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#6
BORING ISSUE
PLEASANTLY DISRUPTIVE & ALWAYS CURIOUS FOR DESIGN / ILLUSTRATION / PHOTOGRAPHY / ART / SCIENCE / STORIES & EVERYTHING ELSE FEATURING: HARMEN LIEMBURG, GEMMA CORRELL, FRANCIS AL타S, TOM GAULD, PETRA KRUIJT, MEYOKO, PIXY LIAO, SIMON WILD, ATLE MO, WE MAKE CARPETS, HELMUT SMITS, JAAP BLONK, MR. BINGO, BERNDNAUT SMILDE, HANS EIJKELBOOM, SAM DURANT AND MANY MORE...
TOM GAULD – LOST FAIRY TALES; SEA
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www.tomgauld.com
About us
Editorial
William and Joost run O.K. PARKING, a graphic design studio based in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Next to their commercial work for clients, they initiate many independent projects. Such as their online source of inspiration where an ever growing community of creative professionals get inspired every day.
There are many definitions of Boredom. ‘A condition characterized by wandering attention, impaired efficiency, and low levels of arousal. It usually results from too little stimulation, motivation or interest. It commonly occurs in those who regularly perform monotonous routines...’ is one of them according to Oxford Dictionary. So we thought that it would be just a perfect theme for this issue. What happens when creative people get bored? What do they create? What if the process of making the artwork is very time consuming? Everything in this issue is related to boredom. As you can see, it turns out to be a inspiring collection of artworks and stories. We wish we were more bored once in a while!
Inspired by all the work William and Joost see around them, they started O.K. Periodicals. It is self financed (no funding or sponsor deals) and has pure quality content. Always being curious for everything that is amazing and pleasantly disruptive. Using a team of great editors, call-for-entries and crowd sourcing this magazine shows some of the best contemporary projects in the fields of design, art, photography, illustration, new media, literature and more. It should be a timeless collectible you can consult for inspiration, over and over again.
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To give more insight into the wonderful independent magazine culture they organized the O.K. Festival. The first edition in 2010 was a huge success (sold out, over 1200 visitors) and turned out to be one of the largest events of this kind in the world. Three days of exhibitions, lectures, presentations, workshops, networking, meetand-greets and party gave a lot of energy to all who were there. The next edition will (hopefully) take place in 2012. » www.ok-parking.nl » www.ok-periodicals.com » www.ok-festival.com
wvg
O.K. PERIODICALS / BORING ISSUE – CONTENT
Colophon O.K. PERIODICALS #6 BORING issue 2011 ISSN 1876-2395
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I WISH I’D MADE THAT!
O.K. PERIODICALS is founded by O.K. PARKING and independently published twice a year. Each issue explores a different topic using crowd sourcing to gather and show inspiring work by established and upcoming creative talent. Share your work with us: submit@ok-periodicals.com Contact O.K. PERIODICALS Roermondsplein 33 6811 JN Arnhem, the Netherlands info@ok-periodicals.com www.facebook.com/okperiodicals +31(0)26 3639030 Founders, curators, editors in chief, research & graphic design William van Giessen [wvg] Joost van der Steen [jvds]
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COMMON KNOWLEDGE
Editorial staff Marlies Peeters [mp] Stefan Rutten [sr] Simone Trum [st] Tanja Koning [tk]
1-10
Thanks to all contributors. Without you this wouldn’t exist.
21-30
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26 SPOTLIGHT
INTERVIEWS WITH FEATURED ARTISTS
Translation Peter De Voecht Printing Drukkerij Gelderland Distribution IdeaBooks Subscription / back issues www.ok-periodicals.com All address changes, cancellations, new applications and questions regarding changes and /or shipments can be send to: klantenservice@aboland.nl Cancellations (in writing only) need to be in our possession 8 weeks before expiry of the subscription period. Always mention the title. Prices are subject to change. © O.K. PARKING, Arnhem, 2011 / 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 omissions.
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01 02 02 03 03 06 24
Tom Gauld About us Editorial Colophon Content Subscription offer Must read magazines
O.K. PERIODICALS / BORING ISSUE – CONTENT
34 MATTHIAS HEIDERICH 51 WE MAKE CARPETS
47 PETRA KRUIJT
31-40
63 MEYOKO
THE BOREADOR 41-50
51-60
61-70
38 DANIELA & LINDA DOSTÁLKOVÁ
60 PIXY LIAO
41 Fleur Goedendorp
42 46 49 50
Andrew Miksys Simon Wild Inklude Collective John Dilworth
54 Jeffrey Meyer 55 Erwin Thomasse
62 66 68 70
Annie Wang Atle Mo Kristi Malakoff Kindra Murphy
O.K. PERIODICALS / BORING ISSUE – CONTENT
108 MR. BINGO
71 MARTIJN BRUGMAN
COFFEE 98 HARMEN LIEMBURG
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ABOUT ‘BLACK CURRENT’
78 JULIETTE WARMENHOVEN
109 GEMMA CORRELL
83 INGE TER SCHURE
SEPARATE WORLDS 71-80
81-90
91-100
101-112
86 BERNDNAUT SMILDE 108 FRANCIS ALŸS 76 HANS EIJKELBOOM
73 Hanneke Wetzer 74 Sam Durant 80 Miriam O’Connor
93 JAAP BLONK
81 82 84 85 85 87 88 69
Pascal Fellonneau Erik Brandt Isolde Woudstra Rik Lina Tom L’Istelle Helmut Smits Ellen van den Sande Adam Batchelor
91 92 94 95
Tom Roelofs Robin Waart & Jonas Wandeler Remco van Dun JohnPeter Elverding
106 Joachim Schmid 106 Facebook-friends 107 Marleen Kuipers 107 Roy Sorenson 109 Heidi Neubauer-Winterburn 110 Buro Walktie Talkie 110 Kutkoks 112 Call-for-entries
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(boring advertisement)
Your subscription contributes directly to future issues of this magazine and related projects. Subscribe now (2 issues each year) and get a limited edition issue for free! 1-year subscription price: â‚Ź45,00 â‚Ź30,00 Go to: www.ok-periodicals.com
–COMMON KNOWLEDGE This section shows all kinds of found curiosities, obscure artwork, historical & scientific facts you should know. They are in some way related to the theme of this issue.
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COMMON KNOWLEDGE THE FOLLOWING IS AN ACTUAL QUESTION GIVEN ON A UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON ENGINEERING MID-TERM. THE ANSWER WAS SO “PROFOUND” THAT THE PROFESSOR SHARED IT WITH COLLEAGUES, AND THE SHARING OBVIOUSLY HASN’T CEASED...
Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or Endothermic (absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote Proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law, (gas cools off when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:
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“First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let us look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle’s Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added. This gives two possibilities: 1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose. 2. Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over. So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa Banyan during my Freshman year, “...that it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you.”, and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then, #2 cannot be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze.” This student received the only A.
EDWIN G. BORING (1886-1968) was an experimental psychologist who later became one of the first historians of psychology. He emphasized the use of the experimental method to investigate psychological questions rather than the tools of philosophy. Among his studies on visual perception, Boring gave prominence to the ambiguous illusion depicting either a young woman or an old woman, which has often been referred to as THE BORING FIGURE after the researcher.
COMMON KNOWLEDGE
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BOREDOM. IS THERE LIFE BEFORE DEATH?
MUST READ: ‘UIT VERVELING’ (BEING BORED) by AWEE PRINS If you read this thesis, you have all the historical & literary references, philosophical insight and scientific explanations to understand how and why we are bored. » http://bit.ly/kSvn9f AND ‘BORED COUPLES’ by MARTIN PARR This well known artist took pictures of bored couples. Simple, but brilliant! » www.martinparr.com
COMMON KNOWLEDGE
A doodle is an unfocused drawing made while a person’s attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be abstract shapes.
