Work in progress: painting suitcases for his new show in Berlin.

The “Beautiful Loser” Aaron Rose is in town. One more great artist rooted in skateboard culture who has a show in Berlin this late summer. After Michael Leon at Pool Gallery last week we can also look forward to the work of Ed Templeton at Civilist store by the end of September. Tomorrow, Thursday 09.09.2010 will be the opening of Aaron Rose’s show “Trouble”, that guy who is partly responsible for pushing me back on the skateboard and get serious with it again. He might not know this, maybe I should take the chance to tell him … I’ve been enlightened by his “Beautiful Losers” exhibition he curated at Circleculture back in 2004 and it hit me! The same place where his new show is at.

Aaron Rose
Trouble
Circleculture Gallery, Gipsstr. 11, Berlin
09.09 – 25.09.2010
Opening, 09.09.2010, 19 h

Circleculture Gallery, Berlin presents “Trouble”, new works by Aaron Rose, which give very personal and direct insights into the artist’s mind. Aaron Rose is perhaps best known as a curator. With his touring show Beautiful Losers and the documentary of the same name, he brought underground artists to public attention, championing a DIY aesthetic informed by their various backgrounds as skaters, punk rock fans and graffiti writers.
For this show he has a particular obsession: painting on suitcases. “Suitcases from the 50s to 70s were manufactured in such interesting color palettes – these incredible mustard yellows and army greens,” he says. Rose calls the works (some of which are stuffed with surprise goodies for buyers to walk away with) “object paintings,” displaying them in the spirit of Duchamp. Art historical references aside, the show’s conceptual slant is psychological, personal even. “It’s my baggage,” says Rose. “The exhibition is going to be very much a confession, what all my problems are.”

One weekend of self publishing goodness at Motto, Berlin

First weekend of September has been the weekend of publication madness in Berlin. Miss Read book fair at the well-known Kunstwerke, parallel to this across the street an exhibition of books related to Miss Read at doyoureadme?! and as well Motto bookstore in Kreuzberg hosted a self publishing fair “Unter dem Motto” (list of participants here).

JB. dropped by at Motto on Sunday to have a look, birthday child mono.kultur organized a little talk about “Alternatives in Editorial Design” with themselves speaking, plus NODE Design Studio (early 032c, Monopol) and Mario Lombardo, former art director of German music magazine Spex and Liebling Zeitung, presenting some great examples. Tons of self publishers showing their books and magazines from the big art sphere, too much to mention here, too much to explore but some outstanding examples from the likes of Nieves Books or illustration magazine Fukt, mono.kultur or Werkplaats Typografie. Not only for magazine freaks!

It is always good to see how much energy and effort people put into things without focussing on making money in the first place but the product and the content. That always puts an estimable value to it. Being at Motto is like being in a good record store, a good place where you can dig deep. Check the pictures below to get an idea of this nice event.


Motto inside …


At Chert Gallery, next door to the Motto Bookstore.


mono.kultur are selling out …


Book launch of Jody Barton – Black Masters, published by Nieves Books.


More Nieves, that great publisher from Zurich, Switzerland.


Mario Lombardo speaking, somewhere behind that window.

Backjumps 4.2 — Junior Issue … Pictures hanging low.

What? Already a new issue of Berlin’s famous Graffiti and art (that’s not supposed to hang in galleries) exhibition? On Friday, August 27th was the opening of Backjumps 4.2 — Junior Issue, an exhibition for kids and those who remained kids. First thoughts and some pictures from Backjumps 4.2 …
Since the first Backjumps in 2001, I haven’t missed any of the exhibitions that all have been going down at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin. Definitely one of the most progressive, special and notable art events of this city.

The Junior issue shows works by artists that all share their roots more or less in graffiti: Mode2, Skki, Poet, Delta or Martha Cooper … Every contribution should be for both, kids and adults, but with the known aesthetics as always, in the way how the artists would usually work, not only suited for kids. The artists are dealing with their experiences of handling of space and visual oversupply and transport them to the exhibition space and adapt them for children’s eyes.

