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Kindra Murphy
Steve Silberberg
first issue of O.K. Periodicals / summer 2008 / NL 8,- euro / www.ok-blog.nl
Vittore Baroni
O.K. Collections
Bob van Dijk
Martijn Oostra Lust
O.K. Collections First issue, Summer 2008 ISSN 1876-2395 O.K. Periodicals is initiated and published twice a year by O.K. Parking. Each periodical explores a different topic with a fresh crew and contributors. © 2008, O.K. Parking All rights reserved. Nothing in this publication can be copied or reproduced without written permission by the publishers.The information in this book is based on material supplied by the contributors. While every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, the publisher does not under any circumstances accept responsibility for errors or ommisions. O.K. Parking Statenlaan 8 6828 WE Arnhem The Netherlands www.ok-parking.com www.ok-blog.nl Editing and Graphic Design William van Giessen Joost van der Steen www.ok-parking.com Bouwe van der Molen www.bouwevandermolen.com Jeremy Jansen www.jeremyjansen.nl Marieke Vromans www.mariekevromans.nl Translation Emily Fernan Bouwe van der Molen Thanks Thijs, David, Lieke, Macarena, Harold, Andy (where are you?), Willem, Roel, Casper, Eike, Izaak B, Maaike, Martijn, Bert & Coen, Ant, Alessandro, Inge, Miesjel, Wiebe, Rob, Tammo and all contributors Subscriptions 1 year (2 issues) €16,00 NL (including postage) Subscribe or order copies: magazine.ok-parking.nl +31(0)26 363930 / info@ok-parking.nl Printed and Sponsored Roos & Roos, Arnhem, NL
Foreword It is indisputable that since 2006 the O.K. BLOG (www.ok-blog.nl, set up by O.K. parking) has had the right to exist. The continuous growth in the number of O.K. Bloggers proves that there is enough animo for an online, interdisciplinary and cross-cultural source of inspiration. Not only is the number of hits big (and steadily increasing), there is an international base that supplies articles on graphic design, interaction design, product design, free art, illustration and photography among other things. Furthermore, and perhaps surprisingly, technological and scientific developments are closely monitored and reported. The unexpected popularity of O.K. BLOG encouraged us to take this project a step further. Behold this first edition of the O.K. Periodicals! Every issue will have its own theme, this time the topic is ‘collecting’. By coupling this magazine to the O.K. BLOG we will experiment with linking articles to blog-entries. The contents of the magazine will undoubtedly inspire just as much as the O.K. BLOG itself! We brought together a group of people who want to work on the magazine, and we gathered an even larger group of peculiar collectors who’s collections and methodology we publish here. We have tried to include a wide range of subjects. There is the collection of Fionas, for example. Fiona Rukschcio photographed women with the same name around the world. To boot, a collection of salt-andpepper-sets that is manic in its quantity (and for sale). By means of columns and articles a glance is taken at how collecting is stimulated and how it evolves in one’s life. We asked Bob van Dijk and Peacay from BibliOdyssey what drives them to collect. By the way, this first edition of the O.K. Periodicals is a collector’s item itself. One item from an exclusive collection has been included in the limited edition of the magazine. O.K. Parking / www.ok-parking.com William van Giessen & Joost van der Steen P.S. We are continually looking for interesting projects, exceptional work, and people who want to cooperate in any way possible for upcoming editions. P.P.S. Not a member of the O.K. BLOG yet? Shame on you! Sign up on www.ok-blog.nl.
Albertus Winkel Figurines and Gnomes
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Manon van Kouswijk Lepidoptera Domestica
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Sander Luske Trow-away Cutlery
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url
Collectors Procreate
blog number
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPbWJPsBPdA
460, 492, 514
697
page number
97
131 – 137
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That is how it goes for the red deer. We humans from time to time show similar behaviour. We still fight for a woman occasionally. It is not usual. Call it civilisation or progress. It has provided us with clothing, make-up, hairdressers and plastic surgeons. It is all about appearances. We seem like birds of paradise. The males with the most magnificent feather ornaments seduce the most females. The long-tailed paradise bird is the largest showboat of all. He measures 117 cm. Cut off its 93 cm tail and all that is left is a tiny bird. Flying is difficult for him. But it is not necessary. On Papua New Guinea there aren’t many carnivores, so you can afford to have an extravagant bunch of feathers.
Now, to get to the point: collecting. Its advantages are disputed. Most people rather throw away things than keep them. People who do keep things are forced to explain why. What is the value of a collection of Elvis-knickknacks? Why should you have all LP’s of the Beatles in your possession? What to do with a showcase filled with model-cars, a room full of teddy bears or boxes full of sugar bags? For us collectors there’s the Amblyornis Inornatus also known as the Wandamen Mountain Bowerbird. As mating season comes the male builds a half open maisonette of brushwood, his bower. Then he starts to collect. Hundreds of stones, flowers, shells, feathers, beetles and bits of glass. The items are arranged. He is busy for hours. Each object gets its own spot. Every bird’s assortment is unique. When the males are ready the females come. They visit the males. They examine the treasures. They step inside the bower at the most impressing collection. The male then knows: you are mine. Offspring is soon expected.
Martijn Brugman www.maeb.nl
Martijn Brugman / MAEB Collectors Procreate
Animals stop at nothing to reproduce. They will fight for the chance to do so. If you don’t, you can forget about a partner in the animal world. Take the red deer. When mating season comes they start to belt out a kind of primal cry. They know: it is time to fight. The does gather to watch. The bucks arrive. They take aim with their antlers and they fight. The winner leaves there with a herd of hinds. He who loses can look forward to a solitary existence. Sometimes even death. Fighting requires much of a red deer. After the fight they are weak. Wolves are on the prowl.
Jan-Willem Doornenbal Lost Cat Posters
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20 Saint Alphonsus Liguori born: Marianella, September 27, 1696 died: Nocera die Pagani, August 1, 1787
Theun Karelse Flying Saints
He was a lawyer who became a priest after an unsuccessful trial. When he visited a hospital he saw a strange light and the building began to shake and he heard a voice saying; ‘Leave the world and give thyself to me!’ It was God. Alphonsus became a hard liner, a moralist. As a bishop he ordered prostitutes to be buried on the garbage dump and had ‘frivolous’ engravings destroyed. He was always in trouble, people did not like him, and he had fights with Popes and moved from one crisis to the next. When Pope Pius the 4th put and end to his career, he suffered depression, anxieties and evil temptations. Alphonsus wore chains round his ankles and wrists and a cross full of nails on his chest and back. He would hit himself until he bled in an old cave and saw Mary appear naked before him. He wrote the most famous book on Maria ever written; ‘Gloria di Maria’. His hobbies included riding, fencing, playing cards and the opera. Distinguisable features: Wingspan: 1,72 m Weight (approx): 41 kg Range and distribution: Italy Color: red and white tunic. Special Features: a pen.
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Saint Catherine of Siena born: Siena 1347 died: Rome April 29 1380 Doctor of the Church and patron saint of Italy.
She was the 23rd child of Jacopo Benincasa. She saw angels as clearly as ordinary people. Aged 7, after a vision of ‘Christ in glory’ she promised her virginity to Him. To show her determination not to marry, she cut off her hair. Her family was furious, but Jacopo ordered her to be left alone and allowed a room for prayer. She mystically married Jesus and his foreskin served as a wedding ring. After her death her hand with the praeputium of Jesus Christ of Nazareth became a relic and the famous part of the penis of the lord, though invisible, was told to swell and turn red for two virgins. She liked to be humiliated and drank cupfuls of cancerous puss from a sick woman that abused her. Catherine got the Pope to move back to Italy from France. In 1378 the Great Schism began and devastated Catherine. She had a seizure and died. Distinguishable features: Wingspan: 1,62 m Weight (approx): 44 kg Range and distribution: Italy Color: white and brown tunic. Special features: ring, stigmata, lily.
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Saint Francis Fasani born: Lucera, August 6, 1681 died: Lucera, November 29, 1742 Also known as Anthony Fasani, a priest and teacher of philosophy, who when praying sometimes rose above the ground. He thought the fastest way to become a saint was trough laughter. Distinguishable features: Wingspan: 1,76 m Weight (approx): 83 kg Range and distribution: Italy Color: black tunic and beard Special features: none
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Saint Francis Xavier born: castle of Xavier, April 7, 1506 died: on the Isle of Sancian near China, December 3, 1552 Apostle of the Indies and Japan. After completing his philosophical studies in France, Xavier received the degree of Master of Arts and was a lecturer on Aristotelian logic, physics and metaphysics. He then turned to theology. In 1541 he went to the Indies and Japan. Apparently a hardworking man, he was a tremendously successful missionary, courageously dined with head hunters, washed scores of lepers in Venice and baptized 10.000 children in a single month. He spoke many languages and died in China when he contracted a fever. Distinguishable features: Wingspan: 1,70 m Weight (approx) : 72 kg Range and distribution: Spain, Italy, India, West-Indies, Japan. Color: black tunic and beard Special features: a bell, a torch, a globe or cross and lilies.
