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COVER STORY: JORDI DE SAINT PHALLE or Halbstarken weekend in the vineyards. Linus found this nice ballerina costume with integrated fan in spring. In the pic Jordi is jumping around drunk. I got lucked-out and just caught the right moment with my lousy digi-cam. It‘s no photoshop at all.
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HELLO I am proud to present to you the first issue of Amateur Magazine. Seal it, collect it and sell it on e-bay in 2028. It is an independent, artist-driven print-platform for creative people, projects, products and places. You never know, what we are going to come up with or what direction the mag will take. We just let it flow. For the moment evetything the eye loves is welcome - without having to fit into a certain box. Done with little experience in printing magazines, a very small budget and almost no business knowledge, but with plenty of love and passion as the driving forces to create an innovative and authentic magazine. As I already said, this is the very first issue. Please excuse our mistakes. I hope colors are not too blurry – if so, we‘ll try to do better next time. It was a lot of hard work, which is only done with, once you‘re pointing your art-loving eyes on the issue. So now, enjoy!
Amateur Magazine is an independent, artist-driven print-platform. It is about people, projects, products and places. Published three times a year. 2000 copies only. No. 001 F/W 2008
Editorial address: Amateur Magazine / Aarestrasse 10 / 5000 Aarau / SWITZERLAND Contact: hello@amateur-magazine.com Publisher: Alain „Lain“ Schibli / lain@amateur-magazine.com Distribution: Art schools, galleries, selected shops, design studios, a.o. © Amateur Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction without written permission is strictly prohibited. Any views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher. No guarantee for accuracy of statement. www.artclash.ch www.artclash.ch www.artclash.ch
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CONTENT 8 LIL‘ ILLU BATTLE projects:
MALIK VS. JAN LE GROS
14 FAVELA PAINTING RIO COLOR
18 ART CLASH people:
LIVE TOURNAMENT
26 HOPEHOPE (COLUMNIST)
FASHION & TENDENCIES MINI MAGAZINE
30 BROSMIND (COLUMNIST)
GRAPHIC DESIGN FROM BARCELONA
34 RODJA GALLI (COLUMNIST) ILLUSTRATIONS
38 SACHENMACHEN (COLUMNIST) PRESENTS KUENG-CAPUTO
40 MAROK
AND HIS LODOWN MAGAZINE
45 YEHTEH
ROOKIE OF THE ISSUE
48 ANNA-LINA BALKE & WE TOLD YOU
52 TEEN TRASH PUNK PHOTOGRAPHY
53 SALON LIZ places:
FASHION LAB
54 CHE BOLUDO
BUENOS AIRES ARCHITECTURE
58 MILIEU products:
GALLERY/ARTSPACE
62 THE X-STYLES PRODUCTS
64 GRINGOLANDIA SHITS THIS SHIRT IS THE SHIT
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THANK YOU This very first issue wouldn‘t be here, without the help, the work, the love, the support, the talks, the ideas, the input and the belief of many:
Guido Anderwert, Billy, Dominic Chenaux, Edwin Faeh, Rodja Galli, Die Halbstarken, Roman Hess, Madeleine Hänggi, Toby Jerman, Migi Keck, Flavio Lardelli, Melanie Louviere, Van Manh Nguyen, Helene Nömm, Patrick Peritz, Jean-Xavier Pitois, Atelier Romanza, Philippe Roth, Rebecca Schibli, Joe & Mary Schibli, Mario Schüttel, Die Seiner, Andreina Trachsel, Sarah Würsch, Philipp Zimmermann and everyone‘s name I forgot to mention. Thank you!
And this magazine would not be here without companies, who support pioneer spirit and back up a fresh project from the first step. Without knowing, what exactly they‘ll be receiving. That‘s truly gallant.
Anon, Carhartt, Merkker, Pointer, Shirtnerd, Vans, Volcom, Wesc. Thank you for trusting!
And last but not least, this magazine would be empty without the great effort and blind trust of these good fellas:
Anna-Lina Balke, Gigi Burn, Lovis Caputo, Philipp Dornbirer, Marco Eckert, Alesandro Formenti, Arci Friede, Marc Furrer, Rodja Galli, Myri Gämperle, Donovan Gregory, Rio Kawaguchi Zopfi, Jeroen Koolhaas, Sarah Kueng, Elio Lüthi, Thomas Marecki, Jan Meier, Alejandro Mingarro, Juan Mingarro, Marisa Pichler, Raphaela Pichler, Colin Schaelli, Fats Shariff, Patrick Schelb, Christoph Schmid, Sybille Steindl, Dre Urhahn, Thomas Walde, Ian White,... Big Up!
Lain (publisher)
ABO This magazine is for free - as long as you are lucky enough to grab one. If you live outside Switzerland and you want to be sure to always have the latest issue delivered to your sweet home, please contact us at abo@amateur-magazine.com SWITZERLAND: 20 CHF for 3 issues - EUROPE: 20 EURO for 3 issues - WORLDWIDE: 30 USD for 3 issues
www.amateur-magazine.com join our facebook group.