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A convicted rapist was freed from jail after it was discovered a juror had been doodling during his week-long trial. The juror made two sketches of the judge while he should have been concentrating on the evidence.
Boreout is a management theory that posits that lack of work, boredom, and consequent lack of satisfaction are a common malaise affecting individuals working in modern organizations, especially in office-based white collar jobs.
COMMON KNOWLEDGE
Various experiments in sensory isolation have demonstrated that if volunteer subjects are deprived of changes of stimulation, they will begin to have mild hallucinations. They may see spinning, glowing patterns or hear odd sounds.
Both sides of this album (vinyl record) had 19 minutes of silence followed by 1 minute of applause.
Males are more likely to report being bored than females.
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COMMON KNOWLEDGE
Operator #17, who was assigned to monitor the Corniche, a seaside boardwalk in Beirut. From 1996 onwards, and for some unknown reasons, the officer decided to videotape the sunset instead of his assigned targets. The videotape was donated by Operator #17 to The Atlas Group in 1998. » www.theatlasgroup.org/data/TypeFD.html
What shall I do now? What shall I do? I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street With my hair down, so. What shall we do tomorrow? What shall we ever do? THE WASTE LAND by T.S. ELIOT
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BORED TO DEATH
Boredom could be shaving years off your life, scientists have found. The Ulam spiral is a simple method of visualizing the prime numbers that reveals the apparent tendency of certain quadratic polynomials to generate unusually large numbers of primes. It was discovered by the mathematician Stanislaw Ulam in 1963, while he was doodling during the presentation of a “long and very boring paper”at a scientific meeting.
Researchers say that people who complain of boredom are more likely to die young, and that those who experienced ‘high levels’ of tedium are more than two-and-a-half times as likely to die from heart disease or stroke than those satisfied with their lot. More than 7,000 civil servants were studied over 25 years - and those who said they were bored were nearly 40 per cent more likely to have died by the end of study than those who did not.
COMMON KNOWLEDGE
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There’s always something happening, but nothing going on. John Lennon The Princess Who Never Smiled by Viktor Vasnetsov
AMERICAN PSYCHO written by BRET EASTON ELLIS “Soon everything seemed dull: another sunrise, the lives of heroes, falling love, war, the discoveries people made about each other. The only thing that didn’t bore me, obvisouly enough, was how much money Tim Price made, and yet in its obviousness it did. There wasn’t a clear, identifiable emotion within me, except for greed and, possibly total disgust. I had all the characteristics of a human being-flesh, blood, skin, hair-- but my depersonilization was so intense, had gone so deep, that the normal ability to feel compassion had ben eradicated, the victim of a slow, purposeful erasure. I was simply imitating reality, the rough resemblance of a human being, with only a dim corner of my mind functioning. Something horrible was happening and yet I couldn’t figure out why -- I couldn’t put my finger on it. The only thing that calmed me was the satisfying sound of cie being dropped into a glass of J&B.”
COMMON KNOWLEDGE From the book: WHY WOMEN HAVE SEX ‘Research has shown that most men find most women at least somewhat sexually attractive, whereas most women do not find most men sexually attractive at all,’ conclude the authors, both psychology professors at the University of Texas. Having apparently discounted physical attraction, the 1,000 women interviewed by Prof Meston gave a huge range of reasons for sleeping with a man. One said she did it for a spiritual experience, proclaiming: ‘It’s the closest thing to God.’
16 “I DON’T LIKE MONDAYS” is a song by the Boomtown Rats that was a UK number one single during the summer of 1979. According to Geldof, he wrote the song after reading a telex report at Georgia State University’s campus radio station on the shooting spree of 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who fired at children playing in a school playground at Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California on 29 January 1979. She killed two adults and injured eight children and one police officer. Spencer showed no remorse for her crime, and her full explanation for her actions was “I don’t like Mondays; this livens up the day.
BLEAK HOUSE by CHARLES DICKENS The first recorded use of the word boredom is in this novel, written in 1852, in which it appears six times. Although the expression to be a bore had been used in the sense of “to be tiresome or dull” since 1768. The French term for boredom, ennui, is sometimes used in English as well.
BORING CONFERENCE and THE STATIONARY CLUB In 2010 the first BORING conference took place in London, UK. It was s series of people talking about boring things to a roomful of people. The founder also started The Stationary Club where people talk about ‘stationary’, obviously. They come together once in a while, test statsionary and talk about. One of the ‘club’ evenings discussion topics was about notebooks; what’s the favourite, how to use it and what for, etc. One of the questions asked was whether people like plain, ruled or squared paper. This is the result:
–“I WISH I’D MADE THAT!” This section shows a selection things we wish we had made.
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I WISH I’D MADE THAT
I WISH I’D MADE THAT! – FOUND AT WWW.OK-PERIODICALS.COM
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Fig. I
Fig. II
Fig. I Friendshipexplosion by ANTHONY GERACE Check out this guy’s Flickr stream of very attractive collage work. He works hard and it shows in the steady progress of his unique style. mp
Fig. II Various works by KATHARINA GROSSE German artist who sprays her large-scale paintings directly onto gallery walls. Epic colors. st
I WISH I’D MADE THAT! – FOUND AT WWW.OK-PERIODICALS.COM
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Fig. III
Fig. V
Fig. IV Fig. III Harrier by FIONA BANNER She definitely explores the boundaries of art. Exhibiting a painted aircraft. tk
Fig. IV Chuck, Teddy, Chris & Andy by WOUTER GROENDIJK These recycled cardboard coffee- and teapots are modelled after his own body. wvg
Fig. V One Million Years by ON KAWARA One Million Years is one of the artist’s best-known works about the passage and marking of time. sr
I WISH I’D MADE THAT
I WISH I’D MADE THAT! – FOUND AT WWW.OK-PERIODICALS.COM
Fig. I
Fig. II
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Fig. III
Fig. IV
Fig. I Drawing Machine by ESKE REX Beautiful machine creates drawings using weights. The heavier the weight of the pendulum, the smaller the circle. st
Fig. II The planet is covered by silvery sleep by TOMOKO KONOIKE Famous for her six-legged wolves and flying daggers, as you can see. tk
Fig. III Map of collaboration between scientists by OLIVIER H. BEAUCHESNE He visualizes huge amounts of complex data when he’s not working as a research analyst. tk
Fig. IV Penwald drawings by TONY ORRICO A series of bilateral drawings in which he explores the use of his body as a tool of measurement to inscribe geometries through movement and course. sr
I WISH I’D MADE THAT! – FOUND AT WWW.OK-PERIODICALS.COM
Fig. V
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Fig. VI
Fig. VII
Fig. VIII
Fig. V Fire Insurance Maps (1880-1920) by D.A. SANBORN Found via BibliOdyssey; excellent and detailed urban maps, maintaining an elegant aesthetic in the headings and legends on the maps and in the title pages. jvds
Fig. VI Multi Touch Light Table by GERGWERK I’m not sure if any DJ would ever want to leave their vinyls at home in favor of a touchscreen, but this intuitive interface is slick enough that they just might. mp
