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Championing creativity

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Work / Music

Jeff Desom and Hauschka

Words by Jez Burrows, Monday 29 June 2009

This is about as perfect a combination of musician and video you’re likely to find in a music video. Hauschka is a German experimental pianist, and this film for a track from last year’s beautiful, curious Ferndorf is by young Luxembourg director Jeff Desom.

Desom made it by animating found postcards, and photos from the U.S. Library of Congress. The result is an extremely poignant and intriguing little film.

www.hauschka-net.de

Most Recent

Unseen Amsterdam's artistic director on how its richest line-up yet inspires and informs 21 September 2018
Jackson Green’s design work explores the chasm that exists between statement and intent 21 September 2018
Why Materials Matter: Seetal Solanki's accessible proposal for the future of materials, designed by Our Place 21 September 2018
Friday Mixtape: Animator Steve Smith takes us from Kate Bush to Oneohtrix Point Never 21 September 2018
Tom Galle’s internet-based practice captures your attention in a few seconds, scrolling through your feed 21 September 2018
“Fear and desire for connection and the blocks to it”: artist Martine Syms on her exhibition Grand Calme 20 September 2018

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Work / Illustration Jerkcurb invites us into his world of noirish dystopia and mischief

As both musician and illustrator, South London-born and based Jerkcurb (AKA Jacob Read) frequently sees his disparate creative disciplines collide and inform one another, instilling in both a unified atmosphere of noirish dystopia.

Jamie Green — 12 August 2016
Features / Graphic Design The story of cult label Burger Records' visual identity, crazy work ethic and perma-teen vibes

Since emerging in primary colour-clad punk rock ideals and a cloud of marijuana smoke back in 2007, Burger Records is just about the hippest, goofiest, punkest and most democratic record label around. In true DIY stylings, the label was founded by two guys who just love rock ‘n’ roll and all its accoutrements – the people, the zines, the sleeves, the sofa-surfing buddy-dom – and to this day they do pretty much everything themselves.

Emily Gosling — 09 August 2016
Work / Music A sleepover with a bunch of strangers, thanks to Max Richter's eight-hour Sleep opus

Losing circulation in a very cold pond, an insanity workout in a gallery, dancing about in my pants for the sake of a reinterpreted Twin Peaks; I’ve done a lot of strange things in the name of art, but none as yet have made me as nervous as the prospect of a sleepover in a studio with ten strangers.

Emily Gosling — 21 April 2016
Features / Miscellaneous Kevin King on five years of Secret 7”: where graphic design, art and music meet

Over the last five years Secret 7” has become something of phenomenon. Combining music, art and design, the project has, as of 2016, produced 3,500 one-of-a-kind record sleeves for 35 musicians, raised well over £130,000 for charity, and in 2015 welcomed 22,000 people to the London exhibition. Last year also saw the two-day vinyl show extended to a month-long affair in Somerset House, a model that has carried over to this year, with Sonos Studios in Shoreditch playing host to the fifth edition of Secret 7”.

Alexander Hawkins — 14 April 2016
Work / Film Lernert & Sander create three-in-one music vid for Dutch band

In what is probably one of the more minimal music videos in recent years, the four members of Dutch band De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig stand in three repeated rows, wearing white, grey and black sweatshirts. Directed by Lernert & Sander, the pair behind the new Cos film, the back-to-basics video actually serves as three, and cleverly, you can click on different tabs to hear different tracks played over the same visuals. The effect is somewhat disorientating as you switch between songs, suddenly seeing the correlating row – either white, grey, or black – come into sharp focus. What could be seen as lazy or penny-pinching is actually executed so well, and so seamlessly, it makes you wonder why such resourcefulness isn’t used as inventively more often.