Saint Joseph of Cupertino born: Cupertino, June 17, 1603 died: Osimo, September 18, 1663 A Franciscan friar whose ecstatic flights earned him the title ‘Flying Friar’.
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As a boy he was sickly, absent-minded, nervous and extremely hot tempered and quite useless because his ecstasies made it impossible to do any jobs. He had the habit of stopping in the middle of a sentence, not remembering the conversation and to stand still or kneel at awkward moments. Joseph was sent to Grotella in 1628 where he performed many miracles. For 10 years the surrounding countryside witnessed the wonders of the friar. He kept drawing such crowds, that his desperate superiors sent him from convent to convent, hidden from the world and basically imprisoned. His life was in danger when he was denounced to the Inquisition at Naples, but was freed after three ‘examinations’. He was sent to Pope Urban the 8th and when Joseph saw the Holy Father he flew into the air until the Pope ordered him down. Hordes of Pilgrims followed Joseph around, the Spanish ambassador and his group saw him take off over their heads to the high altar, uttering his usual shrill cry, and the Duke of Brunswick became a Catholic after twice seeing Joseph in ecstasy. The brothers used needles and burning embers to try and get his attention, but they could not get him out off trance. He would be caught by a vision that fixed him like a statue. He might fly around with his plate at dinner or suddenly fly into a tree when working outside, completely caught by amazement of the world. Pope Innocent the 10th ordered him to retire and he spent the rest of his life in complete seclusion. Distinguishable features: Wingspan: 1,66 m Weight (approx): 62 kg Range and distribution: Italy Color: various Special features: none
25 Saint Ludgardis of Tongeren born: Tongeren, 1182 died: Abby of Aywieres, June 16, 1246 Jesus appeared to her when she was a young girl. She was one of the first to venerate the Holy Hart of Jesus. Ludgardis was one of the great many holy virgins, all saints are. Some of the nuns identified so strongly with Mary that they slept with a little Jesus doll and fed it. They would actually feel pregnant with the Lord. The denial of lust could cause the lives of saints to be completely dominated by desire. To take the mind of such things they would inflict pain on themselves. But it was also accepted for nuns that were afflicted with the ‘furor uterinus’ to use false penises or candles. The ‘godemiché’ or ‘plaisir des dames’ was a 21,5 cm long object covered with drawings and equipped with two balls filled with milk that could serve as the ejaculation. In 1780 there even was a factory for these things in Paris. Ludgardis had many visions and sometimes levitations, which made her famous, even abroad. The last 11 years of her life she was blind. Distiguishable features: Wingspan: 1,67 m Weight (approx): 88 kg Range and distribution: Belgium Color: black and white tunic Special features: hart
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Saint Peter Claver born: Verdu, 1580 died: Cartagena, 1654 Claver, Jesuit missionary, ‘Saint of the Slaves’, was not only a missionary but a doctor and teacher. He greeted the incoming ships at Cartagena coming from Africa with a small group of interpreters. Carrying the Holy Cross, he went into the slave ships where on the long voyages epidemics and suffering had taken their toll, there he tended the ill. He converted more than 300.000 by 1615. Stories of his miracles passed among the slave community. In his last years he suffered a paralysis. Distinguishable features: Wingspan: 1,60 m Weight (approx): 59 kg Range and distribution: Spain, South-America. Color: black tunic Special features: accompanied by slaves or insects
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Saint Theresa of Avila born: Avila, march 28, 1515 died: Alba, oct 4, 1582 A pretty girl who grew up reading about saints and played at being a hermit in the garden. As a teenager she cared only about boys and clothes like all kids. Being popular made it difficult to become a nun but she did anyway. Immediately she got malaria, and the medication she received was poor so she never really recovered. She started having visions. One eyewitness Sister Anne of the Incarnation said Theresa levitated a 40 cm of the ground for about half an hour. She would crawl around on the floor in ecstasy calling for her ‘sweet beloved Youngman’. ‘It seemed to me when I tried to make some resistance, as if a great force beneath my feet lifted me up. I know of nothing with which to compare it, but it was much more violent than other spiritual visitations, and I was therefore as one ground to pieces’. Distinguishable features: Wingspan: 1,59 m Weight (approx): 58 kg Range and distribution: Spain Color: various Special features: an arrow, heart and arrow or whispering pigeon
Bouwe van der Molen Cross-bred Animals
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www.luske.nl
Index 1
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1—5
6—9
10 — 12
Albertus Winkel Retired construction worker Vriezenveen, the Netherlands
Manon van Kouswijk Expressive Artist Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Sander Luske Designer Arnhem, the Netherlands
Figurines and Gnomes Unknown number of items
Lepidoptera Domestica 638 items
Trow-away Cutlery 100+ items
Started collecting ‘rather more than 30 years ago’ a cousin and her daughter started to make figurines and gnomes, he found them ‘simply beautiful’ and he started to collect them. It has gotten out of hand a bit since then. He does not have a preference for gnomes or mills everything is welcome. He combs through flea- markets, meets another collector from time to time to exchange objects with and furthermore he gets much from friends, acquaintances that have found something for him or have something to discard, also collections of people that have died are brought to him.
In 2005 it innocently started with the carving and cutting of butterflies from a few objects.
As a designer I am fascinated by a throw-away product like a fork to eat fries with because it exists in so many alternatives. Started in 1990.
Photography by: Thijs de Lange www.thijsdelange.nl
Photography by: Uta Eisenreich
www.mededeler.nl
www.fo.am
www.mededeler.nl/allepoezenposters.php
www.flyingsaints.blogspot.com
www.bouwevandermolen.com
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Jan-Willem Doornenbal Information Designer Haarlem, the Netherlands
Theun Karelse Illustator/Researcher Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Bouwe van der Molen Graphic Designer Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Lost Cat Posters 410 items
Flying Saints 22 items
Cross-bred Animals 217 items
I think about ten years ago (when I was studying at the Rietveld Academy) I wanted to design things which would seamlessly fit in the street scene, and would start to look strange when it’s closely looked at. These little posters vary from ordinary rough draft notes to beautiful designs, but in the background there are people everywhere who care for their cats and show this affection in many different ways.
In 2000, after researching levitation in the library. There I encountered an article concerning levitation in the Catholic Encyclopaedia, where some names of saints were mentioned! There was no book on this subject. So I decided to write a book concerning the matter. In the same format as bird guides, with images of saints in full flight.
I started cross-breeding plastic animals two years ago when my brother asked me to make an identity for his band ‘Livesized’. It has become an addiction.
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Bibliodyssey Digital Materia Obscura
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page number
blog number
url
Pursuit of the Peculiar 154 – 157
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“BibliOdyssey is a visual weblog of rare book illustrations, graphic art, illuminated manuscripts, lithographs and Renaissance prints, gathered from across the internet.”
BM: It seems a collector is a special kind of animal. Most collectors do not stop at one collection, many of them collect collections. Have you always been a collector, and if so, what did you first collect?
“In general, individual entries focus on a specific book, illustrator or motif. The images are accompanied by written background and links to the source material and further information. The unifying theme –visual materia obscura– was a phrase plucked from the ether as I hastily sketched out the intent of the site when it began two years ago.”
PK: It would be true to say that I have been a ‘passionate’ person all my life. By this, I mean that, whatever I have been involved with, whatever has held my interest, I have been fairly besotted or obsessed with pursuing it. As a youngster this was mostly sport: soccer and athletics. From the age of 10 to 15 I was a very keen collector of stamps. It wasn’t just me, my brother and mother also collected, although we did it individually. It was a way to learn about countries and to see how their culture was represented in illustrations and also became something of a jigsaw puzzle, where I had some parts and spent a lot of time trying to find missing stamps. We were fortunate in so far as a friend of my father’s died and left us a box that contained thousands of stamps, quite a few of them rare and worth a lot of money. I think my mother still collects them sometimes, but my brother and I both lost interest eventually. I think that was about the only background to collecting that I can think of in my life.