Fig. VII Face visualizer, face instrument by DAITO MANABE These guys put electrodes on their faces. By changing their facial expression, eye-blinking, etc. they VJ and make music (each expression has its own musical element). sr
Fig. VIII Fake flowers in full colour by J. SCHEEREN & H. GREMMEN They wondered if they could make a 3D-colour separation. With fake flowers they made 4 still lifes; in cyan, magenta, yellow and black. As a result they printed the photos over each other in this book. wvg
I WISH I’D MADE THAT
I WISH I’D MADE THAT! – FOUND AT WWW.OK-PERIODICALS.COM
Fig. I
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Fig. III
Fig. IV
Fig. II
Fig. I Soma by CARSTEN HÖLLER A sensory exhibition where Holler explores the myth of ‘Soma’, an old indian drink with healing properties. st
Fig. II Dans la lune by FANETTE MELLIER During one month, every phase of the moon was silkscreened, resulting in a silkscreen masterpiece of 30 layers. st
Fig. III BL-094 by IL LEE This guy’s work is unreal! It reminds me of Rothko’s work, it has this mysterious pull that almost makes you believe you’re looking at a living, breathing organism in stead of a static piece of abstract art. mp
Fig. IV Visual Acoustics by ERIC BRICKER Documentary about architectural photographer Julius Shulman, whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. st
I WISH I’D MADE THAT! – FOUND AT WWW.OK-PERIODICALS.COM
Fig. V
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Fig. VI
Fig. VII
Fig. V Visual Noir by NAMIK SCHWARTZ A beautiful designed book. sr
Fig. VI How to use Magazines by KHOI VINH A kick-ass infographic on how to use a magazine. Obviously a very funny F-you to all the crappy iPad (and other tablets) apps. wvg
Fig. VII Dark Side of the Lens by ASTRAY FILMS Few things are as beautiful as the sea washing on a rocky shore. The guys at Astray Films seem to think so too, as they made this gorgeous short called ‘Dark Side of the Lens’. Though cliches around this subject are plentiful, Astray skillfully evades them. mp
I WISH I’D MADE THAT
I WISH I’D MADE THAT! – FOUND AT WWW.OK-PERIODICALS.COM
Fig. I
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Fig. II
Fig. I Polystyrene robots by MICHAEL A. SALTER He makes (among other nice projects) fantastic robots out of polystyrene packaging. wvg
Fig. II Bridges by CLEMENT VALLA Google Maps stays fascinating. All the curious images people find and make projects about, such as Clement does. He discovered very strange images of bridges around the world. wvg
I WISH I’D MADE THAT! – FOUND AT WWW.OK-PERIODICALS.COM
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Fig. V
Fig. IV
Fig. III Paranal Observatory by ESO (European Southern Observatory) Pure awesomeness! wvg
Fig. IV Nowhere to go by FONS SCHIEDON Tumbleweed rolling on the wind of a fan below the square in the box. jvds
Fig. IV Domestic Black Hole by FONS SCHIEDON Surreal installations of living rooms with a ‘domestic’ black hole sucking all kinds of things in it. wvg
I WISH I’D MADE THAT
MUST READ MAGAZINES – FOUND AT O.K. FESTIVAL
Komfort mag illustrations, stories, photo, typography
KUTGITAAR Dutch short stories, various writers, D.I.Y., zine
Lemon each issue about one topic, super design
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MAEB is a Magazine Dutch-lingual magazine with short stories, reinvents format and form with each issue
PIE Paper newspaper, collections, people
After Midnight (Subbacultcha) intriguing photos, music, party, nightlife
Svart Metall newspaper, B&W, photos, metal (actually a book, but hey...)
In 2010 we organized one of the largest international festivals about independent magazines, the O.K. FESTIVAL. It was a huge succes. There were a lot of people from abroad the Netherlands visiting the sold out festival. To continue to share our love for independent magazines we review a lot of magazines on www.ok-periodicals.com
We are invited on a regular basis to give lectures and workshops about the independent magazine culture. Between the main festivals we curate special exhibitions for other events. More information about the upcoming O.K. Festival 2012 can be found at www.ok-festival.com
Slanted about typography, themed issues
–SPOTLIGHT We asked these featured artists to answer a few questions and to send a picture of themselves .
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Atle Mo
SPOTLIGHT 28
Please briefly introduce yourself: ATLE MO: Born among cows and a wide open landscape in the south-west of Norway. 27 years of age at the moment. Working full time as a web designer in the capital (Oslo). PIXY LIAO: I’m a female Chinese photographer living in Brooklyn. I had lived in Shanghai until I was 25. I was a graphic designer before. Then I moved to Memphis to study photography. I moved to New York after graduation & now I’m a freelancer. ERWIN THOMASSE: Hello my name is Erwin Thomasse, I am an artist who lives and works in the south of Holland. In the past I did shows in cities like Berlin, Copenhagen, London and Rotterdam. Earlier this year a book about my work was published by Onomatopee which you can order though Wobshep.com. Wobshep, by the way, is a collaborative project with illustrators/designers/ artists Rop van Mierlo and Tim Enthoven. WE MAK E CARPETS (WMC): We create temporary
p. 66
p. 60
p. 55
Atle Mo Pixy Liao Erwin Thomasse We Make Carpets p. 51
Erwin Thomasse
What doesn’t ever bore you? ATLE: Coming home from a trip (big or small) with a camera full of photos, and then loading it up on the computer to look over every single picture and pick my favourites, and then share it with friends and family.
Why do you love what you do? ATLE: Web design has been a big part of my life since 1999 when I hacked together my first website. I remember being amazed at how easily I could connect to a server and chat with some random person at the other side of the globe. This sense of being able to reach anyone at any given time got to me, and I got a kick out of putting my content out on the web and receiving feedback from like minded people. Of course today this is nothing special, we do it every day on social networks like Facebook, Twitter & blogs - but I think a lot of it is for the same reasons, people love talking about what they do and getting a response (from as many people as possible). PIXY: I love doing photography because I can control my output. I’m the thinker, also the maker. And the best part is nobody can say anything to change my work, because the photo is already done. ERWIN: Because I do what I love? WMC: Because it doesn’t feel like working
carpets from every possible material in different settings. We Make Carpets are Bob Waardenburg, Marcia Nolte and Stijn van der Vleuten.
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How did you make the work featured in this issue of O.K. Periodicals? ATLE: I have been doing some photo series on my spare time as a hobby the last 11 years, but usually always ending up with some good looking female model to pose for me. I was tired of this cliché and wanted something different, and in many ways more challenging. So I went on eBay and got this Cookie Monster costume and decided to do a series of photographs with this hairy monster as my model, as a counter weight to all the good looking model shoots. PIXY: I met my boyfriend, Moro, who is 5 years younger than me. I felt the whole typical heterosexual relationship changed all the way around. I became the person who has more authority & power. And when I told my male friend about my new relationship, he said, “How could you choose a boyfriend the way we choose a girlfriend?!” and I think “Damn right! That’s exactly what I’m doing, and why not?!” I started doing experiment with our relationship through photographs. The project’s name is Experimental Relationship. ERWIN: Ever since I was young I saw kilo’s of the stuff (confetti) lying on the streets during the carnival and wondered what could be done with the material that makes some sense. WMC: In 2009 we made our first carpet, ‘forest carpet’,
PIXY: Nothing. ERWIN: The music of Neil Diamond. WMC: Paul Simon’s album ‘Graceland’
Atle Mo What is your greatest influence (in work or life)? ATLE: I guess I’m influenced by everything around me, things I see and experience every day. PIXY: Bjork. ERWIN: Firmness of purpose? WMC (Bob): Nature.