Alexander Hawkins — 10 November 2015
Work / Animation Ely Dagher’s hypnotic and erotic animated vignettes for Model 86’s EP (NSFW)

Numbers on the back of varsity jackets count down, tiny bodies walk across taut bellies, legs swing open and shut, heads roll back in ecstasy, and doppelgängers look between each other’s legs in surprise. These are just a few of the weird and wonderful animated vignettes that Ely Dagher has dreamed up to accompany a new EP from Manchester-born producer Matthew Wilcock aka Model 86. No strangers to fruitful collaboration, earlier this year Ely’s short animated film Waves ’98 scored by Model 86 went on to win a Palme D’Or at Cannes.

Alexander Hawkins — 27 August 2015

Work / Exhibition Unseen Amsterdam's artistic director on how its richest line-up yet inspires and informs

Without a doubt, Unseen Amsterdam is a highlight for any photography fanatic’s annual calendar. Whether you’re an iPhone snapper, a master of the disposable at festivals, or a fully-fledged “photophile” who never leaves home without your Hasselblad in tow, Unseen Amsterdam is sure to fit the bill. Exclusively focusing on what’s new in the photographic world, the three-day event provides a channel for up-and-coming talent to showcase their work.

Ruby Boddington — 21 September 2018
Work / Graphic Design Jackson Green’s design work explores the chasm that exists between statement and intent

New-York based graphic designer and type designer, Jackson Green mainly works with musical artists and clothing brands to create an effective “tone of voice” through his designs. His designs are bold and colourful, influenced by the futuristic ideas of Wim Crouwel which strive towards a sense of chronological ambiguity in the design’s make-up. Speaking to It’s Nice That, Jackson explains, “a huge part of my reason for design is to explore the Explanatory Gap”, a philosophical idea coined by Joseph Levine investigating how physical properties give rise to the way things feel when they are experienced.

Jyni Ong — 21 September 2018
Work / Publication Why Materials Matter: Seetal Solanki's accessible proposal for the future of materials, designed by Our Place

“Materials exist everywhere and make up our world, everything is made of something,” outlines founder and director of Ma-tt-er – and former It’s Nice That One to Watch – Seetal Solanki. A research design studio that explores the past, present and future of materials, last night (20 September) Seetal launched Ma-tt-er’s first book, Why Materials Matter, which questions what it means to live in a material world, and how materials of the past and present hold the keys to our future.

Ruby Boddington — 21 September 2018
Regulars / Friday Mixtape Friday Mixtape: Animator Steve Smith takes us from Kate Bush to Oneohtrix Point Never

Los Angeles-based animator Steve Smith has ridiculously high skills in building animated shorts that combine both the very weird and the very wonderful.

Lucy Bourton — 21 September 2018
Work / Art Tom Galle’s internet-based practice captures your attention in a few seconds, scrolling through your feed

Belgian-born conceptual artist Tom Galle works in the realm of internet culture, his fast-paced and quick-witted art keeps up with the speed of the internet; mimicking the simple yet effective language of memes. Speaking to It’s Nice That, Tom explains, “I’m mostly interested in meme culture and how it’s now global language is completely reshaping our contemporary culture”. Tom’s work captures the immediacy of the internet, applying its set of codes with humour to successfully communicate his digital work. “My audience is mainly internet based, so my ideas capture people in a few seconds time while scrolling through their feed” says Tom, the work “takes people’s attention with a simple concept that taps into internet culture which people can relate to”.

Jyni Ong — 21 September 2018
Features / Art “Fear and desire for connection and the blocks to it”: artist Martine Syms on her exhibition Grand Calme

“Where do I begin?” laughs American artist Martine Syms down a transatlantic phone line. She’s currently in New York, working on an upcoming exhibition, but we’re connected to talk about her latest solo show Grand Calme which recently opened at London gallery Sadie Coles HQ.