I brought a proper test person, my three year old son. Admittedly, first I thought he is still a bit too young for the interactive part of the exhibition. One room (I guess by Dave the Chimp) was built like in a ghost train with black light. Masks, swords, shields and stuff like that, painted with fluorescent colour was lying around and could be picked up. But the longer we stayed the more he enjoyed, but sure, it was a very exciting experience for him. And so it was for me, especially that we could share this experience. For us, the intention of the Junior Issue worked perfectly that day. The images below should convey the specialty and diversity of the different works: photos, paintings, drawings or installations.

At the end of the day, my little son said: “Da noch mal hingehn. In den dunklen Raum mit den Lichtern. Das Hemd leuchtet …” (”Let’s go there again to the dark room with the lights. My shirt is shining …”) We’ll be back soon!
The exhibition, curated by Adrian Nabi, is running until 26th Sept. Watch out for workshops and events around Backjumps 4.2.


An element known from the playground, but it is nothing else than a “throw-up” by Jonone.


Drawings by famous artist Mode2


The amazing Delta




The favourite room of my son, must be by Dave the Chimp (will check again)


Skki from Paris, also a frequent Backjumps artist


Oversized crayons outside the bulding, the signature says David Roze …

Still from the video "Light, Shape, Color", directed by Matt Irving

SKATE&CREATE is initiated by the known TRANSWORLD Skateboarding Magazine where they give four skate teams a couple of days to create a video and a feature article for the mag with photos. This year the teams had been Adidas, Fallen, Lakai and etnies, all of them are shoe companies. Each team has the same rules and opportunities to get it done the best way, the winner gets the cover shot of the magazine and will be one of the next four competitors in 2011.

All results are great, totally different approaches, a high level of skating, directing and filming. But I have to pick one video as my favourite (picture shown above), Adidas — Light, Shape, Color directed by Matt Irving. This guy is an awesome designer and artist, in my category of favourite artists together with people like Geoff McFetridge or Michael Leon. Matt Irving runs Delphi Collective and is art director at Element Skateboards. His recognizable graphic elements create that special setting, simple forms, playing with perspectives and shapes. Great skating in there by the Adidas team: Benny Fairfax, Nestor Judkins, Dennis Busenitz, Lem Villemin (from Germany), Jake Donnelly and the mighty Mark Gonzales.
It is not possible to embed the video, so watch it right here: Light, Shape, Color

Matt Irving: “I’d wanted to do Skate & Create after seeing the first one. I had ideas for some unique shots and different angles. We didn’t want to follow a strict narrative. We wanted it to be more abstract—less of a plot and more about finding new ways to show skating. But, it still had to feel cohesive throughout the film. We really wanted our team to be involved in the creative process. One of the first things we did once we got in the warehouse was build Tech Deck-sized models of the obstacles so that the team riders could move stuff around easily and not be stifled by lugging around the real obstacles. Creatively, it’s natural to dive in headstrong, focus on your ideas, pull back and then learn from that experience. By the time you finish, you’re exhausted and over it. But you’re always your own worst critic. From the viewers’ point of view, it might look easy to do S&C, but once you’ve gone through it—worked through all the kinks—you know it’s gnarly.”

Champfest Mag, Issue One / The God Bless Cut & Paste Issue

On my short trip to Frankfurt last week I went to see the highly acclaimed Dieter Rams retrospective “Less And More” and met my long-time friend Thomas for some beers and an extraordinarily good Schnitzel at Restaurant Mosebach. Awesome! During the sunny walk through the city earlier that day I stopped by the nice Azita store. As their rags would have hurt my pocket money really bad, I decided to spend the rest of my bucks on magazines from their small selection. Next to the really well done and very personal Aortica Magazine, an alternative city guide and their first issue features the hometown of the makers: Frankfurt (check the feature on magculture). I picked the new mono.kultur #24 featuring French artist Cyprien Gaillard. The issue is simply incredible, as always. But more on this in a few days.
That was actually the discovery of the day: Champfest Mag, by the sisters Joanna and Monique Kawecki, based in Melbourne and London. A great designed magazine with the charm of a fanzine, printed on matt paper in about A5 format, with some great features.