What is the most boring thing you ever made? ATLE: In 5th grade I was so tired of holding my arm in the air while waiting for the teacher to come to my desk, that I made a fake wooden arm that I could point up and down to do the job for me. Of course the teacher didn’t like this and it was thrown away the same day. I still liked the idea though. PIXY: “Pixy’s Napa”. It’s my boyfriend Moro’s favourite dish cooked by me. It tastes absolutely boring to me. ERWIN: A while ago I wrote a series of poems called ‘Kunsten at fiske i helvede’ in the Danish language, which could be quite boring if you can’t read Danish. WMC (Marcia): It had something to do with toilets. WMC (Bob): I think all my work is boring to make, because most of the time is a repetition of an action. But I’m always really satisfied with the results, so it is worth doing it. WMC (Stijn): Balloon carpet.
during the exhibition ‘Instant Nature’. We collected all the material that you can find on the floor of the forest. We wanted to organize them and then we thought of a carpet. We had most fun and best reactions on that object. We liked working with each other and decided to only focus on making carpets.
Which place do you often visit and why? ATLE: Hong Kong. My wife was born here, and her family still lives there. It’s really a fascinating city with so many creative arenas to explore. Very different from Tokyo, Seoul and other Asian city’s I’ve been to. PIXY: Trader Joe’s. Good bread & soy milk. ERWIN: I try to visit the museum every once in a while because I like art although I don’t always like what I see. WMC (Bob): The terrace of brewery ‘het IJ’ in
What do you do when you’re not working? ATLE: Anything radio controlled. Mostly airplanes and cars. It’s a great hobby since I can use so many gadgets (I love gadgets) to modify and build my vehicles, and then get to drive it around afterwards. It’s such an awarding feeling to build stuff with your own hands and see it working. And when there is time I work on little side projects like www. subtlepatterns.com. It’s a great way of learning a bit of programming and keeping my skills sharpened. PIXY: Being passed out. ERWIN: I sleep. WMC (Bob): Listen to music with friends. WMC (Marcia): Cook and eat with friends. WMC (Stijn): Listen to music and have a beer with friends.
WMC (Marcia) Coincidences. WMC (Stijn): Lost and found.
SPOTLIGHT 30
“…I made a fake wooden arm that I could point up and down to do the job for me…”
Pixy Liao
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What is the most boring day job you ever had and how did you make it bearable? ATLE: A local burger shop. I didn’t work there for long, only about a month, so I’m not even sure it count’s. What I did to make it bearable was to flirt with the good looking girl that worked there. I think that works in any job, as long as you have (hot) girls. PIXY: That’s my internship at Microsoft as a graphic designer. After I quit I became a freelancer and haven’t got a day job ever since. ERWIN: I once worked cleaning up leaves from a woody perennial plant, typically having a single stem or trunk growing to a considerable height and bearing lateral branches at some distance from the ground in autumn, which made no sense at all so I just quit. WMC (Bob): Picking tomatoes in the tomato greenhouse, when I was in highschool. I made it bearable, because I thought of the money I earnt with it. WMC (Marcia): Baking eggs on a hot plate in the cantine of the Shell headquarter, together with Annie. Annie was my ‘boss’. It was bearable because Annie’s life was so different than mine. It really impressed me and made me laugh. For example, she had a tattooed wedding ring on her finger, her husband has one as well. I hope I never
Amsterdam, because they brew the best beers. WMC (Marcia): The market to buy nice, fresh and cheap vegetables and fruits. WMC (Stijn): La Folie, to socialize.
We Make Carpets
Tell us something that you recently discovered and astonished you:
Describe your most boring dish? ATLE: Rice and ground beef. Boring, but it’s quick and effective. If I feel like it I might add some vegetables. PIXY: See answer 5. I now avoid buying napas. ERWIN: Everything from AH (Dutch supermarket), I dislike how the food tastes exactly the same every time over again. WMC (Bob): Yoghurt. WMC (Marcia): Dutch made macaroni. WMC (Stijn): Aardappelen-Vlees-Groenten (PotatoesMeat-Vegetables).
What popular contemporary phenomenon do you find to be excruciatingly boring? ATLE: Paradise Hotel and other reality TV concepts. Seriously, do people still find this entertaining? Sitting at home watching other people go about their lives? It’s ridiculous! PIXY: Hipsters. ERWIN: Twitter. WMC (Bob): All top 40 music nowadays. WMC (Marcia): Supermarkets. WMC (Stijn): Graphics of a moustache on fashionitems.
end up like this. WMC (Stijn): Counting screws. I made it bearable to listen to my favourite music on my walkman.
SPOTLIGHT 32
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“Annie was my ‘boss’... she had a tattooed wedding ring on her finger.”
Marcia Nolte
Any questions for us? ATLE: What’s your favourite TV series at the moment? ERWIN: Why Are So Many Museums Buying Christian Marclay’s “The Clock”?
Your famous last words: ATLE: So helium makes your voice squeaky... what happens with hydrogen? ERWIN: Seek Merry Hell. WMC: ‘Eat your mango’
What are you hiding? ATLE: Now if I told you that, it wouldn’t be hidden any more would it? PIXY: The details of the previous question. ERWIN: At least 25 ideas for new works. WMC: How the carpets are created.
ATLE: Sitting down too much can kill you! We sit down about 9.3 hours a day - more than you sleep! Read the article here, it’s a matter of life and death: http://bit.ly/m3OTsi PIXY: I’m internally rare. ERWIN: The work of architect John Lautner. WMC (Bob): Zombie Nation. WMC (Marcia): Everything they show on Keuringsdienst van Waarde television (critical Dutch TV-show – wvg). WMC (Stijn): A book with pictures of all kinds of ‘elephantpaths’ (olifantenpaadjes) in the Netherlands.
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(silent solo)
THE BORING PART
Shows you the selected content from our call-for-entries and the editorial content.
MATTHIAS HEIDERICH – SNOW BLIND
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www.matthias-heiderich.de
DANIELA AND LINDA DOSTÁLKOVÁ – DIE WOHNUNG
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The project refers to the intuitive forms of mind, which gradually creates or generates precise ideas and symbols. It is about symbolism that draws on classical representational methods of portraiture, still life and space in photography. Pictorially, everything is conceived with certain exaggeration and almost surrealistic imagination. For the authors there exists a fundamental and essential aspiration to affect or fill the emptiness, which takes place in the photographs. The authors are uncovering iconographic forms of our unawareness.
