Jonathan Puckey SCRIPT FOR A TOOL IN ILLUSTRATOR Jonathan Puckey

Vincent van de Waal ART OF MONEY GETTING P.T. Barnum (1880)

THE NEVERENDING STORY Michael Ende (1979) JANE EYRE Charlotte Brontë (1847)

ESPÈCES D’ESPACES Georges Perec (1974) WALDEN Henry David Thoreau (1854) NAUFRAGÉ VOLONTAIRE Alain Bombard (1958) AILLEURS Henri Michaux (1948) SURVEILLER ET PUNIR Michel Foucault (1975) THE BOOK OF ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS Anonymous (800)

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME Mark Haddon (2004)

Lane Kristensen IDÉBOGEN Dorte Nielsen (2001) BRYLLUPSBOGEN Aage Børglum og Erik Sommer (1962) DEN BLÅ PLANET Henning Knudsen (1972)

TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA Jules Verne (1870)

EESTI PAEVALEHT TARTU POSTIMEES

Robin Gadde

WALLPAPER* United Kingdom

Matthias Kreutzer RE/FUSE The Netherlands PLOT Nagold, Germany, X-mist records BLURR Düsseldorf, Germany MAXIMUM ROCK‘N ROLL Sanfransisco, USA

GRUNDLAGEN – TYPOGRAFIE TEIL 1 Richard Frick u.a. (1997)

HEARTATTACK Canada, Ebullition Records

SATZTECHNIEK – TYPOGRAFIE TEIL 2 Richard Frick u.a. (1997)

FLYING REVOLVERBLATT Dresden, Germany

AVOR TEXT, AVOR DTP – TYPOGRAFIE TEIL 3 Richard Frick u.a. (1997)

OX FANZINE Germany

BEAUTY AND THE BOOK – 60 YEARS OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SWISS BOOKS Robin Kinross (2004)

ZAP Germany

THE WORLD IS FLAT – A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY Thomas L. Friedman (2005) BUCHGESTALTUNG IN DER SCHWEIZ Jost Hochuli (1998) TATEETC – VISITING AND REVISITING ART ETCETERA Rachel MacRae (ed.)

ROSWITHA IS LOOKING FOR FREE DOM (R.I.L.F.F.) Hamburg, Germany REVOLUTION INSIDE TAPESHOW Germany PLASTIC BOMB – FACHZEITSCHRIFT FÜR PUNKER UND STRASSENKÖTER Duisburg, Germany

Peter Ström Celine Wouters http://ilx.wh3rd.net/ A IS EEN AAPJE, DAT EET UIT ZIJN POOT Auteur onbekend OXFORD ADVANCED LEARNER’S DICTIONARY Sally Wehmeier (ed.) (2005) NEW WORDS Orin Hargraves (2004) THE ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGE MOVEMENT Andrew Large (1985) MIJN DERDE SPAANSCH BOEKJE Fr.M. Gerontius (19xx) Eventail junior 1 W. Decoo e.a. ANALFABEET Stedelijk Bureau Amsterdam, no. 84 (2005)

HOW TO READ A PERSON LIKE A BOOK Gerard Nierenberg (1971) THE ELEMENTS OF TYPOGRAPHICAL STYLE Robert Bringhurst (1992) LETTERFONTEIN Geert Setola en Joep Pohlen (2001) MAAK THUIS UW EIGEN TEKST IN UW VRIJE TIJD ZONDER SCHROEVEN Bulkboek 31 (1975)

Graduation project Graphic Design Department Gerrit Rietveld Academie June 2006 Printed at: Dijkman Offset Thanks to: Linda van Deursen René Put Julia Born Clare Mc Nally Janna Meeus Paul Gangloff and all the interviewed students

ELLE WONEN The Netherlands

http://www.wikipedia.org/

Selina Bütler

DECONSTRUCTION AND CRITICISM Bloom, de Man, Derrida, Hartman, Miller (1979)

Interviews, editing and design: Hilde Meeus

HARRY POTTER – SERIES J. K. Rowling (vanaf 1997)

http://del.icio.us/

APPENDIX Ryan Gander (2003)

Colophon

FRAME MAGAZINE The Netherlands

Felix Kramer

ALGEMENE NEDERLANDSE SPRAAKKUNST W. Haeserijn e.a.(1997)

POSTIMEES

DE DA VINCI CODE Dan Brown (2003)

Timo Hofmeijer

BARTLEBY, THE SCRIVENER - A STORY OF WALL STREET Herman Melville (1853)

HTV - YOUR BIMONTHLY ARTS PAPER Amsterdam, The Netherlands

SAHTEL

KREATIEF ZIJN THUIS – BIEZENTREKKEN, PIJPEN MAKEN, PLASTIC BUIS CONSTRUCTIES ETC. Allan Davenport Bragdon (1976)

Marit Molenaar NEW YORK TRILOGY Paul Auster (1990)

ANIMAL FARM George orwell (1945)

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME Mark Haddon (2004)

http://www.stillfree.com/

L’INVENTION DU QUOTIDIEN Michel de Certeau (1990)

PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION Isaac Asimov (1988)

YOU SHALL KNOW OUR VELOCITY Dave Eggers (2002)

Paul Gangloff L’INFRA-ORDINAIRE Georges Perec (1989)

SECOND FOUNDATION Isaac Asimov (1953)

Risto Kalmre

THE ART OF THE DEAL Donald Trump (1988) http://www.unstoppableartists.com

Assaf Bezalel

http://vvvv.meso.net

Marriëlle Frederiks

NATURAL HISTORY Herzog and de Meuron (2002)

Hilde Meeus

FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON Jules Verne (1865)

Liron Ross

WAYS OF SEEING John Berger (1972)

ABC-BOOK Jens Schildt

COMMUNISTS LIKE US Felix Guattari, Antonio Negri (1984) LA SOCIETÀ DELLO SPETTACOLO Guy Debord (1956)

Ian Brown

http://www.de-bug.de/ http://musicthing.blogspot.com/ http://www.flickr.com/ http://www.generatorx.no/ http://www.r-echos.net/ http://www.nextnature.net/research/ http://www.mediamatic.net/ http://www.beigerecords.com/cory/ http://infosthetics.com/