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JAN LE GROS
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Amateur Illu Fighterz: In each issue 2 selected artists fight one another. Every artist gets his playground (1 page, left or right) with an object placed in the middle (this ti
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MALIK www.malikarts.com
me the flags). Then Amateur just puts the two pages together as they come in. If you want to battle in a future issue, contact us: battle@amateur-magazine.com
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Henry Rollins is an ICONoclast. 10
www.vans.com/icons www.vans.ch
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Š2008 Vans, Inc. foto.EstevanOriol.com
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DES IGN ERS C LU B
FAVELA
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DESIGNERS CLUB
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Waking up from fireworks early in the morning. They are the code signal for danger and often followed by hour long gunfights Lying a bit confused on a thin mattress in a small room full of dengue mosquitoes. On the second floor of a brick house, roughly halfway up one of the hills of Vila Cruzeiro. This feared favela is part of the Complexo do Alemao and functions as the stronghold of the Red Command, the first and maybe most infamous of the three drug gangs of hold Rio de Janeiro in their tight grip. Outside the slum, just mentioning the name of the place causes most people to shiver. It might get you fired. Or arrested. This morning the fireworks pass to the neighbouring slum of Chatuba. Everybody sighs in relief and starts their day in relative peace. Maybe today the kids can go to school and the moms to their jobs. Or at least nobody gets killed. An hour or so away the tourists start filling up the worlds most famous beaches, the rich elite leave their houses to their nannies, cleaners and cooks. Our paint crew arrives for another day of hard work in the scorching sun. When we started our latest painting, we reckoned it would take about two or three months of happy and carefree work. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Now, about half a year later, we find ourselves finally getting a grip on this monster-project. Today we and our crew will apply a layer of protective finish over a part of , thereby declaring the first part 'done'. One part down, five to go. As our tanned feet stumble over the steep and slippery hills, we hardly notice anymore that we are working on something quite impressive. After a hard days work, taking a few steps back to sit down with a cold beer brings back reality. It makes us smile. On one hand, our painting is turning into something more impressive than anything we ever saw ourselves, which is always a good call we guess. On the other, anyone making a painting this detailed, on this scale in a place like this, we would immediately refer to as totally and utterly insane. The idea for this project came to us as we visited our first painting, one we made about a year before. It's a huge mural of a kid flying a kite, painted on three houses next to the soccer field, in the middle of Vila Cruzeiro. We heard it had suffered from the many shootouts in the area and had caught some balas perdidas, lost bullets, the main cause for the many deaths and injuries in the slums of Rio de www.favelapainting.com
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Janeiro. Walking through the favela we discussed the difficult morals and ethics of art. Should we restore the painting into its original state or did these bullets, tragic reality of daily life, become actual parts of the artwork? Back in Holland this seemed obvious, maybe even beautiful, but standing in front of the painting we weren't so sure anymore. Deciding that this matter needed some thinking over, preferably over a beer, we went to look up some old friend. Standing on his rooftop, we found ourselves overlooking a huge concrete structure, built a year earlier during a governmental project. Its function was to stop the hillside, complete with all the houses on it, from coming down during the pouring rains of the wet season. The idea for our new project hit us at the same time. This weird slab of concrete, hundreds of metres long, should become our next canvas. It should be turned into a real river, painted in Japanese style, complete with Koi carp, splashes and exciting streams of water, running down the hill. The carp, fighting their way upstream would represent the children of the favela on their long road of hardships, while at the same time giving the slum a new, colourful look. It would be an exciting monument in the most of unexpected places. It was decided upon in a minute. Now we only had to realize it. In order to get the Japanese theme right we invited the dutch artist Rob Admiraal to help make the design. Being a specialist in this field, this challenge immediately excited him and we flew him into Rio for two weeks of extreme sketching. In between rain showers and gun battles we ran up and down the steep hill discussing shapes and colours. We might already have realised, this could take a bit longer than we first imagined. Months later we are a well oiled painting-unit. Three local youths complete our team, all with different talents and responsibilities. In a frantic pace we are finishing some pieces, while still sketching the others. A friendly local, Elias, has provided us with shelter. First just for the enormous amounts of paint, but as the work go more intense, we moved in ourselves, becoming part of the family. We slowly start to realize that this project will forever have an impact on our lives as living and working in a slum is an experience filled with extremes. While during most of the time the
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ÂŹ Painting in Vila Cruzeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 2008
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place resembles a small village in the countryside, the constant threat of a sudden outburst of violence is always in every ones mind. Everywhere you see kids carrying pistols, rifles and hand grenades. The walls are totally sieved by bullets and there's always someone mourning a lost loved one. The fireworks give you about a minute to get into safety before the gunfire bursts out, sometimes lasting for four or five hours, turning the inhabitants into prisoners of their own house, locking kids into their schools and totally disrupting any part of reality. At this pace we hope to have the painting finished in October 08, so we can present it to the world. Some of our family and friends have already booked to be part of this exciting event. After that we probably need a little rest before embarking on our next art-adventure. After the book with images and texts on our favela-experience, a film and a traveling exhibition, we are planning a world tour, to research in what other ways we can bring art to unexpected places in the world. But first we have to finish painting some big fish in Vila Cruzeiro.
Haas & Hahn - the initiators Haas & Hahn is a young and upcoming duo of dutch artists: Jeroen Koolhaas from Rotterdam and Dre Urhahn from Amsterdam, who have been working together since 2005. Both coming from families of artists, architects and urbanists, they have always had an obsession with cities and their inhabitants. They create art, using a wide variety of media, as a way to comment on the world as they perceive it. They have made anything from murals to video installations, from documentaries to photo-exhibits. Currently they are finishing their latest monsterproject, a huge river in Vila Cruzeiro and working on a book about their project. They started making huge paintings in favela‘s of Rio de Janeiro in 2006. Their objective is to create works of art inspired by the mutating conditions of modern city life, drawing attention to the deplorable situation of people who are being socially excluded. At the same time creating something worthwhile with and for them. Something they will be proud of. The participation and development of local talent is a means to achieve the intended results. The emphasis lies in the artistic value of the work done. These community-driven interventions have received a great deal of positive media attention, both in Brazil and internationally. They intend to create a better understanding of the importance of these neighborhoods and also instill a sense of pride and self-esteem in its residents. -.Txt & Pics: Haas & Hahn
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„Art Clash“ is a peaceful tournament composed of 3 rounds, where 16 international graphic designers, writers, artists and painters compete. The story of Art Clash goes back to the year 2005, when „Die Seiner“ organized a youngdesign fair in Aarau and integrated a small contest. 8 local artists participated. „Art Clash“ was born. In 2007, „Art Clash“ moved to Zürich and took the next step, but still kept it an authentic, noncommercial event. Event hough the event dates back to over a year, we think it‘s absolutly worth showing, as the event is more current today. Here‘s the story.