The above is Paul K’s introduction to the book that was published based on his blog. I’ve been a long-time user of BibliOdyssey and its del.icio.us archives. As a graphic designer I draw inspiration from these works dug-up from the archival trenches of the internet. I approached the blog’s maker to ask him about digital collecting.
On the internet, it is all at the end of a mouse click
www.ilijin.com/worldmap.htm
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BM: Many collectors are continuously searching for the next mint condition ‘missing’ item. The material value of a historic image on the internet is nihil, whereas the value of their physical originals can be priceless. What are the differences between a physical collection, and a digital one? PK: I suppose the most obvious difference is that income, price and market economics play no real part in the online world. Surveying and collecting from existing digital material (as opposed to, say, purchasing specific books and prints and scanning and uploading them yourself – which is not what I do) is totally egalitarian and so becomes a function of dedication, time and searching and is not limited by what you can afford. Nor is it limited by what interesting pieces are available in the marketplace. In my world, all the pieces to make up a collection are, to all intents and purposes, already there. So it is simply (!) a matter of finding them. One of the main reasons that prints and illustrations appealed to me, beyond their artistic interest, was because the digital medium is only able to cope well with 2-dimensional objects. It is very difficult to get a proper appreciation of sculptural pieces nor, indeed, can one appreciate the depth of the paint on canvas in traditional painting art (this is just my opinion).
Sculpture and painting are definitely artistic pursuits whose aesthetic qualities are best experienced in the real world. The so-called ‘flat art’ of prints, etchings, book engravings, watercolour sketches and drawings are able to be appreciated to a close approximation to the physical world by viewing digital images of the originals; or at least, there is not much lost by seeing them on a computer screen versus in a book on the desk in front of you. In the real world 99.99999% of people of the world are not curators or gallery workers or even library workers so we are all subject to the capricious tastes and indulgences and timing and locations decided by the controllers and gallery owners and local policies (and politics too) as to where art exhibitions can be experienced. If you don’t live in a big city or you have a very busy life or you are not very mobile, then your access to art is severely restricted. On the internet, it is all at the end of a mouse click. And, if you are like me and you want to find the hidden, unusual gems in renaissance prints or Victorian books that most people didn’t even know existed (including me), then there are free blog services in which you can be your own curator; in which you can display your own collection(s). It’s that simple. It’s total freedom. The only restriction is your own imagination and desire.
www.google.nl
www.beflix.com
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Creating a digital collection also means that there are no geographical (or geopolitical, for that matter) boundaries that will prevent you from forming a group of images that come from a wide range of countries. I’m able to follow an artist or a thematic subject without worrying about where the individual artworks are located. I can have one picture from Germany, one from Ecuador, one from New York and so on – building up a collection from artist ‘A’ or from, say, the pre-Raphaelites. In the real world, it might be once a decade where a touring exhibition of major works dealing with one artist or one subject is assembled. And of course, you will need to live near to the exhibition gallery or be able to go there when the exhibition is showing. A digital collection allows a greater user control too with respect to accessing background information. Although real world galleries are good and have taped and written descriptions you can hear and read as you walk around, it will always pale in comparison to the extent of information that you can find using a search engine. Again, it’s the freedom you have to go as deep as you want. The same might be said (in many cases) for looking closely at images. When you are in the real world, artworks are either under glass or behind rope lines. It’s impossible to see the amazing details up close; but often with digital images
there are zooming features that let you see details at much higher magnification that you could see in real life, even with your eye up close to the picture. In that way, digital images can actually improve the experience of appreciating the artworks. I would not say it is always an advantage however. And I would not try to argue that it’s better to see the digital image versus physical object (and the only overriding advantage is the zooming ability to my mind). I believe it is always preferable to see the real illustration. It allows a full appreciation of the context –the look of the paper, the wear and tear on a book, the degree of staining in a manuscript– and many of these details give greater life to the artwork, make their significance and fragility more deeply felt. Sometimes we are at the mercy of the technology which means digital images are not as good as the physical counterpart. Poor quality photographs, low resolution files, incorrect processing, unbalanced colours, stupid file type choice… all of these factors can contribute to make the visual quality of an image less ‘real’ or a poor substitute to seeing the original. In some cases this can alter a person’s understanding of an artist or artwork whereby they form a negative opinion based on poor digital quality. (This can happen a little bit in the physical world too, though. If you go to an exhibi-
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www.milliondollarhomepage.com
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tion and the lighting is very poor or it’s so crowded that you don’t get enough time standing in the ‘sweet’ spot where the object can be best appreciated, you might walk away being underwhelmed.) At least online, if you do encounter a poor quality digital image, there is always the possibility that if you search further, you might just find another image of the same drawing or illustration made by another gallery or library which is of higher quality and closer to the seeing the original. There are some subtle contrasting differences too. When you have to plan to visit an exhibition and it takes effort, your mind is concentrated on the objects you are going to see. You make sure that you spend the time and try and take in the object qualities because it has required energy on your part to have this experience. This is also enhanced by them being in “hallowed” galleries and libraries that make the experience all the more important (quasi-religious sometimes). When we are in the exhibition space, there is at least some level of peer interaction: we see and hear other people reacting to the display which can make us more aware and ‘tuned in’ to absorb the atmosphere and make the visit a lasting memory. Online we have a tendency towards very short attention spans and so displays of great art, at
which we may spend some hours experiencing in the real world, can be skimmed in 5 minutes if we encounter them at the ‘wrong’ time in our web viewing schedule. It’s easy to understand someone being less than impressed if they spend 2 seconds looking at a Leonardo anatomy sketch just because the web mentality imposes a kind of quantity-over-quality mindset. We don’t linger for the same length of time as we do in a gallery. If someone doesn’t point out why some piece is rare or unique or amazing, then we are just as likely to skip over it and miss an opportunity to ‘feel’ more about the encounter. Similarly, in real galleries, it’s often easy in our wandering to identify the most valuable or rarest material because it’s obvious by the way it’s displayed. Online, everything is ‘worth’ the same. I fear I may have missed a central part of your question in my contrasting the physical and digital dimensions of display and viewing quality. I’m not sure if this really addresses so much the ‘collection’ expectations of your question necessarily. But then again, I am only speaking here about that which I know: illustration collections. Let me add this: Both real and digital worlds offer advantages and disadvantages and I believe now, after thinking about all of the above observations,
del.icio.us/BibliOdyssey/medicine
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that our lives can be best enhanced by experiencing both of these dimensions. Go and see an exhibition. Find a book or an artist or a genre that you find attractive or moving or amazing. Then go online and research it further.
galleries or buy a book or start a course of study. I like to know that people are moved by similar appreciation of amazing artistic works. A parallel consequence of having my blog is that it has occasionally motivated other people to start their own curating blog and yet other people have said Oh, one thing I completely forgot but is fairly that the way I curate my blog has influenced the important to me is the ability that digital files offer way they curate their blog. All of these effects are in terms of adjusting images. It means that, for my important to me but they remain the cream on the purposes, I can use a paint or photoshop program cake. It is still a hobby, a passion that I pursue for my own intellectual stimulation first and foremost. and remove age related marks and stains to get the illustration looking closer to how it was when it was first made. The beauty of course is that this kind of “restoration” doesn’t harm the original but Interview conducted by Bouwe van der Molen let’s us see it more clearly. BM: I suspect that, like the keeper of a diary, the collector is making a document for posterity– something to be remembered by. What do you hope the visitors of your blog will learn from your digital collection? PK: My modest hope is that the displays –the collections– that I put up on my website cause some similar ripples of interest; that people will see some weird or wonderful illustration and they will read the background commentary that I usually provide and be prompted to go and research further about the subject or artist, that they will go to
Jeremy Jansen Digitized by Google
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Eike Dingler Instead of Walking the Dog
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Luk Sponselee Mascot Maidens
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Scanner Photo Booth Portraits
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Fiona Rukschcio Fiona’s
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http://www.crookedtongues.com LOGGED IN AS: votske _______________________________________ NAME: votske RANKING: 3 SHOE SIZE: US 8.5 AGE: 27 YRS LOCATION: NL JOINED: 6th December 2003 POSTS: 4154 URL: http://www.subwalk.nl FAVOURITE SHOES: air max 87, 90 & 93, sk8 high, suede / clyde, dunk high & low, presto, mowabb FORUM SIGNATURE: The Notorious J.O.S.