Bryony Stone — 20 September 2018

Work / Film Iggy Ldn captures beauty, power and pain in his short film, Velvet

How do you tell a story about knife crime without falling into tropes that demonise young people? It’s a challenge in the current social context, where the image of knife crime hinges on one-dimensional caricatures of young black men. See a news report about tragedy and you might hear the name “gang”, young men in hoodies, or worse, a moral panic about music like “UK Drill” at the heart of all violence in London. So what about the real stories? It’s a challenge that filmmaker Iggy Ldn has taken, to show the beauty of life beyond reductive headlines. His exquisite short film Velvet encompasses all the beauty and joy of life in abundance. The short takes us through a liberated, urgent, dance, showing hypnotising and powerful rising forms as Michael Junior Onafowokan body’s moves in times with music provided by Father and Kwabs. Iggy’s previous work is testament to taking a breath and reimagining visions of blackness — his stand out short film Black Boys Don’t Cry was a critically acclaimed look at the delicacy of black masculinity.

Kieran Yates — 20 September 2018
Sponsored / Exhibition Art Bank Taiwan joins London Design Biennale this week, exploring cultural identity through political and social commentary

Art Bank Taiwan will join the London Design Biennale for its final week this week at Somerset House. The exhibition will interpret the Biennial theme “Emotional States” in an exhibition titled Invisible Calls. The work will showcase contemporary work by acclaimed artists Cheng-Chang Wu and Che-Yu Hsu who both explore Taiwanese cultural identity through social and political commentary through an ‘invisible call’ to action.

Kieran Yates — 20 September 2018
Work / Illustration Tiziana Jill Beck explores the identity of anonymous travellers through masks

Paris-based artist, Tiziana Jill Beck is fascinated by the role masks play in society. Her practice blends contemporary concerns with the kind of energy that emanated from the kind of drawings that sat on the wall of prehistoric caves, only to be found millenia on. Tiziana’s work draws from daily observations as well as folk art, art history and literature which she transforms intuitively into new compositions to bring about unexpected surprises and new meanings.

Jyni Ong — 20 September 2018
Work / Publication The new issue of Indoek brings America's oldest city to life

St. Augustine is America’s oldest city. Tucked away on the northeastern tip of Florida, St. Augustine is more specifically the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European origin in the contiguous United States. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, a Spanish conquistador, willed it into being back in 1565. 452 years on, and surf-mad publication Indoek have celebrated all that’s good about St. Augustine with the second issue of its city-specific magazine. We now want to go to St. Augustine.

Josh Baines — 20 September 2018
Work / Animation Master of plasticine Kate Isobel Scott is back with a new animation

Anyone who has watched a stop-motion animation by Kate Isobel Scott will know she’s got a steady pair of hands and the utmost patience for plasticine. Her shorts are usually all made of moulded blobs of the material morphed into wide-eyed characters wibbling and wobbling through sets that also makes by hand. A process which takes time and a ridiculous attention to detail, Kate’s animated skill was recently picked up by New York-based street brand Knickerbocker to create a short focusing on a 1950s New York street scene with a skateboarder.

Lucy Bourton — 20 September 2018
Work / Graphic Design Johannes Schnatmann understands himself as an author as much as a graphic designer

For Berlin-based graphic and type designer Johannes Schnatmann, the internet is his main inspiration. Working alongside commercial projects, the designer has created his own publication Tempus Futurum which explores the idea of a utopian design process. Featuring over 20 contributions from designers, including It’s Nice That favourites Pouya Ahmadi and Jonathan Castro, each creative dissects the personal concept of Utopia following the publication’s premise that utopian design is impossible. Speaking to It’s Nice That Johannes explains how, “there should be no limit or point of restraint in a design process. Design is limitless”. For instance, “the design of a chair continues to prove that it is limitless. It’s design is still explored and reinvented. It is refused a point of utopia”.