¬ Shark doing the last details on his birdhouse surrounded by a glowing public
The idea is quite simple: 16 artists, 3 rounds, 1 winner. A report about a good day in Zürich
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2007 ¬ flyer design for Art Clash by Lain, 2005-2007
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¬ C-Line and Amy Hunting pool in the second round
As the name presumes, the mainidea comes from the Dancehall Clash, where several soundsystems play against eachother - tune by tune. Translated to art this means: In each of the 3 rounds the artists have to pimp a given object. Allowed is every non-digital technique. After each round the artists judge themselves and decide who should be in the next round and who should better quit the field. So far, so good.
sweat and color-fumes. Amy Hunting from Copenhagen wins this round and therefore her deck will be produced as a limited edition by Doodah. This being her ticket for the final round of course, where she runs against Shark, Malik, Mizzo, Workingclasshero and Alejandro Mingarro. The tables are now put togehther and clusters of interested people form around them. This time the object is an urban birdhouse designed by Florian Hauswirth. The competition continues and the struggle to draw under time pressure and being observed narrowly by hundreds of eyes demands high levels of energy from every artist. At the end of this round - for once it‘s not the artists who judge, but the spectators - and after almost 5 hours of intense and pressurized painting, swiss artist Malik wins the Clash and with it the design for a limited Carhartt shirt series. Followed by spanish Alejandro Mingarro and Zürich based artist Mizzo, who won the clash in 2006. A great day is drawing to a close. -.-
Rote Fabrik, Zürich, a sunny saturday afternoon in june 2007. At 4 o‘clock 16 high grade artists, graphic designers, writers and other paint-talents from Italy, UK, Denmark, Spain and of course Switzerland are waiting for their first object of this unique design-tournament. Six-packs of beer for everyone participating are being delivered to the several tables scattered around the room.
Txt: Lain - Pics: Christoph Schmid & Linus Jeuch
After some wildcat moments the artists start with every imaginable technique: Pencils, cans, markers, itching tools, tape, etc. 90 minutes later only 10 artists pass on to the second round. A skatedeck is the new task. Again 90 minutes of painting, brushing, glueing and even sawing. The air is getting thick with ¬ The crowd is waiting for the results
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This page from top left to bottom right : ¬ Voting table after the first round. ¬ Dorian at work. ¬ Spanish orchestra by Brosmind blue. ¬ Interested public watching the finalists. ¬ Detail of the winner deck by Amy Hunting from Denmark. ¬ Winner Malik concentrated as a cat painting his birdhouse. ¬ Winning birdhouse by Malik. ¬ Voting table. Dancehallish the public votes the winner.
AMY HUNTING (DK) / BROSMIND (ESP) / C-LINE (CH) / DA JONES (CH) / MALIK (CH) / MIZZO (CH) / MONE (CH) / MR.PE
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ACOR (CH) / DORIAN (I) / DR.DRAX (CH) / FULGURO (CH) / ENFOLD (UK) / SHARK (CH) / WORKINGCLASS HERO (CH)
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This page from top left to bottom right : ¬ Mr. Penfold from England can work with cans. ¬ Mr. Penfold‘s six pack character. ¬ Mizzo is in her element. ¬ Jones is taking it easy in the second round. ¬ Skatedeck by swiss Workingclasshero. ¬ Skatedeck by Shark. ¬ Skatedeck by Alejandro Mingarro (Brosmind).
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www.mizzo.ch
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THE COLUMNISTS The four following parties will accompany us during the next 3 issues. Each of them will have pages to their complete disposal, in which they can play with ideas and muck about as they wish. They are friends of mine, whose styles and consistence have been convincing and touched me.
HOPEHOPE (Marisa Pichler) I’ve seen Marisa the first time about 10 years ago. Back in the day, she stood on the stage with her twin-sister Rafaela. Her striking presence - one that twins seem to carry a lot - and her flair for aesthetics could be recognized even then. My attention was drawn back to her through her HOPEHOPE project. Her blog and online-magazine about fashion and tendencies, together with projects done with Nike and Levi’s, have called attention across the country’s borders. Here she will present to you a HOPEHOPE mini-magazine with the topic of amateur – just this once, in a printed version. www.hopehope.ch
BROSMIND (Alejandro & Juan Mingarro) I met these guys here in Switzerland last year. We had invited them to the artclash and along with the rest of the ‘Die Seiner’ team, Amy Hunting and Mr. Renfeld, ended up spending a nice summer evening together. I’ve known them to be humorous, very likeable and shy brothers. I’m pretty sure, these two are always riding in the fast lane and their studio is a definite guarantee for quality. In this issue, they will give us an insight on their work. www.brosmind.com
RODJA GALLI (ro*) I had already been familiarized with Rodjas illustrations, as I got to paint next to him during the Urban Feedback. I met him to be a smart, open-minded fella, whose Bern dialect and sophisticated illustrations won my sympathies right off the bat. For amateur, he dedicated himself to the topic of Favela, converted in the unmistakable Ro*style. It‘s a black and white baby of course. www.rodjagalli.com
SACHENMACHEN (Thomas Walde & Florian Hauswirth) I’ve known Tom and Flo from our studying days. They studied industry design, I studied media art. We sat on the same bench for about 2 years and put one or the other project into effect. In 2004, Tom and I founded the ‘Die Seiner’ collective, Flo joined us in 03. We share our studio together and since then we rocked so many things together, that I stopped counting. I owe a lot to them. And without them I wouldn‘t be doing, what I do. Sachenmachen.ch initially began as a school project by Tom and Flo. Today it is a remarkable blog about all fields of design and a god source for swiss design. In this issue they introduce the Designer duo Kueng-Caputo. www.sachenmachen.ch
Txt: Lain
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ÂŹ Illustration: Gigi Burn, gigiman@gmx.ch
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HOPEHOPE fashion & tendencies blog // magazine // consulting visual portrait: „snapshots of hopehope“ WWW.HOPEHOPE.CH