Posted: 06. April. 2008 - 20:48:54 [01] vochel @ 07. 04. 08 - 10:17:54 switi jos ................................................................. [02] elperro @ 07. 04. 08 - 03:28:14 Nice, even if not made in England... ................................................................. [03] papitas @ 07. 04. 08 - 01:47:00 Lime... yummy ................................................................. [04] Gonz @ 06. 04. 08 - 22:41:39 Very you J....when are you coming to London BTW? ................................................................. [05] llywarch @ 06. 04. 08 - 22:27:11 Proper Jos! .................................................................
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[06] Tommy-Tan @ 06. 04. 08 - 22:22:02 Quality mate ................................................................. [07] AirAlarm @ 06. 04. 08 - 22:15:12 dope jos! .................................................................
Posted: 05. April. 2008 - 09:40:13 [01] babatunde1 @ 06. 04. 08 - 03:10:00 love the sendhelps. ................................................................. [02] R_N_S @ 05. 04. 08 - 20:19:25 Curries for me too. Wierd pic though... ................................................................. [03] elperro @ 05. 04. 08 - 15:39:01 Curries... ................................................................. [04] vochel @ 05. 04. 08 - 14:47:25 i need another pair of send helps, dope jos! .................................................................
Votske™ Sneakers
[05] Sneaker52 @ 05. 04. 08 - 14:42:17 I need the currys and send helps ................................................................. [06] braniff intl @ 05. 04. 08 - 13:03:27 Nice Jos. ................................................................. [07] AirAlarm @ 05. 04. 08 - 12:55:18 HEHE! im seeing subwalk send helps for me ................................................................. [08] Big Spoon @ 05. 04. 08 - 12:50:04 send helps and curries are both lush! ................................................................. [09] sausage @ 05. 04. 08 - 11:32:04 cullies fol me ................................................................. [10] crookiecook @ 05. 04. 08 - 11:23:31 whore ................................................................. [11] roblobster @ 05. 04. 08 - 11:16:21 c´s take it, but all nice! .................................................................
Posted:
08. March. 2008 - 09:4
[01] llywarch @ 08. 03 YES!!!!! .....................................
[02] basel4000 @ 08. 0 you make em lookin go .....................................
[03] braniff intl @ 08. 0 Niceness Jos. .....................................
Posted:
Posted:
01. April. 2008 - 20:55:30
02. March. 2008 - 20:32:39
[01] frasemac27 @ 04. 04. 08 - 22:43:45 love the 180,adis are fresh .................................................................
[01] Sneaker52 @ 03. 03. 08 - 20:23:10 i regret not buying both the colours of the DCs in the main-source sale, sure they were elss than £30 too :-( .................................................................
[02] Black X List @ 03. 04. 08 - 14:50:06 I like some of the 90s boots, and these look much better on than I’d imagined, I’d be tempted if I see em .................................................................
[04] johnnysmith1500 @ 11:49:19 Great looking shoe. .....................................
[05] hobbster2001 @ 0 very nice .....................................
[06] saul goode @ 08. nice, woulda liked thes ..................................... 57
[02] stephan2 @ 03. 03. 08 - 15:07:04 okwahns for me! .................................................................
Posted:
[03] FRESHHORST @ 02. 04. 08 23:35:40 180s rule! .................................................................
[03] johnnysmith1500 @ 03. 03. 08 08:04:33 Okwahns are my choice. .................................................................
[01] dranonymus @ 07. 03. 08 - 17:45:49 kwinz said it... .................................................................
[04] dewantod @ 02. 04. 08 - 13:55:01 jabbar for me..... .................................................................
[04] H4ZMAT @ 03. 03. 08 - 00:19:54 oh i do like those DCs .................................................................
[02] elperro @ 07. 03. 08 - 12:54:27 Really like those TNTs... .................................................................
[05] vochel @ 02. 04. 08 - 13:03:56 i like jos! af 180’s for me.. .................................................................
[05] votske @ 02. 03. 08 - 20:32:42 yesterday daytime: okwahns yesterday nighttime: 180 beaters today: DCs .................................................................
[03] Gonz @ 07. 03. 08 - 12:42:30 Sorry J....meant ‘Lookin good J’..... .................................................................
[06] Flashboy @ 02. 04. 08 - 09:34:47 so some1 bought these 90 boots? .................................................................
07. March. 2008 - 10:11:41
[07] ayrmax @ 08. 03. Lovely .....................................
[04] Gonz @ 07. 03. 08 - 12:21:51 Lookin good Q .................................................................
[07] papitas @ 02. 04. 08 - 08:18:13 180s are so dope. .................................................................
[05] braniff intl @ 07. 03. 08 - 12:04:45 What Q said. .................................................................
[08] nicolorossi @ 02. 04. 08 - 08:04:28 same as RNS .................................................................
[06] Neo80 @ 07. 03. 08 - 11:00:04 Also for me, I need to find a pair in us10 or something around it =) .................................................................
[09] elperro @ 02. 04. 08 - 02:20:57 Photobucket ................................................................. [10] shifty_dave @ 02. 04. 08 - 00:40:02 Jabbars win. Nice. ................................................................. [11] R_N_S @ 02. 04. 08 - 00:18:42 180s, yes! .................................................................
[07] KWiNZ @ 07. 03. 08 - 10:27:05 wildedges please ................................................................. [08] votske @ 07. 03. 08 - 10:11:42 today: wildedges yesterday: boks wednesday: TNTs wednesday night skateboarding session: chocolates
Posted:
ed:
arch. 2008 - 09:40:47
14. March. 2008 - 10:50:13
lywarch @ 08. 03. 08 - 21:37:02 !!! ........................................................
[01] JonnyM @ 17. 03. 08 - 00: these look great here - might ha a pair ...................................................
asel4000 @ 08. 03. 08 - 14:12:48 make em lookin good... Posted: ........................................................ 10. March. 2008 - 11:06:44 raniff intl @ 08. 03. 08 - 12:05:32 ess Jos. [01] shifty_dave @ 10. 03. 08 - 19:06:05 ........................................................ NBs are killer. ................................................................. ohnnysmith1500 @ 08. 03. 08 :19 [02] sinnerman @ 10. 03. 08 - 12:44:36 looking shoe. Nice view of these 574s ........................................................ .................................................................
Posted: 13. March. 2008 - 10:06:46 [01] pbauerAJ @ 13. 03. 08 - 18:45:39 yes both nice ................................................................. [02] llywarch @ 13. 03. 08 - 16:40:35 Cool!!! .................................................................
obbster2001 @ 08. 03. 08 [03] - 10:47:44 alecs1 @ 10. 03. 08 - 12:33:09 nice nice Cabs ........................................................ .................................................................
[03] Sneaker52 @ 13. 03. 08 - 12:25:58 both nice .................................................................
aul goode @ 08. 03. 08 - 10:27:59 [04] johnnysmith1500 @ 10. 03. 08 woulda liked these.. 12:32:03 ........................................................ Liking the Cabs, NB not doing much for 58 me. yrmax @ 08. 03. 08 - 10:22:47 ................................................................. y ........................................................ [05] pbauerAJ @ 10. 03. 08 - 12:20:20 574 for me .................................................................
[04] crookiecook @ 13. 03. 08 - 11:30:43 smashing .................................................................
[06] J-Murda @ 10. 03. 08 - 11:52:34 Cabs for me.... very nice. ................................................................. [07] votske @ 10. 03. 08 - 11:06:45 today: 574s yesterday: ninja cabs .................................................................
[05] Gonz @ 13. 03. 08 - 10:55:56 Nice J,.....Can’t get used to the grey laces in those campus though for some reason. ................................................................. [06] befax. @ 13. 03. 08 - 10:45:05 nice ................................................................. [07] votske @ 13. 03. 08 - 10:06:47 today: Jordunks yesterday: Campus samples .................................................................
[02] elperro @ 15. 03. 08 - 16:09 Likem... ...................................................
[03] onyx78 @ 15. 03. 08 - 01:4 Love Okwahns - but that shiney put off on this pair. ...................................................
[04] pharoah @ 14. 03. 08 - 22:3 yeah-yeah!!!!!! ...................................................
[05] Black X List @ 14. 03. 08 they always look great on peopl on the shelf they never convince
of course they look great here ...................................................
[06] Gonz @ 14. 03. 08 - 12:35: Can’t make my mind up on thes ...................................................
[07] Sneaker52 @ 14. 03. 08 - 1 nice, I like the grey too. ...................................................
[08] votske @ 14. 03. 08 - 12:08 @ Ry, the more you wear them, the extreme shininess is going a this is one of those trainers that well worn... ...................................................
[09] En_ieka @ 14. 03. 08 - 11:3 I like ‘m, still doubting. ...................................................