Jyni Ong — 20 September 2018

Work / Film Filmmaker Samona Olanipekun explores innocence and loss in his love letter to the immigrant experience, Kindred

Samona Olanipekun talks to It’s Nice That about the thinking behind his short film Kindred, an eight minute dream-like journey into what it means to be a subject of a shifting cultural identity. “I really wanted to put across this idea of a collective journey. My parents moved to the UK in the 80s for education and to give us the best possible opportunity in life. For me, making this film was a way to explore what that meant”, explains Samona. The short is commissioned by the Barbican as part of their season titled The Art of Change; Samona was given the theme “Globalisation” to explore. “When I came across the brief I had already had a few ideas that revolved around the migration of people” he says. “In recent years I’ve had a huge fascination on the migration of people and the risks people take to venture into the unknown or the conditions that force people to take that risk.”

Kieran Yates — 19 September 2018
Work / Publication Beyond Heaven is a visual history of early Chicago house music

“The graphic elements — from typography to illustration, to the use of printing process with those gradients — all add up to a varied but distinctive aesthetic that visually represents this culture.” Brandon Johnson is talking about flyers. More specifically he’s talking about flyers for house nights. Even more specifically, he’s talking about the flyers that make up his wonderful new publication Beyond Heaven: Chicago House Party Flyers From 1983-1989, a 96-page collection of visual ephemera from one of the most significant periods in the history of nightlife and club culture.

Josh Baines — 19 September 2018
Work / Animation Dinner For Few is an allegorical animation depicting our society that benefits a select few

Dinner For Few is a ten minute CG-animated film depicting a sociopolitical allegory of our society. Directed by Emmy award-winning animation artist Nassos Vakalis, the animation is now available for online viewing on Vimeo. Following a narrative of a grand dinner hosted by gluttonous characters taking their fill of everything and anything in the surroundings, the film offers a nontraditional CG aesthetic using flat graphics and dark outlines as opposed to 3-dimensional realism, providing an appropriately harsh lens to the story of self-indulgence.

Jyni Ong — 19 September 2018
Work / Publication Grace Ahlbom’s publication Dreaming is Heavy Metal investigates new printing methods

Imaginative and diverse, artist-cum-photographer Grace Albohm has a self-proclaimed propensity to “romanticise the handwork, labour-intensive and traditional printing of photography,” she says. From curiously found fanzine images brought into the darkroom and made into cyanotypes, to shining a torch through pin-holes cut from cardboard, hers is a practice that opens up the oft-abandoned darkroom and turns it into a place of delightful happenings, and magic.

Laura Isabella — 19 September 2018
Work / Illustration Anna Gille’s evocative illustrations dissolve the barrier between the natural and the artificial

Berlin-based illustrator Anna Gille brings out the beauty of the natural environment through her illustration series Window (VPPB). The illustrator has been producing images of various landscapes for the past three years forming the basis of her Windows series, working from a large archive of digital photography featuring different kinds of landscapes including parks, gardens, nature reserves and zoos. She collects such photos alongside screenshots of digital simulations and computer game graphics, widening her archive to encompass a broad range of real and artificial topographic documentation.

Jyni Ong — 19 September 2018
Work / Photography Photographer Thurstan Redding’s project Castle Village portrays an optimistic and joyful view of old age

A retirement village in Berkhamsted might not be the first place you would imagine to find fashion photographer Thurstan Redding — who has shot for the likes of British Vogue, Arena Homme +, i-D, Dazed and Love — but it was here, in Castle Village, that one of his most unique projects thus far took shape.

Laura Isabella — 18 September 2018

Work / Publication Jay Cover and Brad Holdgrafer visually tackle the concept of walls through "playschool politics"

Walls, a recent children’s book made by illustrator Jay Cover and art director Brad Holdgrafer, is a literal depiction of the political situation in both the US and the UK, a metaphorical exploration of the concept of a wall, and a “playful look at the problem” for the kids it’s aimed at and the parents reading to them, too. It started as a pet project between the two, over Skype and e-mail the book, which combines a rhyming poem by Brad and Jay’s illustrations, was a cathartic exercise initially, until Princeton Architectural Press got in touch and saw its cultural and visual worth.