future, postindustrial, design, process
feel, culture, music, humor
look, style, fashion, network
magazines, collecting, research, books multidisciplinarity, interaction
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Amateur: Marisa Pichler
Tendencies: trend upwards! THANKS TO THE CONTRIBUTORS: GIGI BURN, RAPHAELA PICHLER
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Brosmind is a multidisciplinary studio based in Barcelona founded by the Mingarro Brothers. They speciallize in illustration, graphic design and product design, although they often develop their own projects. Their style is fresh and optimistic and always combines fantasy and humour. Their work has been awarded several times including Cannes Lions (Gold and Silver, at Cannes 2007), Laus Trophy (Barcelona 2007), Sol de Oro (San Sebastiรกn 2008) , Shorlist (Cannes 2008)... among others. Alejandro Mingarro (Huesca, 1981) studied Industrial Design at Elisava Design School in Barcelona. He also studied in Holland at Arnheim University of Art and in London at Central St. Martin's School of Art. After graduating in 2003 he received the Injuve Design Award, which recognizes most promising young spanish designers. In 2004 he joined FABRICA, the Benetton Research and Communication Center in Italy. Nowadays, he works as a professor at Escola Elisava de Barcelona. Juan Mingarro (Huesca, 1978) graduated in Pharmacy at the University of Barcelona. At the same time he studied at Joso Comic School and at L'Aula Music School. In 2001 he started to study Graphic Design at Elisava Design School and after graduating, he joined the advertising agency Villarrosas. In 2006 his short movie "Hitchcock devoured by the birds", won a Bronze in the Output Awards 06.
www.brosmind.com
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¬ SANDWICH (top left) Client: 55DSL (Italy, 2008) Every season 55DSL selects 5 artist from different countries and gives them total freedom to design their exclusive graphic to be printed on a T-shirt. ¬ LARRY AND THE BLIND GIANT (top right) Limited edition figure (Barcelona, 2007) ¬ FINAL ROUND (middle) Visual identity for Elisava Design School Degree Ceremony (Barcelona, 2008) Real size Champion's belt for graduate students (diplomas) ¬ XMAS (previous page) Mingarro Brothers (Brosmind) portrait by Rebekka Ehlers. Spain, 2006 ¬ THE HAPPY PILLS (next page) Mingarro Brothers (Brosmind) portrait by Rebekka Ehlers. Spain, 2006
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ÂŹ BEAUTY, FAME, MONEY, VACATION Illustrations for press campaign (USA, 2008) Client: Excedrin / Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi NY (Shortlisted in Press at Cannes Lions 2008)
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Copy by Kueng-Caputo „The market for design objects is small and exclusive. Only a copy makes the original suitable for mass production. In the process, despite the apparent close similarity, essential elements are often lost. Copies such as this offend the original, even if at heart they are a compliment to the original idea.“ This is how the two young see their work „Copy by Kueng-Caputo“. With their copies, they exaggerate significant aspects of the original, which are incidentally all new design products launched in the last few months, while at the same time, with their precise approach, honoring the idea behind the original. „In this way the dialog between original and copy represents an homage to the authors. And the originality of the copy shows how inspiring reading such as this can be“, the creators of originals say in conclusion.
Sarah Kueng and Lovis Caputo work with an ironic and playful approach to daily life. The two young designers are based in Zurich, Switzerland and work together since 2005. They specially like to work on given circumstances and they love to analyze the facts till they can figure out a surprising simple solution. For example in the ‚copy by kueng-caputo‘-project the starting point for their work was the given situation: a huge groupexhibition with a lot of very different works of their classmates in a tiny space. They wanted to create a link between those works. By copying the other pieces of work, a dialog between the different works was generated. The visitors wanted to compare the copy with the original and had to walk around looking for the original. In the same way they started the projects for the Salone Satellitete 07. The furniture fair is a giant exhibition. People walk many kilometers and collect thousands of impressions. So what the visitors need, is a calm place to relax for a short moment. Kueng-Caputo offered them a cardboard hotel within the exhibition hall. -.Txt: Lovis Caputo & Sarah Kueng Pics: Raphael Hefti
SACHENMACHEN.CH
swiss underground designhunter If you want to showcase your works, please contact tom@sachenmachen.ch
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¬ studioshot, 2006
¬ swastika, 2006
Thomas Marecki, better known as Marok, is the art director and founder of Lodown magazine. „A vehicle to reflect and introduce upcoming people who leave their mark on society, whether in arts, music, fashion or sometimes in science“, as he says himself. The best european magazine with big influences on artists, skateboarders and other magazines in the past 13 years, we say. He is currently remaining as publisher and creative director for the magazine besides handling numerous personal and corporative projects worldwide. He has worked for high profile clients such as Stüssy, Supreme, Adidas or Burton. Despite his success, Marok is the down to earth guy, that you could ring for eggs on a sunday morning. So he was completly cool about answeing some questions about the early days in magazine business, his actual works or the future of Lodown and himself.
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„With my installation I basically want to create a parallel approach to common things. Link and connect things which are otherwise considered disparate elements, and thus create a present that is both absurd and real just like today’s reality.“ Thomas Marecki
¬ a traphic graffic, 2008
TRAPHIC is the first visual book by Marok in a series of conceptual publications by UnagiBooks, also including an essay by journalist Renko Heuer. TRAPHIC presents an interpretation of various networks, time frames, experiences and the general surroundings of modern-day existence, through a combination of visuals and texts based around the headline: „traffic“ + „graphic“ = TRAPHIC.