[10] r2b2 @ 14. 03. 08 - 11:27:4 saw these in the swindon nike o with the greys for 30 notes. even price i still couldnt justify them a shiny leather.. look good here th damn. ...................................................
[11] votske @ 14. 03. 08 - 10:50 can’t stop wearing these! ...................................................
:41:28 ave to cop
...............
9:46
...............
42:47 y leather’s a
...............
35:02
...............
16:05:32 le’s feet but e me
...............
:08 se. ...............
12:30:06
...............
8:48 , the more away. i guess look better
...............
31:06
...............
46 outlet along n at that as hate the hough..
...............
0:13
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Posted: 15. March. 2008 - 10:00:45 [01] llywarch @ 15. 03. 08 - 21:00:01 Hahaha! Where’s that lovely smile of yours Jos?!! ................................................................. [02] onyx78 @ 15. 03. 08 - 16:58:21 Meth Lab? ................................................................. [03] elperro @ 15. 03. 08 - 15:32:21 Whats there? Absinte? ................................................................. [04] ziggy_z3001 @ 15. 03. 08 - 15:05:24 haha VV.. i actually lol’d ................................................................. [05] Subliminal* @ 15. 03. 08 - 12:34:50 or he could be working on a few free festival tickets? ................................................................. [06] kozsie @ 15. 03. 08 - 12:01:39 QUOTE: whats the funnel for? Pish, he’s Dutch mind. ................................................................. [07] KWiNZ @ 15. 03. 08 - 10:34:17 tip: snap a pic later during the day, you’ll look more awake lol lovely cabbies ................................................................. [08] Subliminal* @ 15. 03. 08 - 10:17:11 whats the funnel for? ................................................................. [09] votske @ 15. 03. 08 - 10:00:46 half cabs for a nice day in my shop .................................................................
Posted: 23. March. 2008 - 19:43:24 [01] PROBS @ 23. 03. 08 - 22:11:31 close call for me ................................................................. [02] AirAlarm @ 23. 03. 08 - 21:47:59 superstars(L) ................................................................. [03] LY..... @ 23. 03. 08 - 20:32:29 all nice but ss are my fave. ................................................................. [04] votske @ 23. 03. 08 - 19:43:24 yesterday: me in 576s, Mitch in Vans today: SS1s .................................................................
Posted:
59
28. March. 2008 - 09:17:31
[01] matt_white88 @ 28. 03. 08 - 20:16: dope wind runners! ................................................................ [02] elperro @ 28. 03. 08 - 18:05:36 monorail @ 28. 03. 08 - 12:47:03 edges and mocs... nice
^ SAME ^ ................................................................
[03] AirAlarm @ 28. 03. 08 - 14:47:07 HEHEH dope jos! ................................................................
[04] roblobster @ 28. 03. 08 - 14:09:18 all nice but the vans for me! espc. the windies -bonkers! ................................................................
[05] ghettrocentricity @ 28. 03. 08 - 13:5 great shape on the windies.
wish they werent so plasticky though. ................................................................
[06] monorail @ 28. 03. 08 - 12:47:03 edges and mocs... nice ................................................................
[07] Platoni @ 28. 03. 08 - 11:55:22 same like nfin ................................................................
[08] kangas @ 28. 03. 08 - 10:51:40 Dope windrunners. Your being all quiet o
Emily CM Anderson Crystals and Sunglasses
60
61
Ralf Steegs Bread Tags
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
Hyo-Jung Kwon “Maybe, Maybe”
70
71
72
www.eikedingler.de
www.kolonne.nl
37 — 39
40 — 43
44 — 45
Jeremy Jansen Graphic Designer Arnhem, the Netherlands
Eike Dingler Graphic Designer Cologne, Germany
Luk Sponselee Director Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Digitized by Google ±500 items
Instead of Walking the Dog Unknown number of items
Mascot Maidens ±400 items
Collected during my graduation in 2006.
A long time ago because I was bored and got a camera.
I don’t exactly know anymore, but at a given moment an enjoyable bio-milieu tortilla chip came, with its associated packing. On the packing there was a simple traditional woman stomping the corn. I foundit very strange to see that a rather modern product would praise such a classic image. While looking around in the supermarket I found more and more packing with a woman as bait. It is still role confirming in this modern society.
73
Index 2
www.jeremyjansen.nl
www.scannerdot.com
74
www.fiona-rukschcio.com
www.votske.web-log.nl
46 — 47
48 — 53
54 — 57
Scanner Composer and Flaneur Electronique London, UK
Fiona Rukschcio Diplomat Vienna, Austria
Votske™ Commercial/Creative Entrepreneur Arnhem, the Netherlands
Photo Booth Portraits 100+ items
Fiona’s 90 items, hunting for 200
Sneakers ±150 items
I began collecting photo booth portraits when I first found them as a teenager and have continued until this day.
I started to really photograph around the turn of 2006/2007.
My sneaker collection was stimulated by skateboarding. As a skateboarder I wear many pair of shoes. And as a skateboarder who is a little fashionconscious, I own several colours of skate shoes to skate with. When I started to work at a skate shop I bought skate shoes at a cheaper price, I couldn’t stop myself. But at a given moment I found out that more sneakers exist next to skate shoes. I started in 2000 with a Dunk and an Air Max 90 and my interests grew and so does my collection. In the first place I limited myself to only collect and wear Nikes, but for 2 to 3 years I have bought other brands and noticed that I have to start buying skate shoes again.
www.ecmanderson.net
www.hyokwon.nl
58 — 59
60 — 67
68 — 71
Emily CM Anderson Graphic Designer New York City, United States
Ralf Steegs Web administrator / Salesman Arnhem, the Netherlands
Hyo-jung Kwon Graphic Designer The Hague, the Netherlands
Crystals & sunglasses 23 and 27 items
Bread tags 561 items with date
Maybe, Maybe Always too much and never enough
Due the nature of the collection, they get lost and broken quite frequently... and new ones are purchased, sometimes I’m given a pair, sometimes I lend them out… the number is always changing. I would like to collect 100 crystals.
Sandwiches are delicious, 01-01-2001
During my final exam period in 2006. The subject of my final exam was “Maybe, Maybe” and then I started collecting as many maybes as I could around me. I thought J. D. Salinger’s books were perfect for the collection not only because of the fact that he’s my favourite author but also the ambiguity and uncertainty of the characters.
With the sunglasses I started at 15, when I started thrift shopping. Whenever I came across an interesting pair I had to get them, even if I couldn’t possible wear them, some of them are prescription… With the crystals, I started that one year ago, they are part of a larger project I want to make someday when I finally collect enough…
75
Pierre Derks Primal Urge
76
url
Primal Urge
blog number
www.ok-parking.com
page number
884
30 – 37
128 – 130
77
In our current existence full of digitalism, bonemarrow-sperm and hikikomori we seem to be more removed from (our) nature than ever. Still it remains accepted to trace back our behaviour and functions to the prehistoric. It is indeed true that we still produce adrenalin during tension, have the desire to multiply ourselves and bash in brains on a massive scale. In a way we should be glad that our primal urges have not yet disappeared due to evolution. Because this means that it is going to take a long time before we will intuitively stand in traffic-jams and facial hair becomes extinct. We are still that primitive man, to be divided in hunters and gatherers. I would gladly categorise myself as a (butch) hunter. My kind-heartedness and dislike of meat consumption, however, make me a forager. I am not the only one who has reached this conclusion. William e-mailed me to ask if I wanted to contribute to this magazine. The reason for this was the fact that several people had mentioned my name in conversations concerning the subject of ‘collecting’. They had probably been eye witnesses to the stacks of banana boxes filled with my collections. It all started with sliding open a drawer of the desk at my grandmother’s. There I found a nice old
matchbox, which I was allowed to take home with me. It was probably already the graphic designer in me who could appreciate and be fascinated by the small printed paper boxes. At home I found a box with the logo of a supermarket which no longer existed in the kitchen drawer, a collection had started. I passed by the tobacconist weekly to ask if he had got new matchboxes, I pinned up notes at the supermarket and my shoe boxes filled up. On my 11th birthday I was given the equivalent of a collection of curiosities in book-form: the Guinness Book of World Records (the Netherlands/Belgium edition). The book describes huge collections of beer coasters, smurfs and paperclips. Between the air sickness bags (1226) and Madonna items (4916) however, the matchbox collection was absent. That is how it came to be that I can be admired lying beside my 1031 matchboxes and booklets in the Guinness Book of World Records from 1992 (the Netherlands/Belgium edition) on page 177 in a colour photograph in the category ‘Human Accomplishments’. Somehow I also made it to the 1993 edition. That book was unfortunately also presented to a real collector who outdid me in the 1994 edition with a few more zeroes.
www.sleeveface.com
www.dirkpereres.org
405, 406
354
104 – 105
78
I’ve stopped collecting matchboxes long ago, but if I encounter the Guinness Book of World Records from 1992 or 1993 at a thrift shop or flea market it goes home with me. Thrift stores are distinctive in the way that you can buy stuff there which you cannot find anywhere else (anymore). For that reason I have been a regular visitor to Emmaus and flea markets for years. Which has resulted in many special things filling my banana boxes and bookshelves at a low cost. My hundreds of LP’s are beautiful to look at and listen, but MP3s are a bit more practical. Also, my father has a wise saying: “Bezit van de zaak, eind van het vermaak.” (possession of the object is the end of pleasure). Because what to do with boxes full of holiday slides of the Tilleman family in Zandvoort and Tirol? But you never know when something could be of use, I tend to think. As if a caveman piled up the gnawed off bones in a corner of his cave in case he would ever get a dog? Because of the continuously changing assortment of the thrift store and the one-off feel of the flea market, the process of searching, looking, buying and especially not buying, is a not to be underestimated skill which can be likened to the hunt.