Already the cover promises some good content, the title story features Kill Pixie with pictures from his series “Supreme Beings”. Goodness! Also on the list: photographer and passionate skateboarder Rip Zinger, Jose Parla, John Trippe from Fecal Face, Ray Potes from Hamburger Eyes to name a few. To keep it short: this thing is perfect, worth every cent. Limited, hand numbered copies, 500 examples, so go get your copy if you’re into this. Boom!



Mark Whalen aka Kill Pixie from Sydney. This guy makes you sometimes smile, sometimes laugh.




“In Tokyo With Rip Zinger” — That man Tomonori Tanaka aka Rip Zinger is making some amazing pictures …





Bikers and skateboarders … all over the mag are great photos, nice interviews, a good selection of artists and you can feel that it is not just compiled, they live this! This is issue #01 and I hope they keep up that level of fun and quality.

© Michael Leon "Vexhall"

Michael Leon will be in town. Berlin. September 2010. Truly one of my favourite artists and graphic designers coming from the skateboard culture, I follow his work since I first found out about the smart skateboard brand from the US west coast: — Stacks — and saw the short documentation “Free and Easy” (2003), directed by John Trippe who also runs the inspiring Fecal Face website/magazine.
Actually I could know his stuff since the early 90s as I was riding New Deal skateboard decks back then. But of course I had no idea about him until his biography revealed to me that he did graphics for this company. Michael Leon has worked for a range of clients, all more or less connected to the skatboard industry, Fourstar Clothing, Girl Skateboards, Stussy, DC, Arkitip, Nike SB and he co-created Commonwealth Stacks and Rasa Libre. His art has been shown in galleries around the globe.
Keep your ears and eyes open, there will be more about him on JB. after the opening of his first solo show in Germany, which is presented by Arkitip.

Simple and plain, here are some infos by our favourite pool gallery, Berlin:

Michael Leon
Vexhall
Curated by Arkitip
Vernissage: 2 September, 2010
Exhibition: 3 September – 1 October, 2010

pool gallery is proud to present american artist and designer Michael Leon‘s first solo show in Germany. The title for the exhibition “Vexhall“ originates with the term vexillology (lat. vexillum flag and suffix -logy “study of“).

Since his childhood Leon has been fascinated by flags. The United Nations, Olympics, World’s Fair and other idealized visions of world community has always inspired his artwork and design.
Vexhall is composed of pieces that draw literally from flag design, mixed with Leon‘s own design sensibility and personal history. By going back and forth between reverence and irreverence for vexilology, Leon has created flags for real and imagined countries, events, friends, emotions, ex-girlfriends, and everything in between. Some using the strict guidelines of flag design, next to others that may have been scribbled on a napkin or inspired by a dream. In doing so, this Vexhall (Hall of Flags) is Leon‘s own personal and nostalgic United Nations.

Alan Parsons Project: Pyramid, album art by Hipgnosis

Here it is, our Disco Design #04. No more announcement is needed, we’ve been saying much about Give Up Art in the past few days. Now it’s the turn of Stuart Hammersley to show his really great selection he did exclusively for us, mainly of old vinyls somewhere way down South. Brilliant!

Stuart: “You’ve featured a few of my most recent purchases in your last column actually (The Virgo LP, Ramadanman ‘Work Them’, and that Falty DL ep). So, rather than talk about really new dubstep/post-garage/funky whatever tunes I decided to highlight a few of my recent old vinyl finds from my trip to Sonar that I think people should check out.
Barcelona has some brilliant little second-hand vinyl shops. Seems like there’s one hidden away in every little alleyway. I found some great stuff there… from a music and design point of view.”