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www.thebestsellercreativeplatform.org
FLEUR GOEDENDORP – FG 7440
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FG 7440 stands for: FG : my initials 7440 : all meters of paper that have been folded + al the knots that have been made + all the meters of meat rope that have been braided. Photo by: May Heek Model: jivan@human-models.com
www.fleurgoedendorp.nl
ANDREW MIKSYS – BUSES
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www.andrewmiksys.com
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STORY: PETRA KRUIJT ILLUSTRATION: SIMON WILD
THE BOREADOR
If anyone knows what boredom is, it must be him. He has no job, no girlfriend, no friends other than the neighbours he greets every now and then, and certainly no hobbies. His name is George, only officially without the e, but he’s better known as The Boreador – if anyone knows who he is anyway. At least he likes to call himself The Boreador because it makes his permanent state of boredom sound like something special, something exciting even. Once, he had a family. This family consisted of a mother (Jocelyn), a father (Uwe; his father was from Germany) and a brother (Uwe Junior). They were a loving family and he loved them back just as much. If you would like to know what happened to them, he would tell you right away that he won’t talk about it, because he has thought back to that moment too often already. For this story, it suffices to say that he will never see them anymore. So, back to reality. To him, there is only the right here and the right now. He doesn’t know what is happening anywhere else in the world and he has no urge to go find out. What would the world have to offer for someone like him? Entertainment, something jolly to make time pass more quickly? As if his life isn’t already passing by at top speed. Life is too short to waste it trying to go faster. If only they had decided to walk, or even take their bicycles, or a car, instead of… Well. Let’s see if anything’s on TV, The Boreador decides. News; not interesting. Epic movie about a Golden Retriever; maybe some other time. A choir singing hymns; could be a winner. Teleshopping; not interesting at all. Cartoons; too flashy. Yuck, now he’s already bored of watching television. He switches the thing off and reaches for Anna Karenina. It is his mission to read all the classics the world has ever produced. Most of them are sleepinducing, which is bad because sleeping makes time pass faster, but they also make for a great, incredibly slow pastime if he
manages to keep his eyes open – a task at which he is getting better each day. Of course he has to eat sometimes. And not only does he have to eat; he cooks as well. Slow cooking is his favourite. But because this requires grocery shopping and because grocery shopping is one of the things he hates most, he has his groceries delivered. The delivery girl is one of the people he knows best. She might even know his real name, he thinks. She is very special to him. You might wonder what The Boreador does for a living, boring himself around all day, seemingly having nothing to do. That’s very true. He gets out once a week to meet with his therapist, who makes sure he gets his monthly entitlement, so he doesn’t have to worry about money. Most people think this is a bliss. (Mind you, these are not people he knows, just common opinions that he has heard of.) And they are right; it is a bliss. Because making money is such a hassle, he used to fill his whole life with it. There was no time in his existence for anything else, let alone feeling bored. He wonders now how he used to live like that. It must have been awful, though he doesn’t really remember. The colleagues who used to come by in the beginning ages of his boredom have long gone. He is glad about that. Getting attached to people is dangerous. He could lose himself in any relationship and he doesn’t want that anymore. The only person he can stand is the delivery girl. She should be here any moment. Today, he’ll be making fresh sushi. It is a treat to prepare food for no one else but himself. He doesn’t have to worry about someone else’s tastes and preferences. But when she finally arrives at his doorstep, he can’t help but feel something fluttering inside him. He needs to fight the urge to ask her in and share in his sushi, because there isn’t even enough for two. Walking towards the front door, he keeps telling himself: ‘Do not let her in, do not let her in, do not let her…’
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‘I have your groceries,’ she says, and she smiles at him the way she always does. ‘Do you want to come in?’ he asks, interpreting her smile in a way he has never done before. ‘What, you mean, right now?’ ‘No, no, it was a stupid question.’ It’s too late. She has already made up her mind. ‘I can come by after work. Only four more deliveries, then I’ll be on my way. See you later.’ The girl waves at him when she is back into her delivery car and then she drives out of the street. Okay, so she’ll be back. He wants to punch himself in the balls for such stupidity. The Boreador isn’t meant to have contact with anyone (aside from his therapist, who may or may not be a human being, he’s not sure) for more than five minutes. So why did he ask her? Because his balls are stronger than his mind, that’s why. Hence the punching, which doesn’t seem to have a major effect when done by himself. Two hours pass by reading Anna Karenina and later on by making sushi – not such a slow food after all. He has developed his craft too far, he has become too fast and handy. Maybe he should take on painting or something like that. Play the guitar that belonged to Uwe Junior but that has been sitting in a closet untouched for ages. It would be kind of cool if he gets callus on his fingers. When the sushi is all rolled up and ready to be eaten, his doorbell rings again. For a brief moment, he thinks he can leave her outside. But he can’t. The Boreador walks to his front door and opens it for her. ‘You’re here,’ he states. ‘I’m here.’ ‘Care for sushi?’ ‘Care for any food.’ He doesn’t like to admit it, but he likes her. She is the first person he has let into his life in a very long time, and he likes her a lot. Because she eats his sushi as if she hasn’t ever tasted something this good, because she
laughs when he tries to be funny, because she admires him for reading Anna Karenina, because she is beautiful, because she is a grocery delivery girl but actually a college student, because she is simply the best thing that has happened to him in a very long time. Before he knows it, the evening is past. He checks his watch and the digital clock in his bedroom, which are synchronized with the microwave clock. This can’t be happening. He has entirely missed three hours, three precious hours of this precious evening, and he has no idea where they went. He wants to check under the bed and in the closet, but he can’t, because he has company. These hours could be anywhere. And he hasn’t even missed them while they were slipping through his hands. The worst thing, far worse than not being able to find back the lost time that he hasn’t missed anyhow, is that he doesn’t know who to thank for this. He goes back into the living room and asks the question he’s been dreading: ‘What’s your name?’ ‘Anna.’ ‘Like Anna Karenina.’ ‘Exactly.’ ‘Nice to meet you, Anna. I’m George. Only officially without the e.’ ‘So you’re German, then?’ ‘Yes,’ he says. ‘My father was from Germany.’
www.petrakruijt.nl / www.simonwild.com
INKLUDE COLLECTIVE – BORING
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inkludecollective.blogspot.com
JOHN DILWORTH – LIFE WILL NEVER BECOME MONOTONOUS
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www.johndilworth.com
WE MAKE CARPETS – FORK CARPET
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See also: SPOTLIGHT section – page 26 wemakecarpets.wordpress.com
JEFFREY MEYER – ULTIMATE LANDSCAPE
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www.goofbutton.com
ERWIN THOMASSE – TIMELINE/BUNDLE OF JOY
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This artwork is made out of approximately 10.000 pieces of confetti. Each tiny piece of paper is glued together one by one.
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See also: SPOTLIGHT section – page 26 www.powerblastmovement.com
PIXY LIAO – HOW TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH LAYERED MEANINGS
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See also: SPOTLIGHT section – page 26 www.bloodypixy.com
ANNIE WANG – BORING GESTALT WORKBOOK
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The Boring Gestalt Workbook is a workbook that explores the multiple meanings of the word “boring.” It’s purpose is to educate users on the principles of visual gestalt theory while combining the function of a power drill. When you’re done with this workbook, you will not only be masters of gestalt but also an expert drills marksman!
www.annieyilingwang.com
MEYOKO – THE TREE MOYENRES / VESPERTINE
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THE REPUBLIC OF UTOPIA
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www.meyoko.com
ATLE MO – COOKIE MONSTER
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See also: SPOTLIGHT section – page 26 www.behindmyscenes.com
KRISTI MALAKOFF – SWARM / RESTING SWARM
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THE GLADE / SKULL
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www.kristimalakoff.com
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STORY : MARTIJN BRUGMAN ILLUSTRATION: KINDRA MURPHY
COFFEE
The day I heard that my mother had passed away, I had left school early. I was sitting at home behind the computer. The bell rang. When I opened the door and saw the two police officers standing there, the old one with the gray moustache, who would later be doing the talking, and the young agent with the blond hairs, who would be watching his shoes the entire time, I had already asked myself why they only asked after my father. I told them that he could be coming home from his work any moment now and the older one had waited for a second and then asked if it would be possible to wait for him inside. It was about something important, he said. I let them in and they sat down on the couch. It struck me that both of them did not look around at all, the way you do when you are in a house you’ve never been before. They tried to see as little as possible, so it seemed. The older one stared in front of him at the television, which was switched off; the younger one stared at the tips of his shoes, that shone in the light of the lamp I had turned on for them. ‘Do you like coffee,’ I asked. ‘Don’t worry about it,’ the old officer said. But I wanted them to take coffee. I said: ‘Just wait, it will be ready in a moment.’ And I walked to the kitchen and made coffee. Later I came back with the enamel serving plate on which I had placed the red and white checkered tea towel so that the cups could not skid, the way mom always did. I put the plate on the coffee table. ‘I hope it’s not too strong,’ I said. ‘Thank you,’ they both said at the same time and they carefully drank the coffee. I had poured a glass of coca-cola for myself. I took a swallow and in the meantime watched the old officer, who was still staring at the television set and the young officer, who was now looking at the coffee in his cup.