Every shop specialized in recycled goods has three boxes of Ministeck (a boat, a horse, and a dolphin). They always do, except when you are in search (hunting) for the thing. You must know when to holdout and when to strike. This is similar to a hunter who knows which watering place, at which moment of the day is visited by bucks and if the animals are plump and old enough. By my many years of experience as a selective collector I can perhaps see myself as a skillfull hunter. The ones around me, however, tend to think differently. When I move house, the number of friends that must suddenly go to the bar mitswa celebration of some cousin is striking. I can’t help the fact that vinyl is heavy. So as to quench my thirst for collecting without losing friends (and liveability), I now concern myself with collecting data. The ‘Dirk Pereres’ project, with which I graduated, was an archive of thousands of personal text files, photographs and videos I was able to download off of PCs by means of peerto-peer programmes. It is a great big collection that can physically fit in one matchbox with ditto weight, this in contrast to the Tiroler slide series. However, it’s still difficult to leave behind a set of original IBM Selectric ‘print balls’ (for just one
Possession of the object is the end of pleasure www.snoecks.be
227
79
euro), or to walk past a Snoecks-catalogue from 1993. Not because I think that having it is necessary, or that the possession of it makesme happier. Hunting for one-of-a-kind buys is probably instinctive, but once at home with my trophy, the rush of adrenalin has fleeted and I open an empty drawer. (Do you still have a Guinness Book of World Records from 1992, ISBN 90.215.1718.3 or a Guinness Book of World Records from 1993, ISBN 90.215.1897 X? Please e-mail the editorial staff.)
Pierre Derks www.pierrederks.nl
Ontwerp Atelier Chromosoom Material Girl
80
81
Nives Widauer Globes
82
83
Compulsive Hoarding
84
85
86
Collectors Fair
87
Elien Vlaskamp Train Sleepers
88
89
Vitorre Baroni Mail Art
90
91
92
93
94
Kindra Murphy Leather Postcards
95
Kindra Murphy Notebooks
96
Kindra Murphy Tins
97
Kindra Murphy Ephemera
98
99
Kindra Murphy Paterns
100
101
www.chromosoom.net
Index 3
102
www.widauer.net
78 — 79
80 — 82
Ontwerp Atelier Chromosoom Graphic Design Studio The Hague, the Netherlands
Nives Widauer Artist Vienna, Austria / Basel, Switzerland
Material Girl Unknown number of items
Globes ±80 items
Material Girl is a poster which was brought out by the ‘Schoon of Schijn’ foundation in the poster gallery in The Hague in 2007.
1995
www.elienvlaskamp.nl
www.kindraishere.blogspot.com
82 — 87
87 — 92
93 — 99
Elien Vlaskamp Graphic Designer Arnhem, the Netherlands
Vitorre Baroni Counter Culture Explorer Viareggio, Italy
Kindra Murphy Graphic Designer Minneapolis, United States
Train Sleepers 139 items
Mail Art Unknown number of items
After a concert we took the first train home and I was the only one who couldn’t sleep… It became my favourite pastime to record unsuspecting people between Arnhem and Amsterdam.
My mail art archive, that would later take the name of E.O.N. (Ethereal Open Network) archive, was started in 1977 and quickly grew from being just a small collection of files in my bedroom library to filling always more boxes, drawers and cabinets. It is now stored in four rooms of my house in Viareggio, taking up entire wall shelves and ordered in hundreds of envelopes and bags and dozens of boxes of various shape and size.
Leather Postcards, Notebooks, Tins… I have so many bits and pieces I can’t really count them all. The great thing about paper is it lies flat. I’ve got a lot of it.
I am interested in trading or selling this material, a detailed list is available on request (please send your swap lists).
I was in Kindergarden and I seriously thought I was going to be in the Guiness Book of World Records for the largest sticker collection. I also spent a ton of time at the local stamp and coin shop with my father sorting through bins of stamps. Collecting must be hereditary and for me it’s not a conscious act. I’ve always saved printed matter and what I think are beautiful things. When I begin a project (or am asked to become part of one—such as this!), it it gives me an opportunity to sort through my drawers–that’s when I realize that I have a million mini collections.
103
Start Collecting Now!
104
105
/ 1500
Pieter Hildering Orange Wrappers
106
107
Daniel van der Velden Black Metal Logos
108
109
LUST Fukd JPG
110
111
112
113
114
115
Martijn Oostra Pizzeria Flyers
116
117
118
119
www.legemaat.dds.nl/toros2/toros.html
120
104 — 105 Pieter Hildering Graphic Designer / Author Amsterdam, the Netherlands Orange Wrappers ¹450 items
Index 4
Some years ago I started to collect the wrapping paper which comes around oranges, because they are informal, inconspicuous but o so splendid.
www.metahaven.net
www.lust.nl
www.martijnoostra.com
106 — 107
108 — 113
114 — 117
Daniel van der Velden Graphic Designer / Teacher Amsterdam, the Netherlands
LUST Graphic Design Studio The Hague, the Netherlands
Martijn Oostra Graphic Designer / Image Maker Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Black Metal Logos 140 items
Fukd JPG 500+ items
Pizzeria Flyers ±1000 items
Since 1995
To be able to analyse media that isn’t formed by professionals like an anthropologist. Initially in the middle of 1994.
121
Bob van Dijk A Single Object is Not Enough
122
url
A Single Object is Not Enough!
page number
blog number
www.nlxl.com
www.affichemuseum.nl
123
Bob van Dijk is a super supreme nutcase, hilaridiculous DJ, graphic designer extraordinaire, but above all a fierce collector. During my internship at NLXL I got to know Bob as a man who lets himself get inspired by a bit of everything for his designs and illustrations. Whether they’re antique keys, stuffed birds, prostheses or round objects, Bob works on them with an idiotic amount of energy. Besides energetically setting up and extending collections, he also buys complete collections. By now his attic has been filled with boxes because the shed is already overflowing. Bob van Dijk was born in The Hague, Netherlands in 1967. After he graduated cum-laude at The Royal Academy of Art in The Hague he started his professional career at Studio Dumbar. Bob won several awards, among others the esteemed Dutch Design Prize for his poster-campaign for The Holland Dance Festival. In 2001 he founded NLXL (graphic design studio) together with Oscar Smeulders and Joost Roozekrans.
WG: Why did you start collecting? BD: My father taught at the department for freehand drawing, engineering, and aeronautical engineering at what is now known as the Technical University in Delft. I regularly went along with him during my school holidays and I could live it up in the depots. From genuine Spanish uniforms to whole planes! My father was part of the The Hague Art scene, he made etchings, he was temporary President of the The Hague Art Ring, and he was on the board of the Pulchri Studio, which had been set up by the painter Mesdag, at the Lange Voorhout in The Hague. Furthermore he attended the Royal Academy of the Arts, where there was a training course for secondary teachers at the time. I grew up between artists, who were friends of my parents. They frequented our home, and we regularly visited theirs. Willem Minderman, who restored paintings by Mondriaan, was a central character for meetings. His daughter had an antiques store, where everyone went to talk about art on Saturday. The same Willem Minderman, was a collector of Etnografica (African art), which also interested my father. There were masks and figurines everywhere in our house. It was a real museum. What’s more, my father had a passion for biology and had a collection of 60,000 pinned
846
533, 562, 646
138 – 143
124
up beetles, which he himself had caught. He even discovered a number of new species. In the halls there were cupboards with drawers full of beetles. Also cabinets full with shells from the all over the world. My mother collected Japanese prints and antique dolls. I came into contact with a variety of interests very early on. In fact as a result, I myself started to collect. It is a curiosity towards several things, and especially to compare it all. It therefore is not about the possession. I have never felt it to be like that anyway. WG: How long have you been collecting and have your interests towards objects developed over the years? BD: When I look back, I can say that I was lucky. I grew up in very inspiring surroundings, nothing has ever been imposed on me and we went on holiday for 8 weeks a year. My father worked in education. We left for our trip on the 1st day of the holiday with a fully packed car. And we came back on the evening before he had to start work again. On holiday my father set off every day, with a butterfly net to catch beetles, I would go along. During one of these holidays, at a small river on the camp-site, my interest in fossils was awoken. Every day I crossed the river and I spent the whole day chopping in the rock face in search of fossils.
