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SMALL VICTORIES

On the eve of a festival about self-publishing and small run publications, a story of small successes from one author-run publishing house in Estonia:

Petrone Print was founded three years ago by Justin and Epp Petrone, husband and wife, prolific bloggers both. Justin, an American with Italian heritage, met Epp, an Estonian, while travelling through Finland. Many adventures later, they settled down in Tartu, a charming university town in Estonia’s south.

With heads full of stories to share, but daunted by a strong local book publishing industry with restrictive conditions, they set up their own print house. Their first title was Epp’s Minu Ameerika (My America), a travelogue about her journeys through the U.S.

Since they have published 24 books by various writers, mostly travel journals by expat Estonians experiencing other cultures. The “My World” series has proven incredibly popular with Estonian readers, regularly occupying the top ten book lists in that country. The playful book design adds to the appeal.

The lesson to absorb here is that of the double-niche: find a slice of unoccupied publishing territory, then stake out a claim within it. Estonian language titles might have been niche enough, but by also focusing on travelogue tales from abroad, Petrone Print cornered their market and established for themselves a sustainable income that allows them to write what they like.

A HUNTER SHOOTS A BEAR

I just got to watch what seems to be the next most hit viral video on internet after Arcade’s Fire ‘The Wilderness Downtown’. Tipp-ex’s ‘A Hunter Shoots a Bear’ is an interactive video posted on Youtube, where you get to choose what happens with the bear after being shot by the hunter! Whatever you type, it will probably work. So, I tried the words ‘plays’, ‘kisses’ and ’sings’ (definitely the funniest!). Of course by now there’s already plenty of blogs making all kinds of more ‘obscure’ experiments and reporting them…

MONO.KLUB #28: CYPRIEN GAILLARD

And, well yes, it’s anniversary season now and we have one event chasing the next, so with this one, we just really couldn’t hold our breath any longer: as launch party for our current issue with Cyprien Gaillard, we have organized a very special screening in a very special location, just for you. Cyprien will be showing some rare and in parts unreleased material, so like our issue, this is a little glance behind the scenes.

Now, as you might know, places and architecture are important to our French friend, so we’re particularly pleased to be hosted by our friends at the temporary arts space Splace, right at the bottom of the Berlin TV Tower on Alexanderplatz, no less. So when you’ve seen all the films again and again, you can just turn around and take in the panoramic view of Alexanderplatz. Nice indeed.

mono.klub #28
Cyprien Gaillard: Dust Lines
September 07, 2010 / Tuesday / 20h

Splace
TV Tower
First Floor
[Staircase from Rotes Rathaus]
Alexanderplatz
10178 Berlin

Free Admission

DEMOLITION PANORAMA

Now just in time with our current issue, and in case you happen to be in Frankfurt during the next months, there will be a welcome chance to see new work by our cover star Cyprien Gaillard at his solo exhibition, opening this Friday at the venerable Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt.

Coincidence or not, the museum’s project space MMK Zollamt happens to open out on the Technisches Rathaus – a building of the city government which has been long disputed as an architectural eyesore from the 1960s. After years of political debate, it has finally been decided to replace the building with a reconstruction of the ‘historic’ quarter that had been bombed during the Second World War. The demolition of the building will be integrated into Gaillard’s exhibition, offering a ‘live view’ of official vandalism in progress, in the futile attempt to reconstruct a vanished past.

Alongside, Gaillard will be displaying the complete series of Geographical Analogies, the new works Angkor Beer as well as screening his video work Cities of Gold and Mirrors – in short, all works he’s discussing in our issue. And shorter, even: You might want to go see this.

Cyprien Gaillard
September 04–October 24, 2010

MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt Zollamt
Domstrasse 10
60311 Frankfurt/Main

MONO.KLUB #27: DESIGN TALK

Now, speaking of Unter dem Motto, we should also mention our little talk on editorial design, taking place on Sunday, September 05, at 16h, which felt like a suitably mellow start into our anniversary season (yes! more to come!). Not only will we give a brief introduction to the design concept of mono.kultur that is primarily focused on the content and reinvents itself from issue to issue by inviting external designers to curate one edition; also, we will bring along two previous contributors who not only represent some of the best graphic design Berlin has to offer these days, but come with a lot of editorial experience to their name.

Mario Lombardo signed our current issue with Cyprien Gaillard and, after working as art director for Spex magazine, founded his studio Bureau Mario Lombardo that has done some excellent work indeed, art directing the lovely Liebling and the annual Zitty Modebuch, as well as many projects within culture, music and fashion.

Whereas Node Berlin Oslo have not only produced already three issues of mono.kultur but also accompanied 032c and Monopol at their very first steps into the market, and have brought a lighthearted yet clever concept of graphic design to everything they touch.