Alan Parsons Project — Pyramid
Prog-alert! Alan Parsons engineered Dark Side of the Moon, and the lovely album art is by Hipgnosis (who designed most of Pink Floyd’s greatest album covers.) Pre-photoshop era photomontage of Alan on the cover… (album is from 1978). I bought this mainly for the ‘What Goes Up’ tune… but I do like a fair bit of Alan’s stuff











Spaceship UK — The Untold Story of the British Space Programme
This was stuffed in the Press goodie bags at Sonar – A lovely 1-sided etched vinyl 7″ in a screenprinted clear plastic case. Great op-art inspired illustration and design from Julian House (Ghost Box, Broadcast etc). Spacey music from Daphne Oram and Belbury Poly (from House’s Ghost Box label)







Rolling Stones — Goats Head Soup
I love the Stones.. they’re funky. This LP contains one of my fave songs “Angie”. I love the cover photography – but didn’t realise that the photography AND design is credited to David Bailey! (famous 60’s UK snapper)







Kraftwerk — Pocket Calculator
It’s by Kraftwerk. It’s a Japanese import 7″ on fluro Yellow vinyl. There’s no way I wasn’t going to pick this up!







Deutsche Elektronische Musik — Soul Jazz compilation
A recent purchase – but more old music! I’ve been playing this a hell of a lot lately… The music contained in it — from Can to Neu, Faust to Cluster and lesser-known artists — is still jawdropping and beautiful (standout tune for me is probably “Rambo Zambo” by Kollectiv – 2 minute trippy rock-flute intro!). The desing’s not bad — but what makes it really interesting is a great booklet of sleevenotes and crazy pictures.
Designed by Hans Weiner Schnitzelbergen and Einsanity Klaus – apparently …





South Yorks mixtape
A great free CD compilation I found in Barcelona – with brilliant Sonic Youth inspired illustration from Kid Acne (Sheffield), who was putting on a prty over there. Lots of Sheffield artists on here — Forgemasters; Human League; Fat Truckers and Joe Cocker!

I also wanted to talk about the new Steve Mason — “Boys Outside” CD. Wonderful music and the jewelcase is made of opaque black and white and clear sections — really minimal and gorgeous — but I’ve lent it to a friend and couldn’t get any shots of it! Damn.

New things that I’ve just bought on download that I absolutely love:
Joe — Claptrap (of course!) on Hessle Audio
Hypno — War Demons (Julio Bashmore remix) (Label: PTN)
Space Dimension Controller — Journey To The Core Of The Unknown Sphere (Royal Oak)

Valerie "Valle" Rosomako in The Journey to The Center of The Earth

You don’t have to be a obsessed with skateboards to like skate flics, they are thrilling and highly entertaining. But not all of them are pleasing as much as the movies by filmer and photographer Jonathan Peters, who is currently living and working in Berlin. It was his work that I got excited about two years ago and made my skateboarder heart bounce real high: Objectif Lune. Great filming, anything else than loudmouthed, passion for the detail and revealing personality both of the creator and the protagonists: some of the most progressive skaters of Berlin. Pure skateboarding and a special Berlin story starring the locals Carsten Beneker, Maxim Rosenbauer, Lenny Burmeister and the unbelievable Valerie Rosomako!

His newest project The Journey to The Center of The Earth has been screening last June. I stumbled upon the idea again, featuring this film on JB. as I met my friend Barnes last week for a short skate session. He said it is highly recommended, as Objectif Lune already has been. Until now I have only seen the trailers but I will investigate and hopefully meet up with Jonathan and write some more about him and the background of his new skate movie.

Until then check the unmissable Objectif Lune in full length here:

Objectif Lune from Joe Collins on Vimeo.

"Being good is more important to be original."

Big drum roll for the next musicdesign column! Within the next days, To Our Disco (Design) Friends #04 is coming from Give Up Art, the hyperactive design studio from London that has been brilliantly featured in the recent issue of XLR8R Magazine (p.74-81). We’ve been talking about this ace studio a couple of times. Stuart — founder and creative head of GUA, and a super nice guy by the way — selected some finds he recently spotted somewhere in the dusty crates of Barcelona during his stay for the Sonar festival. Just got it in my inbox, so be well prepared, some real highlights in there. A full feature about the works of Give Up Art and the people behind it, soon on JB. — online and, yeah… on printed paper!