¬ Traphic cover +81, 2008
The Japanese Magazine PlusEightyOne released its newest issue, Vol.39 / spring 08, with a exclusively designed cover by Thomas Marecki. The artwork is related to the 'Traphic' project. It shows an Intersection stylized as a Crucifix surrounded by roadblocks.
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What can we expect form Lodown in the future? Hopefully some interresting topics on contemporary culture
Hello Thomas. When did you release the first issue of Lodown magazine? Summer of 1995
What advices can you give to a fresh magazine? Stay fresh. Anything else you want to say? Fight the money!
What circulation did it have? 3000 What did you do before Lodown and when did you know, you wanted to start a magazine? I studied graphic design in Berlin and went to California afterwards to work as a freelance designer for freshly garage-born companies. With the american spirit of doing your own 'thang' and motivated by the magazines of an upcoming youthculture in music and new forms of physical expression (aka skate- and snowboarding or electronic music, which includes hiphop as well), I gathered up with likeminded people and friends to launch an international magazine out of Berlin. What was the main idea of Lodown? It was mainly self-expression driven by activism. I think you can describe lodown as a generation magazine. What was the „urban subculture“-magazine market like? Urban subculture wasn't picked up by marketing in europe at all, it just started. Of course there where precussors like bikini magazine and a handful of others mainly coming over via US media, and Face and ID were the european subculture magazines at that time. You are publisher and art director of Lodown magazine, you run a gallery in Berlin, you do graphics for brands like Stüssy or Supreme, you blog on Art School Vets, damn it. What does a typical Marok day look like? I am not blogging, no way! I simply can‘t cope with it. It‘s mostly communicating by email, lots of coffee and shifting time, iconoclashs/crashs in my head. lots of wondering.
¬ Lodown Number ONE, 1995
As what do you see yourself today? Artist? Enterpreneur? Designer?... I once thought I could become a renaissance man, but I gave up on that. I just do what I think I can handle. Marok with 16? Trying to be cool. Marok with 66? Hopefully a happy man. Is there a project you are especially proud of? Why? I am proud that Lodown still exist and that it is still progressing.
¬ Lodown 17, 1999
Who do you admire? People that believe in what they do in a humanistic way. I wish there was a nobel prize for artists. What was the most important lesson you had to learn in life so far? Everything needs effort and its never enough. What’s your next personal project? I want to paint again or build something. I admire the work of Tom Sachs. ¬ Lodown 48, 2005 ¬ Lodown 62, 2008
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¬ are dead, 2006
¬ owl from nile, 2008
Gasbook series was released by „Gas As Interface“ from Japan. They have published 24 volumes celebrating the work of passionate, leading edge creators in music, fashion, and art like Big Active,Geoff McFetridge, Perks And Mini / Fergadelic, Nagi Noda and many more. GAS BOOK 16 is about Marok and showcases a retrospective of his past works.
¬ GAS BOOK 16 cover
¬ GAS BOOK 16 content
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Amy Gunther, Jason Lee & Giovanni Ribisi in “A Superlative Day“. See the whole photo series in the palm / pocket sized WeSC winter catalogue 2008.
photo: Vincent Skoglund
www.wesc.com
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When I saw the first works of YEHTEH I thought, this must be one of these freaky french guys doing Ed Banger record covers before breakfast. But as often, I was wrong. He is a young swiss graphic designer and illustrator making his first steps to a journey, that will surely take him far. A super clean style, clear visuals and shiny colors, as we loved them 20 years ago. YEHTEH’s actual works are vivid and of true eye love. We talked to the young gun. Hello Yehteh. If you could be a thing, what would you like to be? I guess a robot with feelings would be badass.
playgroundkidz demo.lition mix / robot / 08
playgroundkidz prblmslvrs mix / surgeon / 08
Whats your background? I've heared a story about your mom and star trek. Please tell us some more. hah yeah well, she videotaped every single episode of it, so I was kind of confronted with those shiny stars, and then there were all those space magazines, calendars, mousepads, oh and the rondo veneziano albums... I could go on... but that's just one of my inspirations. I wanted to do art because of my dad, he was always the busy artist. it's a mixture from my parents, one is the inspiration and one is the way to get into it. So, you grew up, with the things you‘re drawing. That's cool. How do you get to your motives? What are your sources of inspiration? I list, scribble, doodle of what I wanna do and when I know what to do, I illustrate it, often from photographs, and from there on it's the way you do it. How would you describe your style? Wildness dipped in sissy sauce. What would be your dream project? I haven't really figured that one out yet? What kind of music do you like? I'm a sucker for rock and electro music. What's your next personal project? Secret ones. What do you love? My girl, my family, everything that has to do with art and spicy stuff.