I have been collecting those for a very long time now. Finding it yourself is of course much more fun than buying it. In short, I have always been stimulated to expressly do my own thing. That can be difficult, because it is not always possible. But I have learned that it is possible. Why would you occupy yourself with things that do not interest you? What a waste of time. WG: How does it influence your work? Do elements from your collections appear in your work? BD: I have never busied myself with what is ‘hip’ within the profession. Neither do I look at others, with the idea: I want that too! If something inspires me, it is a stimulant and it gives me energy to go to work. Something maniacal comes over me (in a good way) and I proceed to expand my world, but in my way. Because I have seen much, collect much, question a lot and often make comparisons, I quickly have metaphors for things, and that is totally the world I live in. It is inevitable that these things appear in my work. I like to make still lives with things which at first glance have nothing to do with each other, but tell a story when you put them together. For example, I collect antique keys and they are excellent metaphors for representing houses. I worked
…when those birds started to smell and there were moths flying around, they had to go. www.zeebelt.nl
272
80 – 82
26 – 27
125
for Theater Zeebelt in the 90s on the ‘Fly-opera’, in which scenes in small settings were recorded with small cameras. When a town had to be portrayed, I let down a thread with keys and everyone understood that it represented a street even though I didn’t show the literal ‘houses’. Two years ago, I saw a collection of 90 stuffed birds for sale. It was very fascinating the way all those birds were looking at me. From a small sparrow, to cranes, herons, turkeys, gulls, eagles and a stork. Real bizarre! I bought them and put them all in the studio. Where a collection of prostheses of mine had been drawn up as well. Finally, we have used these birds as extras in posters which we have made for a DJ in London. This had a lot of success. WG: Is a collection ever complete? BD: No, in fact, never! This does not mean that I frustratingly try to make it complete. You simply divide your attention, from the one collection to the other. My stone collection was left untouched for many years. At the moment, I am buying and making an inventory of new stones. WG: How many objects and/or collections are we actually talking about here?
BD: I collect among other things stones, fossils, ancient keys, prostheses, old tin toys, medical books, children’s books, atlases, globes, wooden animal figurines, iron figurines, stone figurines, posters, old game consoles, old computer games, everything about the universe so DVDs, books and old moon charts –I even have De Telegraaf (a Dutch newspaper) from 1969 with a large photograph of the first moon landing on the front page– Lone Ranger-stuff (cowboy puppets from my youth, the same size as a Barbie-doll, with Indians, horses, a covered wagon, boat, saloon and a stable), old coins, wrapping papers for oranges, round objects, it doesn’t matter what. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few. With me it starts with buying one thing, and then it becomes 2, 3, 4, 5… and then it gets dangerous, because suddenly there are 100 and a collection is born. Oh yeah, I forgot the Japanese prints and medical objects. WG: What do your surroundings (friends, family, etc.) really think of it all? BD: That doesn’t interest me at all. Some people think it is nonsense and love Zen. I also love Zen, but I love it in my head. Collecting ensures that I can deepen my interest in things and it keeps me busy for hours. It makes me happy!
126
www.steorn.com/media/downloads/guardian.jpg
539
196, 561
127
WG: Winning a battle/losing a war (delete what does not apply)
throw-away object and it doesn’t have the value it used to have.
BD: It is not winning a fight in any case, because it is not a fight. Positively, I would say that it’s losing a war, if you want indicate that the collection is complete and that it stops. No, it doesn’t stop, and it doesn’t have to stop for me. I’m amusing myself with it, I get smarter because of it, I never get bored by it, and there’s too little time for it. It is great to have interests with which you can broaden your knowledge. You can just judge something, when you can compare things to one another. I find that interesting, because as a result the differences become smaller, and as a result of which you are forced and trained to get better at looking at the details and really seeing them!
WG: Smelliest collection? BD: Those 90 stuffed birds were of course always a subject of conversation when people came by the studio (NLXL). They stood on every cabinet and looked at you. It looked like a zoo, our design studio. I find that a design studio must have inspiring surroundings and not some polished, stainlesssteel, minimal-art nonsense. I think that’s hopeless, those inexpressive spaces with sensible design furniture. As creative as a bag of onions! Eventually when those birds started to smell and there were moths flying around, they had to go. I just threw them all out without batting an eyelid. WG: Top 5 ‘best’ collections?
WG: Most insignificant collection? BD: For many years I saved covers from the VPROtelevision-guide. I’ve really kept them for years, but I cannot, in fact, recollect for the past 4 years why I’ve been collecting them. In the beginning, they were so progressive and with regard to design so beautiful or interesting. But they haven’t been anything for years. The last couple of months, I throw the entire guide away. It has become a
BD: My stones, fossils, shells, prostheses and medical books! WG: How do you store your collections? BD: My attic is full with boxes and I am presently indexing it, with as a result that I can find and change collections easier, so that I can enjoy them in turns. Like a depot. A showroom. I just realised
Why should you concentrate on one thing?
www.gigposters.com
www.paleishetloo.nl
530
128
that I still have storage somewhere, which is also entirely full. I should go and check that out too. Be aware, I do not see it as a burden. I look forward to it!
WG: Are your collections purely physical (objects, etc.) or has the area also been moved to a digital depot in the last years? BD: Still purely physical
WG: Do you have a shortage of space and would you throw away/give away or sell collections? BD: I have sold or thrown away things, yes, such as the stuffed birds. And, I always have shortage of space. I still dream of a house where I can hang all my collected posters, but I fear that I then must buy the royal palace… ha ha ha ha. WG: Is collecting for you a constant search for missing objects or does the collecting rage come in bouts?
WG: We know you as a collector of collections. What is that insanity to collect so many different things instead of trying to complete one collection? BD: Why should you concentrate on one thing, when there is such a variety of distinctive and different things. I love sushi, but if I would eat it every day, I would not like it anymore. So variation in your food, and also in your food for thought!
Interview conducted by William van Giessen
BD: It is pure curiosity, enthusiasm, and interest. It is better to encounter things, than to literally look for them. I once left the house to go look for pants, but I came home with a lounge suite. That’s why I never go searching for something. If I see something I like or I can use, then I buy it. There’s nothing worse than wasting time by searching for something. Eventually, it will find you!
Steve Silberberg Air Sickness Bags
129
130
131
132
Emily Darnell Hole Punch Outs
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
Xander Wiersma Wings
140
141
142
143
144
Jaan Evart CD-R
145
146
147
Christel Ooms Letter to an Autistic Viking
148
blog number
url
Washed Away 413
page number
84
143 – 145
149
I was ten years old and I collected little bars of soap. Not artistic postcards, exclusive CD cases or bizarre egg cups, but ordinary bars of soap. During my younger years the whole family went to a different European capital every autumn break. I was excited about our yearly trip abroad weeks before the vacation. The four of us in the car were on our way to adventure. And an adventure it was: a foreign language, foreign food and sleeping in a soft hotel bed. That’s where they were, at the hotels: the mini bars of soap. They disappeared in my bag and I would put them in a huge glass jar when we were back in the Netherlands. Over the years memories piled up in the jar. Vienna, Budapest, Copenhagen, London or Paris: the family trips and the hotel soap had their own shape, scent and colour everywhere. Carefully I picked out the most beautiful ones. I persuaded my father to bring back at least one item for my collection every time he went on one of his sparse business-trips. My collection grew considerably, a story for every bar. Until there were no more trips. I got older and ventured out into the world, busy collecting memories of my own. New friends came
Inge ter Schure Washed Away
88 – 92
859
94
150
into my life. Some stayed, others left. The glass jar with the tiny bars of hotel soap was put away in a dark corner of both my parental home and my mind; hoping for new events to no avail. They stayed in the dark.