Virgo — A seminal house album from 1989, re-released through Rush Hour

Inspired and powered by the current issue of Eye Magazine — #76, their Music Design Special Issue, a new part of our musicdesgin column had to be done once again. And after a couple of weeks, I finally managed to pick up some records from my shelf at Hardwax that had been waiting there for a while. So I have some newer stuff here plus two older examples that have already been in my collection, but old or new, that doesn’t matter anyway. Some great artworks, nice selection of colors in some of the designs or nice details like a piece of cloth on a stamped paper sleeve. And of course: some really stunning tunes! Have a look and listen as I included a few soundfiles.



Virgo, the self-titled LP from 1989, originally released on Radical Records. Re-release by the label of the … err, hour: Rush Hour. Really, they are doing everything right these days. Very productive, very inspiring. Artwork is uncredited. Stream the tracks here.





Falty DL — All In The Place, as well on Rush Hour, actually the first release on the sublabel RH Direct Current was by Falty DL. No. 2 by Cosmin TRG has been in a previous post here but that Falty DL, don’t know why, hadn’t made it to my home before. I love these tunes, they have so much space and levels. Artwork must be by Marco of Hand Of God, looks like the same as that CosminTRG release.

Falty DL — St. Marks:






Oracy — Bass Mood. All Mojuba records come in a paper sleeve, stamped and have a piece of cloth, felt, duct tape or anything similar on it. This time it is a thick piece of cloth with a nice fabric structure. The releases get special by the energy and effort that the Mojuba guys put into making their records.

A mild mover by … Oracy — Funk Advice




Ramadanman on Loefah’s imprint Swamp81. Another huge track by Ramadanman: Work Them. Goodness! Typography by producer and Swamp81 founder Loefah and Ashes57. Nothing special but as the sound, clear and massive.





Roska — Squark on Rinse. Actually it took a bit too long for this track to be avialable on vinyl as it has been around for a while and thanks to Roska’s self promotional power, I heard this track very often. But still fresh, so is the artwork by Give Up Art. I have been talking about them a lot here on JB. and next week, Stuart from Give Up Art will select for this column. Great!







Shake — Frictionalism, Limited Edition with an unreleased track on Rush Hour. This was my personal Christmas present last year. What a great and valuable compilation and one of the most brilliant ideas to help this exceptional musician getting the coverage and attention he deserves after so many years making music. With this release and the associated PR, Rush Hour opened a kind of new chapter for Shake. A perfect package in its simplicity. Four 12″es and one additional 7″, all with the same paper sleeve and typography with that vibrant purple shade and white, labels in blabk with white type and purple elements. All togehter in a shiny plastic sleeve and a sticker to open like seal. Artwork uncredited, somewhere from the RH camp.
What I don’t really understand is, that Rush Hour started to release standard 12″es with generic sleeves from the same cuts soon after. That drops the value of this limited edition a bit. But thinking of the availability of Shake’s music on vinyl, that’s absolutely legitimate…

North/South/East/West, a project by Give Up Art & photographer Shaun Bloodworth

A while ago, we at JB. started to take a closer look at musicdesign with a new column, “To Our Disco (Design) Friends”. In the future I try to follow this path more continously as there are a lot of examples, whether new or already totally dusty on my record shelves… I don’t do this for nostalgic reasons. I still believe in this artform, especially music on vinyl and their associated designs, things with a certain quality and value. The role of the designer or artists who created record sleeves some decades ago might have been more regarded, had recieved some more attention. But looking at todays artworks, I am finding tons of great ideas and designs, there are still a lot of people out there that continue the legacy of a Blue Note cover for example.

One of these outstanding music designers is the London graphic artist Stuart Hammersly of Give Up Art. He is the visual epicenter of dubstep or electronic music from England in the broadest sense. The next part of this column will be a small selection of records by him and I am really excited about, what kind of goodness Stuart will choose. Looking forward to this!