YEHTEH EXHIBITION: NOV. 1ST - NOV. 28T
www.yehteh.ch
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CARHARTT STORE ZÜRICH, Niederdorf strasse18 Opening: NOVEMBER 1ST 2008, 17:0 0 with AFTERPART Y@SUPERZ ERO ZÜRICH: c‘est easy ici - official Amateur Mag azine
release LOUNGE. MUSIC: PLAYGROUN D KIDZ VS. HOOD REGULATORS
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¬ Ann
The long search for the shortest way. „When I sit at a table and draw, I still feel the same as I did, when I was drawing as a little girl. Drawing has ALWAYS been there. I’m interested in people, the selfportrayal of people, the solitude that connects all humans, the rap-culture, music, people that surpass their own limits…. I perceive my work very contradictive in itself; both rough and vulnerable, as loud and at the same time very quiet, masculine and feminine, rational, but also emotional, almost romantic or even tacky, naive and deep together, chaotic and nevertheless serious…“ Anna-Lina Balke
www.annalinabalke.ch www.willpaintforfood.ch
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nangst, 2006
¬ Anna-Lina, 2007
¬ Yo, 2007
¬ Stacy Epps, 2007
Hello Anna-Lina. What's your favourite song? "Getting Bitches"(Guilty Simpson), "Donut of the Heart" (J Dilla), "Game Over" (Dabrye feat. Phat Kat & Jay Dee), "Gimme the Loot" (Notorious BIG), "The Man to Praise" (Percee P), "The Red" (Jaylib) and many more...!!! ...favourite rapstar? Phat Kat, Guilty Simpson, Percee P, Notorious BIG, Invincible, Tinguely dä Chnächt. word? One ...color? RGB ...popstar? Pharrell Williams ...actor? Lili Taylor, Sean Penn, Edward Norton ...place? Ibergeregg at Fredy‘s Hüttli! ...day? Today ...shoes? Vintage Nike Vandal High Supreme Silver ...waste of time? KISSING ...thing? Poscas, my MAC, my Biggie vinyl action figure, Kafka's leash, cardboard, my Philodendron, parisienne bleue, "edding control" fineliner... How did you get into drawing? As a kid, we didn’t have a TV, so to entertain myself I drew and held conversations with the drawn figures. I never stopped drawing; to tell the truth …I only do well, when I am drawing. How would you describe your style? äääähhm... a mixture of sentimentally & soberness / toughness & vulnerability / feminity & maleness / detailed & abstract
¬ Burma, 2006
¬ Guilty Simpson, 2008
What are you working on at the moment? On a video-clip for Stacy Epps, on a EP-cover for Stacy Epps, making preparations for "jungkunst" in Winterthur (I'm painting there live with Lain & Rodja in the "cu(t)bus_ POP", from october 23th - 26th!) What's your next personal project? Scarfs for "WE TOLD YOU", a huge "self-portrait", a videoclip for phat kat...
What would be your dream project? An Album-cover for Flying Lotus, a Poster for MF Doom, a wall-painting for Phat Kat's private room, a movie, a restaurant,
What do you love? Elio, kafka, my work, music, my family, the forest, to sit on a table and draw (alone or with friends), filou, helvetica, paris, travelling, the internet, writing loooong e-mails, coffee...
When are you the most productive? At night or after brainstorming with my man elio aka oile
Anything else you want to say? BIG-UP, GREETINGS and LOVE to ro*, Sarah Parsons, Mizzo, Lain and Oile!
¬ Aloe, 2008
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¬ top left: Mad Villain, 2008 ¬ top right: Questlove, 2007
¬ bottom: Mos Def, 2008
www.flickr.com/anna_log www.myspace.com/anna_lina
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„This year, I founded the collective ‘we told you’, together with Elio Luethi and my brother Noah. We only do fun-things under this name, without any pressure concerning the content or any demands that need to be met. Our first project, was the T-shirt collection ‘R.I.P.’, which is a homage to our deceased heroes. At this moment, we’re working on a short flick, where the main part is played by a depressed bear, who lives in meager surroundings and suffers from the fact, that he appears different from everyone else. He then realizes, that he can create his own environment and that he can be proud of his individuality. Scarves and beanies will be ready just before christmas.“ Anna-Lina Balke
¬ Wiedikon Youth, 2008
¬ R.I.P. ¬ movie stills
www.wetoldyou.ch www.myspace.com/wetoldyou
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„He was the perfect stupid punk: Leather jacket, beer bootle, louder than everyone else and annoying. The Hard-Ons from Australia were playing. Minutes before the show, he pulled out his dick and took a piss in front of the stage and then smashed a glass on the floor. The right kids started to kick him in the chest and 2 minutes later he was gone. Bye Bye baby. The show was very good.“ Ale Formenti
www.teentrash.org
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Whether they utilize old chlothes found in the streets of Rotterdam or they tailor a „patriotic collection“ with clothes received from people of Liechtenstein: Anna Hilti, Stefanie Thöny and Anita Zumbühl - alias „Salon Liz“ - want to effect and involve the customers in the dressmaking process. „Salon Liz“ manufactures textile originals in various places and in interaction with the environment. Local resources such as second-hand clothes and local events are the primary material for their work. So far, their fashion shows and projects took place in Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and in Liechtenstein. „The people are curious what could come out of their clothes“, says Anna Hilti about the project „Satan takes a holiday“ (2006). Therefore, the artists monopolized a former hairdresser‘s shop into a one month pop-up fashion lab with living dummies, as well as fakir shows, DJs and live music. „A bit of urban underground flair in the center of Schaan“, wrote the Liechtensteiner newspapers. Almost every day the three artists got new clothes. During the full month (September 2006) they redesigned about 120 articles of clothing: jackets, dresses, sweaters, T-shirts and pants in all sizes - all of them creative originals, which were bought by people of all age-groups. 2007 „Salon Liz“ won the „poolbar style award“ at the Poolbar Festival in Feldkirch (A), where they combined the clothes of the poolbar-visitors with their personal stories. A funny and shrill show with models of the environment and live sound by „Late Invitation“ created an atmosphericoverall impression. Since then the „Salon Liz“-fashion shows continue sporadically and in interval with other culture-activistic missions. -.Txt: Michael Büchel Pics: Michael „Igy“ Winkler (top) and Salon Liz (bottom)
www.myspace.com/salon_liz www.modeproduktion.twoday.net www.smalltown.twoday.net
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After 6 tough semesters of architecture at the ETH Zurich - which means a lot of sweat, coffee and long, dark nights only illuminated by my 14“ LCD Notebook screen, I decided to take a deserved break and make an exchange semester: Easy working atmosphere, no time pressure, not keeping appointments, cheap living, unreliablity, nice people, warm weather, a different culture and good food. A few months later I was sitting in my room in the middle of Buenos Aires. 5 degrees Celsius outside and inside. No central heating, no insulation, single glazing and the bathroom with at least hot water was only reachable through the courtyard. What a disaster for a prospective architect. Soon university started. Coming from one of the best universities in Europe and going to one of the best in south America was an absolutely impressive experience. Not just the money facts make this clear: The UBA has over 300’000 students, 1000CHF available for each student per year. The ETH has 14’000 students and 85’714 CHF per student per year. Our building neither had heating nor any air conditioning and when there was heavy rain half of the cafeteria was closed. The classroom had one socket for 80 students, printing was 4 times more expensive than in Zurich but Argentina is about 3 times cheaper than Switzerland. Birds were flying inside the classroom and even if there was a schedule, the classes never started on time. Of course I didn’t expect it to be like home, where people start cursing when the train is 2 minutes in delay, but to start with classes 2 hours later is also a lot for South America, I thought. But it turned out to be absolutely normal for Argentinans. So the first 2 hours are always a good way to get to know the other exchange students, cause they are the only ones who show up on time. Of course I was quite surprised when our professor was just on time on our architecture trip to Cordoba (700km west of Buenos Aires). But then the whole show also started more than 1 hour later as it is an honour for every argentine professor to welcome each of his 300 students personally with a kiss (in Argentina, especially in Buenos Aires, males greet each other with a kiss). The UBA (Unicersidad de Buenos Aires) has quite a good reputation in South America and as it is a public school and for free, it has a
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ÂŹ Besides becoming a good architect, Christoph is a passionated photographer. This is beautiful Anna-Maria caught in the kitchen.