There I stood in my old room, holding the glass jar firmly in my hands. I glanced at it for one last time. Time to clean house. I turned over the jar, the little bars of hotel soap disappeared in a large grey garbage bag. I washed the collection away.
Up until a few weeks ago. My father moved out Inge ter Schure of the parental home to go live with his new girlfriend. Old childhood things appeared from dusty cabinets; notebooks and diaries revealed forgotten feelings. And inevitably there it was: the big glass jar. A layer of dust had accumulated on the top bars of soap and the glass of the jar was oily and stained. The hotel memories had lost their scent and stuck together. Small bags of liquid soap were mouldy. The whole thing formed one large gunk in which the individual bars of soap were hardly recognizable. For minutes I stood with the glass jar in my hands. For years I worked hard to put together this collection. Carefully I tried to separate the pieces of soap, in search of the stories. Where was this one from? And when did I bring it back with me? A few scents escaped the jar, colours lighted up. For a moment I was dreaming away, back to Paris, London, and Vienna. To the strange beds and foreign words.
ets er-s p p -pe
nd
2
a salt0 0 0
m act: il.co cont hotma @ elee ons
p luks
151
George Sponselee Salt-and-Pepper-Sets
F
E L A S R O
152
153
154
155
www.airsicknessbags.com
Index 5
156
www.emilydarnell.com
www.chromosoom.net
128 — 129
131 — 137
138 — 142
Steve Silberberg Backpacking for Weightloss Coach Hull, United States
Emily Darnell Designer and Illustrator Minneapolis, United States
Xander Wiersma Graphic Designer Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Air Sickness Bags 2043 items
Hole Punch Outs In the thousands. I gave up counting.
Wings 140 pair
I started the collection in January 1981 because, well, I guess I needed attention. Also, I thought I would be the only one to collect air sickness bags.
I’ve been a collector for as long as I can remember, most likely because I’ve inherited sentimental tendencies. Initially collecting was an unconscious activity. Now that I am more aware of it, collecting has become part of my daily life. It serves as a way for me to represent the passage of time. I consider each object, not only as a reflection of myself and the way that I view the world, but also as a reflection of my environment.
Somewhere in 1998, a magazine was shoved into my hands by a friend of mine. In that magazine there was some work of one ‘Peter Beard’, which was very fascinating to me at the time. I also started a type of illustrative diary with collage, text and drawings. After making these pages a number of weeks, long-legged mosquitoes flew into my room. They were caught without pardon, frozen and the wings were stuck to a page in my ‘diary’. A year later I encountered the page in the diary. Resulting I have started to collect wings, but this time in a small notebook with the date I found it on written next to it. All insects were found dead before they entered my notebook, with the exception of some long-legged mosquitoes.
www.jaanevart.com
www.christelooms.com
143 — 145
146
149 — 153
Jaan Evart Graphic Designer Tallinn, Estonia
Christel Ooms Photographer Breda, the Netherlands
George Sponselee Retired teacher Hulst, the Netherlands
CD-R I dont have physical objects, just a documentation of others’ collections. I think I have around 400 images…
Letter to an autistic viking Unknown number of items
Salt-and-pepper-sets ±2000 pair
Since I wanted to post myself instead of writing a letter.
Photography by: Thijs de Lange www.thijsdelange.nl
I started my collection in 2004 or 2003 as a part of my graduation project in Estonian Academy of Arts.
157
Sourc Inspir Sources of Inspiration Websites
158 www.sscnet.ucla.edu/geog/gessler/collections www.as-found.net www.foodlog.nl www.manystuff.org www.werkplaatstypografie.org www.koert.com www.idea-mag.com www.listography.com www.foundmagazine.com www.legrandcrew.com www.Ffffound.com www.friendlyfloatees.com www.kbr.be/~socboll www.ubu.com www.we-make-money-not-art.com library.nothingness.org/articles/SI//pub_contents/13 www.crookedtongues.com www.sneakerfreaker.com www.sneakerplay.com www.miekedriessen.com www.banksy.co.uk www.nobodycanglue.com referencelibrary.blogspot.com www.geotypografika.com www.flickr.com/groups/55183552@N00/pool/page9 www.flickr.com/photos/taffeta www.ted.com www.wellcomecollection.org nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prieelvogels
www.hollanddoc.nl www.flickr.com/photos/linzie/sets/72157602417089145/ www.lpcoverlover.com www.culturalequity.org/alanlomax/index.html www.dakpannenmuseum.nl www.scryption.nl www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200411/tows_ past_20041118_b.jhtml en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsive_hoarding www.scarlet.nl/~vitesse/media_2005_2006/verz.html www.hollanddoc.nl/programmas/20008070/ afleveringen/39366628/ www.galeries.nl/mnexpo.asp?exponr=23991 www.ds.arch.tue.nl/General/links/DAGCAD/Barreto3.html www.museumryswyk.nl/hpb2002/k_barreto.html mattus.web-log.nl/vibe_visual_brand_experie/logos/ index.html player.omroep.nl/?aflID=6751438 www.filmsamling.se/instick/index.php www.jeongmeeyoon.com/aw_pinkblue.htm www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress www.spacecollective.org www.ilovetape.nl www.dearcomputer.nl/gir www.maproom.org www.davidrumsey.com www.maphistory.info www.helmink.com www.hipkiss.org/cgi-bin/maps.pl
ces of ration 159 www.georgeglazer.com biblio.unibe.ch/maps/ryhiner www.radicalcartography.net strangemaps.wordpress.com greatmap.blogspot.com nolli.uoregon.edu www.infosthetics.com moebio.com/santiago www.number27.org www.historyshots.com indexed.blogspot.com bibliodyssey.blogspot.com del.icio.us/BibliOdyssey blog.myfinebooks.com collecties.meermanno.nl www.bestiary.ca www.loc.gov/exhibits/ukiyo-e cdm.lib.uiowa.edu www.illuminated-books.com zenonannexe.blogspot.com www.hetoudekinderboek.nl www.nls.uk/digitallibrary www.ndl.go.jp/nature www.kb.nl record.museum.kyushu-u.ac.jp/kujira www.panteek.com www.akantiek.nl/shun.htm dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko bibliophilebullpen.blogspot.com
www.kahaku.go.jp/english blog.modernmechanix.co www.fromoldbooks.org www.sublackwell.co.uk www.posterpage.ch www.gigposters.com www.typemuseum.at www.ravishingbeasts.com www.angelasinger.com streetanatomy.com/blog www.phisick.com www.slap-press.com mooonriver.blogspot.com www.pingmag.jp maeb.typepad.com www.pinktentacle.com www.clubinternet.org www.socialfiction.org archiv.twoday.net www.neural.it www.dataisnature.com www.dan.org
160 The World of Madelon Vriesendorp Paintings/Postcards/Objects/Games Shumon Basar and Stephan Trüby, London 2008 Parallel Encyclopedia Batia Suter Roma Publications, Arnhem 2007
Sources of Inspiration Books
2859 afbeeldingen uit J. Johnston’s Naukeurige Beschryving van de Natuur Matthias Merian I. I. Schipper, Amsterdam 1660 The Agile Rabbit Book of Historical and Curious Maps Pepin van Roojen & Kitty Molenaar Pepin Press, Amsterdam 2005 The Book of Imaginary Beings Jorge Luis Borges & Margaritta Guerro Discus Edition-Avon Books, New York, N.Y. 1970 Quart heft für Kultur Tirol Nr.10/07, Kulturabteilung des Landes Tirol Haymon Verlag, Innsbruck-Wien 2007 Mister Motley 11 ‘Gevonden’ Art for You Foundation, SKOR Betapress B.V. Gilze, 2006
You Are Here Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination, Katherine Harmon, Tributary Books Princeton Architectural Press, New York, N.Y. 2004 BibliOdyssey Amazing Archival Images from the Internet Paul K, Murray & Sorrel FUEL, London 2007 The Visual Display of Quantitative Information Edward R.Tufte Graphics Press, 2001 Connecticut MC1R Natuurlijk Rood Haar Hanne van der Woude d’jonge hond, 2008 The Cultures of Collecting John Elsner and Roger Cardinal Reaktion Books Ltd, London 1994 Verzamelen is ook een kunst Thomas Leeflang Het Spectrum bv, Utrecht 1982
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Drukkerij Roos & Roos Wooden Letters
advertentie:Opmaak 1
Drukkerij Roos en Roos Thieme GrafiMedia Groep
Theun Karelse Pollishing the Penguin Collection
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