‘Have you ever shot that gun,’ I asked the old officer. ‘At the shooting range,’ he said. ‘That’s where we practice. Sometimes.’ ‘Not for real?’ ‘Luckily not,’ the officer said and he began drinking his coffee again. I continued asking questions. ‘And that can next to the gun, is that pepper spray?’ ‘Yes,’ the old officer said. ‘Have you ever used it then?’ ‘Yes, that one I have,’ he said. ‘Oh okay,’ I said. After that no one said anything. I thought they might like a biscuit. ‘Would you perhaps like a biscuit?’ I asked. ‘You don’t need to bother, really,’ the old officer said. But I wanted them to take a biscuit so I took the biscuit tin and had them take a small speculaas biscuit. The young officer took a bite. Crumbs fell on his uniform pants. He chewed very carefully so as not to make a sound. The old officer took another sip of his coffee. ‘Is it not too strong?’ I asked. ‘No no, exactly right,’ he said. ‘Normally he’s home by now,’ I said. ‘We’ll wait, it’s okay,’ the old man said, ‘no problem.’ I walked to the window and looked outside, at the police car that stood in front of the door. ‘Is that a Golf?’ I asked. ‘Indeed,’ the old officer said. ‘Does it drive nicely?’ ‘Yes, certainly,’ the officer said. I looked at the flashing lights on the roof. ‘Have you ever been in a chase?’ ‘A long time ago I have, but nowadays I’m mostly at the office.’ ‘Too bad,’ I said. I sat down on dad’s chair. ‘How about I turn on the television?’ I said.
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‘You don’t have to turn it on especially for us, you know,’ the old officer said. But I wanted to watch television and turned it on. A sitcom was on. About an American comedian and his friends. Someone walked into the comedian’s house, opened the fridge and started drinking from a carton of orange juice. The next scene they were in a lunchroom and a man with a bald head and a small pair of glasses came running in. He took a very bulky wallet out of his pocket. And together they talked about bulky wallets while the audience was laughing the entire time.
The officers didn’t want coffee. Dad asked how it had happened. The officers didn’t want to tell more than that she was ran into when she crossed the intersection at the Rijksweg on her bike. Then they both shook our hands and the old officer said, ‘My condolences for this grave loss.’ And the young officer then said it exactly like that. Dad let them out. I looked at the coffee cups. They were still half full. From the speculaas biscuits they each had taken a bite. When dad walked into the living room again he sat down onto the couch. We both looked at the comedian and his friends. The audience laughed. I thought about my mother and asked myself if I had kissed her that morning.
‘You have to believe me. It’s the truth.’
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Then Dad came in. The officer startled him. He looked at me. I shrugged. The old officer and the young officer stood up. The old officer spoke. ‘Mister Pieterse?’ ‘Yes,’ my father said. ‘Maybe you better sit down,’ the old officer said, ‘because we bring you bad news.’ Dad didn’t sit down. He kept on standing. The young officer looked down at the ground. The old officer coughed. And then he said it. ‘I’m sorry to tell you that your wife has passed away this morning during a traffic accident. Our sincere condolences.’ A silence fell. On the television the audience laughed. ‘That’s not possible,’ Dad said. ‘You have to believe me. It’s the truth,’ the old officer said. I looked at my father. He asked with a trembling voice if the gentlemen would like coffee.
www.maeb.nl / kindraishere.blogspot.com
HANNEKE WETZER – INTERNATIONAL DOG SHOW
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www.hannekewetzer.nl
SAM DURANT – PORCELAIN CHAIRS
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This work consists of nine unique, porcelain reproductions of different styles of mono-block resin chairs. The chairs were made by crafts people at the Jiao Zhi studio in Xiamen, China, completely by hand, no molds were taken from the originals. The place and method by which they were made is important to the meaning of the work in several ways, most obviously as it contrasts with the manufacturing process of the mass-produced resin chair on which it is based. Monoblock resin chairs are made using the injection molding process. There is no patent or copyright on the design or manufacturing technique, allowing for limitless production of virtually identical chairs. It is probably the cheapest and most universal piece of furniture, found in nearly every country in the world.
photo by Joshua White - image courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA www.samdurant.com
HANS EIJKELBOOM – 10 EURO OUTFITS
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www.photonotebooks.com
JULIETTE WARMENHOVEN – POTATO MUSIC BOX
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The Potato Music box is a completely handmade music box. It gives back the original thoughts of showing the hidden beauty of a sprouting potato. The potato as a consumption article is usually constrained and therefore not allowed to shoot. Shooting potatoes are generally seen as tainted.
EVERYDAY GROWING
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The organic process of growth and the wonderment of the grown are centre to the collection of Juliette Warmenhoven. Often it’s the ostentation of plants that draws all the attention. Juliette looks at the various processes of growth and shows these in a poetic form.
www.juliettewarmenhoven.nl
MIRIAM O’CONNOR – ATTENTION SEEKERS
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www.miriamoconnor.com
PASCAL FELLONNEAU – COLD COLD GROUND
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pascal.fellonneau.free.fr
SO_WHAT_ boredom separate DO_YOU_DO_ ledger worlds IN_YOUR_ eco EVERYDAY_ LIFE_ 84
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STORY: STORY: INGE TER NAAM SCHURE ILLUSTRATION: ILLUSTRATION: ERIKNAAM BRANDT
SEPARATE TITELWORLDS ‘So what do you do in your everyday life?’ Usually I try to avoid them; those interchanges of facts about your life with someone you don’t really know and never will either. Anyway. Sometimes it is inevitable. I had been at the birthday party of a female friend – a Sunday afternoon birthday, a phenomenon that starts appearing once the age of 30 comes in sight – and I was walking with a Cousin of the friend to the station. ‘Ah, you’re also to Utrecht?’ she asked, while we both turned to platform 14. Right after boarding follows the uncomfortable moment in which you have to choose a seat. ‘Will I keep a conversation going for 45 minutes with this passer-by in my life?’ I thought, while Umberto Eco’s new book was burning in my bag. ‘Or can I decently go and sit a few benches further on?’ Cousin walked in front of me into the train compartment, which left the choice to me. The train was almost empty. She caught my glance and I took a seat in front of her.
incredibly interesting. Being your own boss, writing all day long, and I regularly interview interesting people like politicians or writers.’ ‘Ah, the last time I read a book has been years ago. I really don’t have the patience for it,’ is her answer. ‘And are you then inside the entire day, behind your computer, without colleagues around you?’ Cousin asks while she looks at me, not comprehending. ‘Well yeah,’ I say, ‘I love it you know, nice and quiet!’ ‘Hmm,’ Cousin nods. ‘Yeah yeah. Well, also sounds fun.’ Her gaze slowly wanders off outside. We remain silent. Still 30 minutes to Utrecht Central. Our glances meet. ‘Well...’ Cousin says, ‘I have a large pile of work sitting in my bag. Maybe a bit boring...’ she excuses herself, shrugging, while she places a heap of papers on the small table in between us. Relieved, I look at Cousin and take the new Umberto Eco from out of my bag. We both plunge into our own worlds again. Lovely, that boredom.