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good mix of rich and poor. But you really see the class differences. The well-heeled, get to university with nice cars, print the drawings on highglossy paper and don’t take part on the architecture trip, while the poor take the bus, draw by hand and use the cardboard from the last-semester model to make the new one. At the end of the career everybody of the about 8000 prospective architects has the same chance to get the degree, but probably will never get the chance to proove his skills on the job. New, innovative architecture is rare in Argentina and so are real architecture offices. Those who have money spend it overseas, the state is highly indebted and young architects who try to work abroad realize that their degree is not that valuable in the rest of the world, as it is in south America. -.Txt & Pics: Christoph Schmid
¬ Going home from UBA (in the back)
¬ inside UBA ¬ an architecture classroom at UBA
„Che Boludo“ is a very common dictum in Argentina and means „Hey man“.
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ÂŹ Argentinian life, 2008
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The MILIEU Galerie/Artspace, situated in Bern’s old town, opened its doors in May 2007 and since then quickly became recognized for being a Swiss bastion of an international, yet unnamed, up and coming DIY art movement originated from the graffiti, punk, hip hop, surf and skateboard culture of the 1990s.
ÂŹ inside MILIEU
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MILIEU Galerie/Artspace Münstergasse 6 PO Box 536 3011 Bern Switzerland www.milieu-digital.com
¬ Parra @ MILIEU
The gallery’s managing team Rémy Pia, Dave Marshal (YUHZIMI), Arci Friede (YUHZIMI) and Vinzenz Meyner (Foederation) aims to reassess and redefine the traditional concept of an art gallery in terms of a young and event oriented audience without losing sight of the conscious art buyers. MILIEU presents artwork suitable for all budgets offering access for everyone and welcoming both the young collector at the beginning of his journey into the art world, whilst also entertaining the more affluent serious clientele. Even though MILIEU has a rather international artist roster including names like Dutch illustrator Parra, San Diego based Kelsey Brookes, New York ambassador Mark Dean Veca or Mike Stilkey from Los Angeles, it is not shy of exhibiting young talent from Switzerland such as Körner Union or Athène Galiciadis. In the upcoming season, artists like internationally acclaimed BLK/MRKT founder Dave Kinsey, gallery friend Parra and Swiss „enfant terrible“ Comenius Röhtlisberger are holding solo shows at MILIEU. -.Txt: Arci Friede / Ian White - Pics: Fatsarazzi
¬ outside MILIEU
www.milieu-digital.com www.yuhzimi.com www.foederation.ch
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ILLUSTRATIONS Thank you for having our back! page 10&11: Designersclub loves Amateur by Designersclub (CH) www.designersclub.ch page 21: In love with Amateur by Mizzo (CH) www.mizzo.ch page 22: Good luck Amateur by Frerk (D) www.frerklebras.de this page: Garlic the Amateur by Shark (CH) www.icon-lab.com
21 October 2006 I enjoyed some Ramen and Gioza as a small midnight snack somewhere in Tokyo on my way home. Colin Schaelli
www.colinschaelli.com
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¬ Cyril boot
¬ Crago
¬ Barajas goes Mid
Yes, the winds of change usher in traditional footwear with a twist of whimsy: proper shoes for playtime. Debutants include the Cyril boot and its low-top sibling, the Crago, stylish stitched-down additions to the men’s line. The Barajas goes mid to keep out the cold. www.pointerfootwear.com
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an European collaboration
Vault by Vans
The basis of this collaboration comes naturally from a long-term friendship between Carhartt and Vans. Both brands are known for being precursors of the European skate and streetwear scene, not only providing durable and comfortable clothing and shoes, but also supporting international events and riders. So for many years, Vans and Carhartt have worked together supporting the same events such as King of Wood in France and athletes like Hugo Liard and Ferit Batir. The concept of the Vans x Carhartt cooperation is simple. Friends put together the most iconic elements from their brand and combine them into one. The result is a unique and limited collaboration reflecting the style and timelessness of each brand. Carhartt has a long tradition in the skilled trades and it stands for innovative design and exceptional standards of quality, durability and comfort. The use of canvas is legendary for this brand and so it seemed natural to choose Carhartt’s own canvas in the customary colour Carhartt brown for this collaboration. Within the Vans collections there are a host of styles that fit Carhartt’s demand, so choosing the right styles was simple. It had to be something casual but at the same time special - the Chukka and the Half Cab are exactly that. The Chukka can be worn on any occasion and always looks smart and the Half Cab combines superior design with the skate spirit from the 90’s, when Carhartt first set up their office in Europe. Both styles have the revolutionary cupsole featuring the ultimate combination of boardfeel, grip, support and cushioning to meet the demands of today’s skateboard pioneers.
