The interview is a very interesting written and thought-provoking story by Guillaume Leblon and Thomas Boutoux. It's one of those books you are not sure what they are trying to say, or maybe you are, but eventually you realize that it's not rocket science and you can't tolerate that. It has to be kind of conceptual and it has to be kind of weird, employing hidden meanings and extensions, in-depth symbolisms and a sarcastic approach towards its own format.
The book is a translation into English of the transcript of the play The Interview, as performed on January 17, 2007 at the Credac, Contemporary Art Centre, Ivry-sur-Seine. It is a dialogue between an artist and a writer. The first one wants to publish a monograph on his work and to employ the second one to write it; in a non-conventional way though. So, the play is featuring this kind of surreal dialogue between the two men which progressively is taking the form of an interview. The writer is the interviewer, trying to figure out what is it that the artist has in mind.
Either way, that kind of books are always very inspiring, not so much because of their own content; but because of their ability to intrigue our appetite for personal interpretations and attachment of meaning to them.
'No smoking', Nikos Georgopoulos, 2011. Silkscreen on paper, 19x19 cm. Photo by Nikos Georgopoulos
During the 1st screen printing workshop we had at Camberwell, I designed and produced a series of the internationally famous 'No smoking' sign. This one is hanging on the wall of my house in Athens.
'No smoking', Nikos Georgopoulos, 2011. Silkscreen on paper, 19x19 cm. Photo by Nikos Georgopoulo
Back in Athens for Christmas and I found in our living-room library a 1982(!!) SieMatic promotional publication entitled 'Kitchens to feel at home in'. It showcases domestic interior design solutions for our kitchens! Well, for 'our' kitchens in 1982.
Fascinating and interesting photography, very well designed, old school typography -the typeface is similar to the one Apple used to have as their corporate typeface back in the 80's, watch this ad here- great paper stock and a sweet sentimental feeling. I love you; for what you are and what you stand for :)
Didier Faustino, Double Happiness, 2009, Billboard and swings mix, steel ladder, steel lattice platform, protective nets on steel structure 6.4 x 3.7 x 6.6 m. Screen shot.
Parisian architect Didier Faustino's sculpture called 'urban furniture' is one of the best and to-the-point examples of art installations towards the re-appropriation of public spaces. He turned the skeleton of an advertising billboard into a swingset for the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Bi-City Biennial of Urbanism and Architecture.
'Broken Telephone is the name for a game played around the world, in which one person whispers a message to another, which is passed through a line of people until the last player announces the message to the entire group. Errors typically accumulate in the re-telling, so the statement announced by the last player differs significantly, and often amusingly, from the one uttered by the first. As well as providing amusement, the game shows how easily information can become corrupted by indirect communication'.
The installation is constructed by 2 pieces -in order to accomplish symbolically the 'broken telephone' effect; 'Fictional Biography', concept book and 'Love Song', video. It seems that both the book and the video stand by their own as 2 separate exhibits, although the latter exist because of the former; which in this case is fiction.
The 1st part of the installation is an artist book responding to an inquiry whether words are unreliable. In order to elaborate on my view -that words are neutral and that the debate whether they are reliable or unreliable it is completely irrelevant considering their nature- I introduced a female fictional character -Jessica- and wrote her sample biography. The story starts with the sentence:
'.. Jessica could be an adorable lady... or let me put it this way; Jessica is an adorable lady....'
So, I made up a story about her life; where she was born; her family and friends; her youth; her studies; journeys and -by arbitrary choice- concluded in an affair she had with a young man, whom she dumped. It is an example elaborating with the neutrality of words.
Instead of using hyperlinks I interrupted the narrative in various points by using brackets and quoting to the number of the image the reader should see, in terms of proofs. I designed the artist book to look like a conventional novel; typeset on Times New Roman, 14 points.
Fictional Biography, work in progress, 'analogue hyperlinks'. Photo by Nikos Georgopoulos
Love song, video on display as part of the installation. Photo by Nikos Georgopoulos
'Love-song' is the 2nd part of 'Broken Telephone'; it's a video performance and functions as an extension of the story of 'Fictional Biography'. By impersonating 'the young man who was in loved with her' I wrote and performed the song; I employed a rough approach as to create a sort of 'you tube', 'Google images' aesthetics. In addition to that, the installation works through the familiar language of advertising; 'Fictional biography' is an upcoming book and 'Love-song' its promo, viral video.
In December 2011 I was offered to work on the signage system for the Work-In-Progress Show at Camberwell College of Arts' MA Graphic Design students.
Considering the fact that the exhibition was specifically organized for them to display their work in progress I thought that it would be much more fair and relevant to create a flexible and random-like -but not cheesy- visual framework for the work to be exhibited as opposed to a graphical and sophisticated look for labeling work.
I came up with the idea to label each student's work by sticking a Post-It note next to it; an idea which I developed further to create an informal exhibition identity as well as the signage for the show.
The idea was inspired by watching the last-minute preparation of the BA Illustration students Work-In-Progress Show. During their exhibition set up, and, before they set their work on the walls, they had marked each one's space by posting Post-It notes. When the exhibition began, they had placed their work on the walls; removed the Post-Its and had replaced them with the white gallery-like labels showing student's name and project title in Helvetica Bold.
Concept, Art direction & Design: Nikos Georgopoulos
Printing arrangement: Chrisostomos Iosifides
'Who works the longest hours in Europe?' Screen shot.
Find out how many hours people work in different jobs and across the EU. As Europe's leaders gather to discuss how to rescue the mediterranean economies and safeguard the single currency, it's tempting to resort to crude national stereotypes of prudent, hard-working Germans and lazy Greeks.
Sequential images & narrative structures, exhibition flyer. Designed by Nikos Georgopoulos.
Camberwell College of Arts' MA Graphic Design students organized a public screening event to showcase the work they produced during the video workshop 'Sequential Images and Narrative Structures'.
I designed a poster / flyer for the public screening in a way that as one unfolds it, a pattern sequentially appear symbolizing the concept of narrative. As a poster, its function is to visualize the narrative structure which can be by doing A; B or C. But, it can be random as well; it depends really.
The video workshop was set and supervised by the German London-based artist Sigune Hamann. Printed in London, in a limited edition of 120 copies.
I always thought that books about Architecture -Architectural practice as well as Architectural journals- are examples of excellent design -Graphic Design.
Archizines is an exhibition curated by Curator and Writer Elias Redstone which showcases new architecture fanzines, journals and magazines from around the world that provide an alternative to the established architectural press.
Title / Issue number: Another Pamphlet 02 - "Repetition"
Publication date: August 2011
Location: New York City, USA
Language: English
Format: A4 photocopied, folded and stapled
Size: A5
Title / Issue number: mono.kultur #18 / MVRDV: On Statics and Statistics
Publication date: Autumn 2008
Location: Berlin, Germany
Language: English
Format: softcover, staplebound
Size: 15x20cm
PIDGIN #10
April 2011
Princeton, New Jersey, USA
170 x 240 mm
The Cloud is a pair of residential highrises reaching 260 and 300 meters in Seoul, Korea by Rotterdam-based architecture practice MVRDV. They should be finished by 2015.
In my view, the aforementioned towers look like they are inspired by the 9/11 disaster. Having said that though, they are impressive. After all a disaster can be inspiring.