Lucy Bourton — 18 September 2018
Work / Graphic Design Emily Schofield’s graphic design practice balances function with irrationality and expression

London-based graphic designer Emily Schofield realised that her interests in fiction, contemporary culture, art and politics didn’t have to exist separately from her design practice. Her beautifully, crisp portfolio of work spans print, digital design and art direction demonstrating a delicate balance between creative expression and logical functionality. Speaking to It’s Nice That, Emily explains that in her creative process, “I need to be able to express something with my designs but when you become too focused on style and expression you often lose the bigger picture,” she says. “I only find meaning in my work when I see its larger role in society — whether that’s functionality, or an ability to provoke reaction, or simply to communicate a message”.

Jyni Ong — 18 September 2018
Work / Illustration Dairy drinks and cigarettes meet in Lucas Reis' illustrative evocations of Japan

When Lucas Reis was a kid growing up in Brazil, he had a Japanese friend. That friend was Lucas’ link to a country that has gone on to fascinate him ever since. The illustrator — who is also a creative at Mother — absorbed as much as he could from his playground pal. “As my taste began to develop in music, art, and design, I was always very aware of what was happening in Japan,” he tells It’s Nice That. “I tried to really understand what such a different mindset to my own could produce.”

Josh Baines — 18 September 2018
Work / Art Travis Alabanza’s radical performance practice is disrupting politeness and gratitude

London-based Travis Alabanza’s creative practice involves writing words and performing them. Their work has consistently challenged the distinguished art world from an artist residency at the Tate to starring in the acclaimed theatre show Putting words in your mouth at the Roundhouse. Travis’ unapologetically clear and poignantly, personal voice is working towards a new theatre show, Burgerz, debuting October 25 at the Hackney Showroom.

Jyni Ong — 18 September 2018
Features / Graphic Design “Go, go, go”: how DIA messed with design theory, only to improve it

Moving. This one word sums up everything New York-based design studio DIA embodies. Movement is in the neoteric, kinetic identity systems it creates and the processes it uses to construct them. Moving forward is in the ethos that drives its leaders Mitch Paone and Meg Donohoe to redefine with graphic design is. DIA is always moving and, in turn, its solidified itself as the master of typography in flux. It’s a studio which messes with design theory only to improve it, leaving the rest of us scrambling to catch up. Despite a somewhat-earnest façade, DIA is a studio built upon the interpersonal relationships it harbours, particularly between Mitch, founder and creative director, and Meg, managing partner. “We are on the same page with just about everything,” Mitch explains, “Same taste in design, art, food, architecture, vacations.” This “universal compatibility,” as he describes it, feeds through everything they do, in or outside of work, forming the basis of their collaboration. “Most importantly,” he continues, “there is a balance of our mindsets. Meg steers the ship with a long-term vision, whereas I am very much immersed in immediate creative tasks.”

Ruby Boddington — 18 September 2018
Work / Graphic Design Leonardo Pellegrino's soft and delicate graphic designs are inspired by his Italian roots

“I prefer working on projects where there is a personal connection, when I can actually relate to, and believe in, the project that I’m working on,” explains Italian graphic designer, Leonardo Pellegrino. A recent graduate of Central Saint Martins, Leonardo is currently working at Brave New World in London, developing a multidisciplinary portfolio which offers graphic design, filmmaking and art direction.

Ruby Boddington — 17 September 2018

Work / Publication Blessure magazine is an "ironic" publication that communicates through its anti-design layout

Blessure magazine, designed by France-based Chambre Charbon, is an alternative magazine drawing similarities between ten to fifteen different artists for every issue. ‘Blessure’ means ‘wound’ in French, referring to the novelist Jean Genet’s words on Giacometti. Genet admired Giacometti’s ability to capture the fundamental, raw essence of objects and people in his work, the encapsulation of a “secret wound” or “blessure secrète”. Similarly, in Blessure, the publication alludes to the sense of style and personality of each artist without text. The communication is solely through the artworks and the design.
 