Eye Magazine #76 just released their “Music Design Special Issue” with a bunch of great art from iconic covers that defined new eras to current examples. If you are into the visual goodness of your music, take a first glance at the issue here and then go get a copy (or step by at doyoureadme?! if in Berlin). This is a must for all the music lovers!

Eye #76 — Music Design Special Issue

Enjoy the ride …

The summer just started as the date told us, but we are all still waiting for the constant flow and a settled weather that is, at least sometimes, known for this time. (When I publish this, the summer has finally arrived.) Work and World Cup is keeping us away from delivering fresh goods here at JB. In the meantime we recommend another awesome read: The Ride Journal.

It’s a great magazine for people who love bikes and share that passion around cycling, to be honest: share an obsession with bikes. But as with a lot of independent mag titles these days, there is no need to be another tired target group to find things here. Great storytelling, beautiful and particulary loads of illustrations, stunning photography. A plain and literally linear approach keeps you focused … text, picture, text, picture … nothing distracts the reader, it’s all very engaging. The whole magazine is extremely well curated and art directed from beginning to end. Love that! See some pictures below …













Each cover illustration comes from ilovedust, a great design studio from England, reflecting the season in which the issue is released. Check all four covers.

"Come into my kitchen…" — apartamento #05

Some more printed goodness for this week. As we love music on vinyl (showed in our other column) we also love magazines. Art and things and stories printed on paper for the haptic experience, for the sweet slowdown, the focus.
Issue #05 of interior magazine apartamento proves the approach of personality that underlies each story, the (meanwhile) known aesthetic of pictures showing residencies and some of its private details of the inhabitants, feels familiar but still offers new surprises. Once again, the mixture of paper and colours in addition to its well-selected content makes this publication a very special editorial piece.



The book section has all recommended titles as watercolour illustration. Brilliant.





A supplement by an italian furniture/design retailer called skitsch.it in form of a comic with a cheerful colour selection, strapped with a blue rubber.





A sweet style to show different wood types, cut and displayed as infographic charts, photos by Nacho Alegre. What a simple and nice idea this is!







Binocolo #02 in the rear part of the mag is the everyday life travel supplement printed on nice matt and slightly textured paper including the iPhone photo journal ‘Phoenix’ and the beautiful visual essay ‘Japanes mountains’ with stunning pictures by Kasane Nogawa.

Filled with an awesome selection of work — It's Nice That #03

That’s nice, caring for the creative and their art is what the folks of It’s Nice That from London are doing with their valuable printed good. They create an archive of work of artists they feature on their website in a bi-annual publication. They give respect and put value to the work that it deserves and giving it as well a history that otherwise could get lost in the quickness of the internet. On top of this, most of the work they feature online actually is designed for print. Their meanwhile third issue has been sent out early April and for all pre-orders, they put a black and white print by Parra to it.

JB. talked with editor and co-founder Will Hudson about the linkup of editorial content using both channels digital and print, magazine issue #03 and sustainability of graphic design. The interview will be soon online. Until then, follow their daily news on the website and have a look at the goodness inside the mag right here …



The list of contributors, illustrated by Jo Ratcliffe, among them a JB. favourite: Geoff McFetridge (down, second form left). More work from him below.



Great interview with Milton Glaser, a dinosaur and part of graphic design’s hall of fame, mastermind of the ‘I Love New York’ logo, co-founder of the New York Magazine, talking e.g. about the responsibility and the requirements of a modern designer.



Dan Tobin Smith with a feature, telling something about the work for the Jay Z cover “The Blueprint 3″, actually the only cover that Jay Z has not appeared on himself.



The more “detailed” pages … here with another JB. favourite on the left page: JP Thurlow, redrawing magazine covers and “turning a mass-produced into a singular” again.



More superb stuff from Geoff McFetridge, transferring the written word into a drawing, then making a graphic out of it. A charming series called GRAPHICS VS. POETRY



Glorious!