Vault by Vans consists of classic Vans styles that are literally pulled from Vans’ 40year vault of designs, but with modern inspiration drawn from street fashion, art, music and the world of surf and skate. For fall 2008, Vans is offering a number of interesting material selections including pony hair, fine leather and even ostrich. Collaborations with punk artist Niagara, fashion model and budding designer Marisa Miller and legendary hot rod company Mooneyes round out the collection. VANS X NIAGARA
CARHARTT X VANS In Switzerland available at Carhartt Store Zürich.
Niagara is the Detroit chanteuse/painter/ provocateur whose fierce depictions of noir-ish Femmes have taken her from cult status to artistic force worldwide. In the late 1970s, Niagara founded the punk band Destroy All Monsters, which would also include soon-to-be arte luminaries, Mike Kelley and Jim Shaw and later Rock God, Ron Asheton (The Stooges). Her painting and singing for this trailblazing art/noise aggregate, helped pave the way for many later women fronted groups, was recently honoured on „100 Greatest Frontmen“ by Classic Rock and Rock & Folk magazines. With her purposely detached vocal styling and deadpan delivery, Niagara and DAM were the alternative. In the 80s, Niagara began to slowly but surely create a Post-Pulp rogues gallery of dangerous dames and dionysian iconography. In 2007, invaded and conquered the Pacifiic Rim, with major exhibits in San Francisco, Sydey, Melbourne and Tokyo. Currently she has designed her own line of urban streetwear with the edgy Japanese designer, Hysteric Glamour. Niagara resides at suburban Detroit with her bodyguard Colonel Galaxy and her silver metalflake 1966 Cadillac Coupe de Ville and a 1969 Dodge Dart 340.
www.carhartt-streetwear.com
vault.vans.com
VOLCOM Todd Bratrud T-Shirt
VOLCOM Sieben Slim Zip Hoodie
THE BANKS LEATHER in black
slim fit, 100% cotton.
slim fit ; 77% cotton & 23% polyester
For fall/winter 2008 VOLCOM is collabrating with TODD BRATRUD.
MICHAEL SIEBEN
„Growing up in the middle of nowhere.... Crookston, MN - a small farming community in rural northern Minnesota. There really wasn‘t much to do unless you were into football, hunting or throwing things off the bridge. I wasn‘t into football or hunting and throwing things off the bridge got old after about 14 years. I moved onto drawing and skateboarding as a means for fun around 1989. Somewhere along the way I ending doing things art related for Consolidated Skateboards for a good number of years. These days I am lucky enough to be doing art on a regular basis for Flip Skateboards, Volcom, The Skateboard Mag, Nike, Familia Skateboard Shop as well as sort of running Teenage Runaway Urethane and also all kinds of odds and ends for Burlesque Design of North America. On top of all that stuff, still skateboarding most every day. All I do is still done as a means for fun, the only real difference is not having to bag groceries for rent money any longer.“ Todd Bratrud
Michael lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Allison and their two cat friends Nathan and Josie. When he isn‘t working full time as the art director for Terrible One, or writing articles and working on illustrations for Thrasher, or trying to get Ed Templeton to print some of his stuff for the Toy Machine, or bugging the guys at Volcom about featured art shirts, or working at the art gallery (Camp Fig) he co-owns, he is most likely passed out on his couch halfway through a romantic comedy which probably stars Hugh Grant. Either that or skating the ditch down the street from his house. But most likely the passed out on the couch thing.
It’s the little things in life which command NIXON’s attention and it is their passion making those little things not only good but great. With it’s dualtime and second subdial, the stainless steel case and soft leather band, the Banks Leather is definately one of them. A watch, that makes every wrist look powerful, selfconfident and smooth. Simply chieflike. Be an amateur - with style! More premium accessories on www.nixonnow.com
www.volcom.ch/art www.msieben.com
www.volcom.ch/art
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Eventhough these shirts are not limited edition, they are damn hard to get. Since forever I have had sort of a thing for holyday T-Shirts. Don‘t know, what it is exactly, but somehow the dodgy designs and the mostly bad quality fascinate me more than a super clean mass product without character right off the shelf. After some years and trips my meager collection grew to a good staple of T-Shirts. Here we go with my favourites from Ecuador and Brazil.
Cotopaxi, Ecuador Cotopaxi is reaching a height of 5,897 m. High enough to pay tribute with a nice old-school block letters style. They printed white at the end, so the black lines from the mountain shine through. That‘s the way aha aha I like it.
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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Not much to say here. Forget New York. Rio is king.
Galapagos, Ecuador On the galapagos islands you have these birds with the blue feet. They are called boobies. And if you blink your eyes, you can see me wearing the bikini. Nice.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Honestly, this shirt is the shit!
Quito, Ecuador See the clouds finishing the artwork. Graffiti Stylee! And I like the „Quito“ font - it reminds me of Yellow Submarines.
Guayaquil, Ecuador I bought this one at the busstation in Guayaquil. I think I paid 2 dollars something. It‘s one of my longtime favs.
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Patrick Schelb & Stefan Hilberer
PRUNE. Half dog - half human. Looks and acts like a dog, drolls all over the place. So fuckin‘ weird.
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THE R1G1 nixonnow.com
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