So there we sit. Still 40 minutes to go until Utrecht Central. ‘I’m a broker,’ she tells me with a merry smile. Broker... my glance wanders off outside. Making superficial talks with smooth men in suits and manicured women on stiletto heels the entire day. What a terribly boring and superficial life, I think with some condolence. ‘Lots of fun you know!’ Cousin says, as if she can read my thoughts. Cousin’s red nails dexterously fold a blonde curl behind her ear. ‘You meet an incredible amount of different people and you’re out and about a lot. I love it!’ ‘Hmm,’ I nod, ‘yeah yeah, well, very nice.’ ‘So how about you, what do you do?’ she asks in response. I straighten up a bit. ‘I am a freelance journalist!’ I say with some pride. ‘I write articles about politics and culture,
www.ingeterschure.nl / www.typografika.com
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ISOLDE WOUDSTRA – LONNEKE
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www.isoldewoudstra.com
STORY (reply on this issue’s STORY: call-for-entries NAAM via e-mail): RIK LINA ILLUSTRATION: ILLUSTRATION: TOMNAAM L’ISTELLE
TITEL
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NEVER BORED Thanks O.K. - for the invitation, but I am never bored.... There is always too much to watch, to regard and to see. When I am getting bored by music (pop - or minimal....!!) or TV-shows I simply switch it off. Also: the “big gap of nothingness”, the
dream, automatism, random action, the subconscious - have nothing to do with to be bored.... All the best - abraço Rik Lina - Buarcos , Portugal
www.paprikachips.com
BERNDNAUT SMILDE – BORED ART
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www.berndnaut.nl
HELMUT SMITS – YOUTUBE STARING AT THE WALL
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www.helmutsmits.nl
ELLEN VAN DE SANDE – DOODLE KRINKELS 2
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ellenturningpages.blogspot.com
ADAM BATCHELOR – BITING THROUGH
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LIMPING
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Hexagram 21 噬嗑 (shì kè), “Biting Through” pencil on paper 2011 Hexagram 39 蹇 (jian), “Limping” pencil on paper 2011
www.adambatchelor.co.uk
TOM ROELOFS – THIS ROUTINE IS HELL
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These photos show you the ‘romance’ of being in a band. Waiting to perform.
www.tomroelofs.nl
ROBIN WAART & JONAS WANDELER – PART ONE
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The artist Robin Waart researches the meaning of ‘the beginning’ and ‘the end’. In this project he rips pages out of books containing the phrase ‘Part One’. His collection of ‘Part One’ pages are bundled in the book shown on the photos, designed by Jonas Wandeler.
www.jonaswandeler.ch
JAAP BLONK – SEQUENCES
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Jaap Blonk: “Sometimes when I am bored or uninspired, I calculate number sequences by making selections from the natural numbers. I started this in 2007 with Xenakis’ sieve methods and subsequently developed many other procedures By now I have a collection of over 40,000 sequences, ranging in length from 1 to 94,081 numbers. This image is based on the selection “a^b^c”, meaning those numbers that are divisible by one and only one of the numbers a, b, and c.”
Datavisualization by O.K. PARKING www.jaapblonk.com / www.ok-parking.nl
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STORY : JOHNPETER ELVERDING ILLUSTRATION: REMCO VAN DUN
MARK’S BORING LIFE AND ECSTATIC DEATH
He dragged his leaden feet, didn’t bother to lift them anymore and thus a trail of little sand dunes marked the path he had gone, a path that started at a beaten up Landcruiser left to anyone that would carry enough fuel to take it to the next fuel storage. The sun was losing its awful, deadly power now as it descended into the sunset, its rays exaggerating his shadow as well as those of the sand dunes and the unlucky shrub that started its life in the deepest desert. Still, the rays were stinging his neck, his shoulders and his legs, in spite of his clothing and the silly NYC cap. A military style water bottle was flapping on his belt, the contents being not much more than fumes. Making it till midnight seemed as impossible as making it to the next sunrise. Marc didn’t care anymore; his eyes were hollow and, should anybody have been around to look into the glazing orbs, they would remind them to be those of a dead man, a person that nobody cared enough for to tell him he had died a few hours ago. When his car died on him he knew he had neigh reached his destination, some part of the desert that was almost void of life and far away from any known trail. He fell and almost subdued himself to the combined forces of sun and desert when he found a kind of shelter in a small dune. A shallow spot where he could lay down his body, get some support for his aching back and take the weight of his legs and feet. Lying down made him look towards the horizon where the sun created a weird kind of orange-brown light but there were no clouds, just an endless horizon in hues of just two colours. Despite a panoramic view it lacked the beauty of the sunsets from his hometown, a small village in the windy, north eastern parts of the Netherlands, just some 5 hours of flying away from him. Suddenly he missed that drizzling rain as well as the breathtaking sunsets and, when he got out of
bed early enough, spectacular sunrises. Home, that’s were his wife would be, not knowing anything about the fate of her husband who left a week ago in search of his own identity, his own self. In fact, little did she know about him at all and even less about the predicament he found himself in right now. With a pang of sadness he thought about his children, grown up and living their own life, far away from their parents and impossibly far away from their dad right now. Looking at the world around him he knew them to be history or, rather himself to be history soon. The last sips of his water were hot; the pure taste was spoiled by the omnipresent sand that crusted on his face, in his clothes and in every conceivable orifice, making his life an even worse kind of hell. He started thinking about life or, more specifically, the way he was going to end this crappy piece of theatre he called his life. 54 years of age, a successful accountant in his own right but with nothing really going for him. His business was going all right, he made a nice income but not the kind of income that would allow him a powerful Porsche, a nice mansion far away from the crowd or even an escort girl in a nice hotel once or twice a month. Worse, to further fuel his misery, due to the banking crisis and his own speculations, his retirement fund had taken such an immense hit it would hardly suffice for a Chinese take away twice a month. His kids had outgrown him, fed up by his grey moods and his chagrin, his lack of interest in the people and things they cared for, things like horses, modern music, fashion but also their interest and need for sustainability and nature preserve. Worse, they found him to be lacking of any serious interest in them, always putting himself first and always blaming others for whatever crap happened to him. Even his wife, a true beacon of love and care for him, was growing tired of his never ending songs of self pity, his lamentations of the unjust treatment the universe was handing him out, the petty
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frauds of his colleagues and whatever excuse for complaining he could find. To fuel his current anger and impotence he was sick and tired of himself as well. He had never valued the great deals life had dealt him; he was too much engrossed in himself, his constant fear of inadequacy, of his impotence to change the world around him and make things work out for the better. In the sparse moments of honest self-reflection he would agree with those near to him and, when looking at himself the way others were looking at him, he discovered an image he hated to the core.
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His last hours, his last minutes were slipping away into eternity, like the last grains of sand in the hourglass of his life. Now was his final moment in time, maybe even his finest hour: he was going to prove his worth, his masculinity by taking the plunge into the abyss. It’s pity nobody would be there to witness him but then oh well, who cares. His wife would be content with enough money to allow her a new life, a life of financial independency. His kids, well, they already proved they could live without him for years and losing that grumpy old man would be a surmountable obstacle. He saw his shadow losing contrast against the sands and realised the night was about to come down on him. An almost full moon was about to take over and shed a silvery light to replace the last golden rays of the sun; it would also bring him freezing cold and he fell the first goose bumps. His bladder issued a red alert and he knows what he had to do. He took his water bottle, loosened the clip and filled the emptiness with his dark yellow liquid. His end was near and suddenly he felt a pang, a moment of sadness and uncontrollably his eyes were shedding small tears when he took a small box from his breast pocket; he wasn’t brave enough to simply perish to nature so he’d taken enough of his sleeping pills for an effective overdose. He
didn’t look fondly to the moment of drinking his own pee, but he braved himself as he started to prepare his last moments, loosing awareness of his surroundings and even to the verge of loosing his consciousness, sinking deeper and deeper into his own blackness. The lack of awareness prevented him from hearing the small noise two camels made in the twilight; he didn’t notice two travellers as they silently dismounted and appeared next to him like ghouls arising from a sandy grave. Suddenly they grabbed him and such were their skills that they prevented him from almost any movement of his arms or legs. One of the men frisked him, looking for his wallet. Apart from that he also found the golden box; he looked into it, smiled a tooth infested smile and pocketed it, as he did the keys to the LandCruiser and the wallet. In an alien language the two robbers discussed their prey and what to do with him. The accountant was scared to death, especially the theft of his precious pills and the idea of having to perish to death instead of falling into an unending sleep. Then an intense pain in his neck opened his brain to the fullest, he wanted to cry out but his vocal cords were unable to utter more than a blood bubbling noise; his last thoughts were the surprise that his boring life ended having his throat cut in the desert by killers on camels. He died ecstatic.
www.e57advies.nl / www.remcovandun.nl
INTERVIEW WITH HARMEN LIEMBURG O.K. Periodicals conducted an exclusive interview with silkscreenhero and brilliant graphic designer Harmen Liemburg about his ‘Black Current’ project.