The latest issue of Blessure focuses on the use of textures created by the computer, creating a new and contemporary language. There is no text, instead the images craft a unique narrative entirely subjective to each viewer. The tone of the artworks changes depending on the print layout and the other works they are interacting with. The 180-page publication features work from Brenna Murphy, core.pan, Deylan Seu, Everest, Jamie and Rickie McNeill, Marine Léauté, Marvin de Deus Ganhitas, Nicolas Sassoon, Sabrina Ratté, Ulysse C. Müller, Ville Kallio, Yannick ValGesto and Boris Détraz.
 
“I quickly made the decision to never feature the same artist twice, so that the magazine can mutate as quickly as possible”, Chambre Charbon tells It’s Nice That. Inspired by publications such as Weird magazine by Noel Freibert and Mould Map published by Landfill Editions, Blessure’s objective first and foremost is to focus on the artwork, secondly, on an anti-design aesthetic. Chambre Charbon describes the design as “pretty direct and oddly neutral”, calling itself a magazine in an “ironic” way and purposefully adding no value to the print run by choosing not to use risograph printing or spot colours.

Jyni Ong — 17 September 2018
Work / Graphic Design Play on Play on the nostalgic references that inform its forward-thinking practice

Melbourne-based studio Play on Play has carved out a reputation as the go-to for film titles with substance, finesse, and – as the name suggests – playful humour. Founders Naomi Akikusa-Dawber and Lucy Fry draw inspiration from shop windows and heavy metal album artwork; old horror novels and erotica; ghost signs and vernacular typography; as well as movies “from a time when the titles couldn’t rely on technology”.

Billie Muraben — 17 September 2018
Work / Animation Glasgow’s VAJ.Power is transforming club nights into multi-sensory experiences

Holly McGowan and Sofya Staune created VAJ.Power in Holly’s bedroom in Glasgow as a way to share each other’s knowledge of digital technology. Initially supplying visuals for events from Glasgow to Moscow, the duo now put on their own events, >Fuse, revolutionising the traditional club night into a multi-sensory, accessible event. Their creative process revolves around a process of learning, “we became very interested in why working in 3D animation, modelling and coding are so inaccessible and how to make it more open to all”, VAJ.Power tells It’s Nice That. As a result, >Fuse also hosts workshops in digital technology, investigating the relationship between music and moving image.

Jyni Ong — 17 September 2018
Work / Digital Studio Hyte's identity for iiii Magazine examines the characteristics of type, code and interaction on the web

“Combining a self-aware sense of humour, with a love of expansive cultural ephemera,” iiii Magazine is an independent arts and culture publication, based in London and Manchester. Started by Jordan Harrison-Twist and Chris Samuel, its content sets no limit on matter or form and it publishes a range of content from incisive criticism, personal essays, humour pieces and “odes to oddities” – all connected by a passion for language.

Ruby Boddington — 14 September 2018
Work / Animation New animation Leather “marries the loose and scribbly with the technical and obsessive”

From stacks of drawings of cut, falling hair; plant roots and wilting flowers; built up and sliced through black masses; and a flailing puppet who comes to a sticky end, Leather, is an animation by London-based artist Chris Smith. A video accompanies the track from post-punk band Sauna Youth’s 2015 album, Distractions, Leather took years of drawing, testing and animating, and has been released with Deaths, the final part of their trilogy of LPs. “It grew from a very rough three-second version of the haircut sequence” Chris says. “I developed the character of the scissors and the theme of cutting as a destructive act. The scissors are a malevolent and disruptive presence, although you could say that they create as well as destroy, but it’s not a happy ending for the puppet.”

Billie Muraben — 14 September 2018
Regulars / Friday Mixtape Friday Mixtape: The Honey Hahs' mix of songs to get ready to, or if you're just feeling dancey

Last Friday South-London based band, The Honey Hahs released their first record Dear Someone, Happy Something. It’s a very sweet record, gentle, happy and joyful and is the result of Sylvie (11), Robin (12) and Rowan’s (16) joint and solo songwriting.

Lucy Bourton — 14 September 2018

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