So in case you’re interested in things like point sizes, grids and binding techniques, you know where to indulge on a Sunday afternoon.

mono.klub #27: Design Talk
with mono.kultur, Bureau Mario Lombardo and Node Berlin Oslo
Sunday, September 05, 2010 / 16h

Free Admission

Motto/Chert
Skalitzer Strasse 68
10997 Berlin

BERLIN PUBLISHING WEEKEND #02: UNTER DEM MOTTO

So, of course next to Miss Read at Kunstwerke, our friends at Motto bookstore and Chert gallery will host the second round of Unter dem Motto book fair, with a focus on slightly more edgy and alternative magazines and art publications. Or, in their own words: ‘More than 70 publishers from about 17 countries will present their works and show an eclectic overview of contemporary art publishing, ranging from home-printed zines to publications by established institutions. Unter dem Motto provides a professional look into the newest developments of the international artistic publishing scene. New this year is not only the extension of the fair to a full weekend, but also the participation of a selection of art galleries and exhibition spaces engaged in publishing, and a program of events.’

Find out here why a magazine from Budapest would be called innen, if True True True is too good to be true and what’s the story behind Zulu from Los Angeles. Or just come to visit us at our stand, and even better: join us for our design talk on Sunday at 16h; but more on this later today.

Unter dem Motto 2010
Friday, September 03, 15–19h
Saturday, September 04,
12–20h plus evening program
Sunday, September 05, 12–19h
Admission is free

Motto/Chert
Skalitzer Strasse 68
10997 Berlin

Attending Publishers:
032c, Berlin, DE | 100%, New York, USA | Atlas Projectos, Lisbon, PT | Bedford Press, London, UK | Bernhard Cella, Vienna, AU | BöhmKobayashi, Düsseldorf, DE | Cneai=, Chatou, FR | der:die:das, Zürich, CH | Dynasty Zine, Athens, GR | edition fink, Zürich, CH | Ein Magazine über Orte, Berlin, DE | Faund, Lausanne, CH | Fillip, Vancouver, CA | For Further Information, London, UK | Für Immer, Zürich, DE | Fukt, Berlin, DE | FW:, Rotterdam / Amsterdam, NL | Himaa, Tokyo, JP | innen, Budapest, HU | J&L Books, New York, USA | Kodoji Press, Baden, CH | Larry’s, Berlin, DE / Vancouver, CA | Le Edizioni Della China, Berlin, DE | Lubok Verlag, Leipzig, DE | mono.kultur, Berlin, DE | Nieves, Zürich, CH | Occasional Papers, London, UK | Peperoni Books, Berlin, DE | Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL | Rollo Press, Zürich, CH | Serps Press, Melbourne, AUS | Starship, Berlin, DE | Super Labo, Tokyo, JP | True True True, Amsterdam, NL | Werkplaats Typografie, | Werkplaats, NL | Westphalie, Vienna, AU / Berlin, DE | Wilde Horses, Buenos Aires, ARG | Zulu, Los Angeles, USA

Galleries and Exhibition Spaces:
De Appel, Amsterdam, NL | Artspeak, Vancouver, CA | BQ, Berlin / Cologne, DE | Daniel Buchholz, Berlin / Cologne, DE | Mehdi Chouakri, Berlin, DE | Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow, UK | Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK | FormContent, London, UK | Kominek, Berlin, DE | Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam, NL | Massimo De Carlo, Milan, IT | Montgomery, Berlin, DE | Neu, Berlin, DE | Galleria Franco Noero, Turin, IT | Or Gallery, Vancouver, CA | Witte de With, Rotterdam, NL

Collective Booths and Special Display of Publications by:
38th Street Publishers, New York, USA | 4478 Zine, Natal, BR | Dent de Leone, London, UK | Agma, Vienna, AU | Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, DE | Casco | Office For Art, Design And Theory, Utrecht, NL | Criticism, Paris, FR | e-flux Journal, New York, USA / Berlin, DE | Éditions B42, Paris, FR | Four Corners Books, London, UK | The Institute of Social Hypocrisy, Paris, FR | Morava Books, Poznan, PL | Mousse Publishing, Milan, IT | Noritake, Tokyo, JP | Paraguay Press, Paris, FR | PROVENCE, Lacoste, FR | Specter Press, Seoul, Korea | Hiraku Suzuki, Tokyo, JP

Special Projects:
Abäke, London, UK | Asterisk*, Tallinn, EE | Ooga Booga, Los Angeles, USA | Occasional Papers, London, UK | Hanne Lippard & Elisabeth Klement NOR/EE | Sam de Groot & Paul Haworth, NL/UK

On the occasion of the event, a postcard set will be produced, with contributions from:
Asher Penn | Bardhi Haliti | Bart de Baets | Erik Van Der Weijde | Florian Ludwig | Frank Koolen | Harsh Patel & Stefan Marx | Josh Smith | Julia Born & Laurenz Brunner | Julien Carreyn | Karl Holmqvist | Mark Manders | Maxwell Simmer | Olaf Nicolai | Renato Zülli | Sam de Groot & Paul Haworth | Sulki & Min Choi | Trinn Tamm | Zack Sternwalker