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HARMEN LIEMBURG
BLACK CURRENT First off, could you tell us a little bit more about this “Black Current” project? How did you end up at the Smith-Lesouëf library in the first place? Every fall, Maison d’art Bernard Anthonioz invites somebody involved in a previous edition of the International Poster and Graphic Design Festival of Chaumont. The connection was made through Etienne Bernard, the curator who helped me to execute my installation at Chaumont’s 2005 festival. The Bernard Anthonioz gallery is located in Nogent sur Marne, once a noblemen’s countryhouse, and which is now a green enclave in one of Paris’ suburbs. The main building is an elderly home for retired artists, with a park and the gallery attached to it. During my first visit I was given a tour around the premises, and this is how I first saw that library. Since it was in a complete state of chaos with no librarian or custodian to breathe down on my neck in sight, I simply recognised the opportunity to work there. Being stuck in a stuffy room filled with old books would be considered pretty boring by some. Were you ever bored? Wouldn’t your brain simply get satiated at some point after seeing so many images? Mmm, since there was no system and hardly any order, I had to browse through all the works present a few times. First to get a sense of the potential. Then to get a better sense of what was located where, and finally to filter out all materials I intended to use. I was never bored because my time there was limited, and I had a lot of work to do. It was a dirty job though. Nobody had dusted there in at least
fifty years, so you can imagine everything was covered in smelly black soot. I had to wear a mask and get fresh air regularly. Unfortunately there was a lot of junk too, ugly books or publications without any visual elements that were of interest or use to me. Besides books, there were personal souvenirs from previous residents. Nothing that I could use, really, but very interesting to unpack. And satiation? Of course. But occasionally, I like to get focused and immerse myself in this type of material, meanwhile thinking of a potential use. I know there’s a world of fantastic materials out there in libraries all over this city, nation, world, that I would love to get my hands on. But finding it, getting access to the material, and most important to me, being allowed to make the right type of reproductions made in a reasonable time at a decent price is very tough. In the posters, you mix up the old wood engravings found in the books with more contemporary visuals from your own archives. There’s an interesting dynamic in the materials that inspire you in general. On the one hand there’s the old and meticulously made, on the other hand there’s modern-day candy wrappers and other types of commercial packaging. How do you unify these interests that are seemingly worlds apart? The keyword for what I was looking for is serendipity, the ability to recognise quality in something created by chance. You’ll just know the moment when elements from completely different worlds find each other and connect when you’re doing it. This can partly be simulated on a computer, but not entirely, since I was working
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with tactile materials. You should not forget that at the basis of all my previous work (of which I reused the colour separations) there’s a certain value because of previous decisions about composition, detail etc. And there’s my personal taste in graphics of course. So far, I’ve learned to trust my own process. If the ingredients are of good quality, whatever comes out of it (enough time, work and reconsiderations provided) should be of good quality too. What turned out really well was the overprinting of the wood engravings (which are basically hand-cut line halftones) with solid images printed in layers of white ink in between. Unbelievable grey tones, amazing textures. But I think out of roughly 250 printed combinations that were all different, maybe 20 % was really good. All in all, it’s a very labour-intensive process, a full month of non-stop printing, judging, selecting and printing again. Almost everything you make is screen printed, a lengthy, time-consuming process which you could have done by someone else if you wanted to. How come you never tire of this technique? Well, does a cyclist ever get tired of his bicycle, or a photographer of his camera? I’ve had plenty of moments of doubt of course, especially when I’m tired or when things go wrong. I don’t
necessarily have to screen print everything, but after 12 years, I’m still very enthusiastic about this versatile and powerful technique. Most people don’t realise that today, screen printing is a widely used industrial technique. From the lines that defrost your car’s rear window to your hockey stick, t-shirt, skateboard, beer bottle, skin lotion pot, to the type on your coffee machine, it’s all screen printing. The basic principles are very simple, but making the most of the tools that are available to you as a DIY printing designer/ artist/illustrator (typically second hand equipment) requires patience, discipline, practice and, after a while, experience and skill. Not easy, as my students at the Rietveld academy or wherever I go will acknowledge. Working on my own in the screen printing studio, listening to music, being engrossed by the work at hand, doing the same things over and over again, has a meditative component. I can’t help loving it. Especially in this digital age, there’s great satisfaction in creating something physical you can actually touch and smell, and (assuming you didn’t stop after one print) share it with the world! » Interview conducted by Marlies Peeters
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www.harmenliemburg.nl
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(pause: 4 minutes and 33 seconds)
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Fig. I
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Fig. II
Fig. I When Boredom Strikes by JOACHIM SCHMID A collection of images taken when someone was bored. » schmid.wordpress.com
Fig. II Bored on Facebook by FRANCESCO VAN DER ZWAAG, AART KUIPERS, TIMO SCHULZ, RICHARD DERKS, PETRA BOUWENS, MARTIJN VAN KOOLWIJK, DENNIS WEDDING, LAURA JOAN, FREYA WESTERLAKEN, MAARTEN NAUW, WILLIAM VAN GIESSEN, MARK VAN VARIK 1 - Go to wikipedia and hit random. The first random
wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. 2 - Go to quotationspage.com and hit random. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. 3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”. Third picture will be your album cover. 4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together. 5 - Post it with this text in the “caption” and TAG the friends you want to join in.
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Fig. III
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Fig. IV
Fig. III Die Grenze / De Grens by MARLEEN KUIPERS A project on the area where the northeast of Twente (the Netherlands) borders with Germany. The border district has lost it’s function, since the borders are open, and can be described as an area with some very solitary, desolate landscapes and buildings....’ » www.marleenkuipers.nl
Fig. IV Absent Stalin Monument by DR. ROY SORENSEN Roy poses on spots where removed monuments leave blanks in the environment. He had to take a lot of pictures to infer which photo had the absence of the removed Stalin Monument in Prague.
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Fig. III Fig. I You bore the fucking arse off me by MR. BINGO » www.mr-bingo.org.uk
Fig. II Sometimes Making Something Leads to Nothing by FRANCIS ALŸS » www.francisalys.com
Fig. III We Interrogate the Detainees by HEIDI NEUBAUER-WINTERBURN Heidi created this movie about what inmates teach themselves in Guantanamo when you are bored. In one take, a styrofoam cup is turned inside out without breaking.
The film was originally installed and screened in a small detention “cell” recreated from documentary images taken by US soldiers in Iraq. » flavors.me/reelaesthete
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Fig. IV
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Fig. IV Forgot my coat by GEMMA CORRELL » www.gemmacorrell.com
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Fig. I The Adventures of the Bored One Day Fly by BURO WALKTIE TALKIE » www.burowalkietalkie.com
Fig. II Live ‘Cooking’ Performance by KUTKOKS These ‘cooks’ make special dishes with the most boring ingredients they can find. Boring as in flavour, as well as in packaging.
(boring advertisement)
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