Program:

– Friday 3 September

16 / 17 / 18 / 19h: Åbäke: A Restricted View of Fox and His Friends, 2010
In a discussion about graphic design practices with critic Benjamin Thorel we deplored that graphic design sometimes seemed obsessed with frivolous preoccupations of style over content. We joked: “it’s like watching Fassbinder’s Fox and His Friends but just through the sequences happening in the printing/binding factory scenes”. A little later we thought exciting to actually recut the movie and were surprised to see that the story still held. Rainer, what a star

16.30 / 17.30 / 18.30h: Hanne Lippard
Beige, 2010: This film is about a colour, and the impact it can have on its surroundings. It is about the paler shade of pale and its variety of monotony
Reflection, 2010: A reflection can not be made until some time has passed. In this reflection you can see yourself. This reflection requires that you take one step back. Two is one too much– there is only one of you. Throw a stone in the water, and it disappears. Throw a stone at the mirror, and it breaks.

18-19h: Jody Barton: Black Masters. book launch and signing, Nieves booth

– Saturday 4 September

13 / 15 / 17h (open mic at 20h): Eva Weinmayr with Occasional Papers — (pause) 21 scenes concerning the silence of Art in Ruins
At regular intervals throughout the afternoon on Saturday 4 September, friends and passers-by will read passages from Eva Weinmayr’s play (pause), recently published by Occasional Papers. The collective reading – in the Chino room at Motto, and broadcast live in the courtyard between Motto and Chert – forms part of a series of interventions by Weinmayr around the (temporary?) disappearance of the English art collective Art in Ruins. To date, the series includes the film “I Wonder What the Silence Was About” (concurrently presented at ‘MISSREAD’, KW Institute for Contemporary Art) and the publication Art in Ruins and Unknown Stranger (also published by Occasional Papers)

14 / 16 / 19h: Elisabeth Klement and Hanne Lippard: “Scenery”

18h: Åbäke: A Restricted View of Fox and His Friends, 2010

20.30h: Civic City Cahiers 1:
Margit Mayer: Social Movements in the (Post-)Neoliberal City
Talk with Jesko Fezer, Matthias Görlich and Zak Kyes
The Civic City Cahiers series intends to provide material for a critical discussion about the role of design for a new social city. It publishes short monographic texts by authors who specialize in urban and design theory and practice
Series Editors: Design2context, Jesko Fezer, Matthias Görlich
Publisher: Bedford Press, London 2010

21h: Paul Haworth & Sam de Groot: The Last of the Great Romantics

22h: Christian Naujoks (live)

– Sunday 5 September

16h: mono.klub #27: Design Talk
with Bureau Mario Lombardo | NODE Berlin Oslo | mono.kultur
The Design Talk will highlight different approaches to editorial design, featuring a short presentation of mono.kultur’s practice of flexible art direction by inviting different designers to guest-produce individual issues, and introductions to and by previous contributors Mario Lombardo (former art director for Spex, Liebling) and NODE Berlin Oslo (former art directors for 032c, Monopol)

15 / 17h: Elisabeth Klement and Hanne Lippard: “Scenery”

14 / 18h: Åbäke: A Restricted View of Fox and His Friends, 2010

NIGHT FOR DAY

One of my favourite fashion photographers, Corinne Day, died this weekend at the age of only 45, after struggling with cancer for several years.

Day was one of the very first to bring daily life into fashion photography, working in a natural and entirely unpretentious manner – sadly still unusual for fashion, but especially so during the glamour-ridden 90s. Corinne Day also happened to discover one certain Kate Moss, fetching today’s superstar model her first cover story, for Face magazine. The two did countless iconic editorials and campaigns together, and to this day it is the work that both are most closely associated with, establishing a new interpretation of beauty with Moss as the figurehead of the next generation of supermodels.

Whereas Kate Moss rose to the very top, as did many photographers for whom Corinne Day paved the way, things got quiet around the excellent photographer herself, who only recently started enjoying a shy revival of her work.

Photography: Kate Moss by Corinne Day, 1990

NICE NICHE

There are so many odd things to be found on the internet, it’s just impossible to find that stuff without having been given the proper links. The Guardian’s weekly listings magazine The Guide which comes free with the paper on Saturdays honors these oddities with a full page of reviews every week. They’re introducing interesting niche sites such as Clothes On Film (a blog about costume in films), Kinder Trauma (where you can track down horror films), Lamebook (as opposed to Facebook) or (my personal favourite this week): Awkward Family Pet Photos – you can probably guess what that might be about.

KÖRPER

As a surprise birthday gift, I took my friend to see Körper by Berlin-based choreographer Sasha Waltz, for the 10th anniversary of probably her most famous piece. It’s still sinking in.