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m oo d c yclo pe d i a
By
ill-studio
By
Y o rg o T l o u p a s
FORE WORD
By contrast, artists are usually way
less mathematical and pragmatic in
the discourse and argumentation that
accompanies their work, if they deign giving
any explanation at all. It is highly unlikely
to ever hear someone like Anselm Kiefer
or James Turrell citing an accumulation of
precise references as the basis for a piece
(although it would be fun to hear the latter
describe an installation as the result of
the mix of "Aurora Borealis, Windows PC
screen-savers, a Yves Klein monochrome,
and my mother's make-up box"). Rather,
they cite influence from past masters,
from everyday life, or from other artistic
disciplines (the upcoming "danser sa vie"
show at Centre Pompidou, Paris, explores
the bridges drawn between dance and art
over the last century).
Architecture also usually eschews direct
referencing, probably by fear of buildings
being nicknamed after everyday objects
(Rem Koolhas' CCTV building in Beijing is
dubbed "the trousers" by the locals, and
most of Frank Gehry's structures end up
being compared to messy crumpled paper
bags...). Cinema may sometimes quote
various influences, but its inherent reliance
on good storytelling makes inspiration less
of a crucial part of the craft, even if masters
like Jean-Luc Godard pepper their work
with nods to Greek tragedy, to literature and
fine art. More often, you'll find references
discreetly inserted in the decor, in a TV set
running in the background, or in the book a
character may be reading.
But a graphic design project, by nature,
is hugely dependent on the final decision
of the client, and thus needs to be argued,
defended and made convincing by an
array of means, from the use of reassuring
(and complex) wording, to the display of
references and counter-examples, via the
presence of a handsome assistant (male or
female) during the presentation.
Most designers will opt to show their
clients some inspiration images, if only
to visually educate decision-makers who
more often than not have next to no artistic
background. As with food, a well-presented
and cleverly arranged project will be easier
to swallow and more tasty than a final
product unleashed bare and raw onto the
client's table. And if chefs pay attention
to service, decorum and cutlery, graphic
designers tend to create long PDFs or
piles of printed boards that progressively
bring the viewer to the final result, via a
long journey through carefully researched
archives, rivals' work, sketches and rejected
options, to finally reach a chosen design.
But what the public sees is only that
final result, by itself, isolated from the
context of its genesis, bare of explanations.
Sometimes even the client is shielded
from seeing inspiration images, often to
avoid claims of plagiarism, or to pretend
to a greater level of creativity than one
is gifted with. This practice isn't without
risks, as in the digital age the furious online
mob is quick to unearth past images that
bear suspicious resemblance to newer
ones, and the websites joelapompe and
youthoughtwewouldntnotice are full of
shockingly similar ad campaigns and t-shirt
designs, naming and shaming culprits.
So it is somewhat brave and foolhardy
of Ill-Studio, arguably one of the best
design collectives in France, to publish an
annual report displaying so clearly the links
between inspiration and creativity.
When they first appeared on the French
design scene in 2007, Ill-Studio stemmed
from a skateboarding magazine, Chill, and
seemed like a loose group of creatives, an
A-team of young guys possessed with the
rebellious spirit of the sport that united
them. They expressed themselves through
a collective web page, where each member
posted what he felt like showing to an
online audience, from personal work to
street observations and found designs.
This inspiring web page closed down after
a while but its spirit can be found again
in the present book. In these pages, what
most people would hide in a deep cupboard,
Ill-Studio chose to print out and lay bare for
all to see. Old posters, 1980's airbrush art,
obscure architectural endeavours, antique
sculptures, all gathered here next to the
final result, in a frank and honest manner,
at the risk of diminishing the perception of
the unique value of their work. But this is a
conscious act, part motivated by a deep love
for the creative process, part justified by
a desire to educate and inform both future
generations of designers, and potential
clients. Can it lead to a re-consideration of
their work? Can it make us appreciate their
posters, compositions and layouts less
than if they'd appeared as pure creations of
their minds? Will others follow?
Hard to judge, but at least this process
puts us, the readers, in the coveted position
of a client being led through the infancy
of creation, and spreads in front of us the
minds of these designers like an open book,
vulnerable and candid at the same time.
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Invariably, when fashion designers
unleash their primadonna voices and,
backstage, after their fashion shows, explain
to star-struck journalists the reasoning
behind their latest collection, they are
asked about inspiration. And unlike artists
or film-makers, who may vaguely reference
previous masters of their craft, fashion
designers are never short of precise - and
often far-fetched - references. "This season
I wanted to mix east-German student
chic with Monaco yacht owner brashness,
traditional wedding cakes from Uganda and
the colours of the iPad interface". And you
can be sure that a mood board exists, pinned
to the wall of their design studio, with
printed images of exactly these references.
How such seemingly unrelated subjects end
up being the base for a collection of clothes
is, depending on your view on the fashion
world, either a sign of genius or a proof of the
vacuity of the whole exercise.
By
ILL - STUDIO
I n t rO d u c t i O n
The goal of this book is to present part
of the "raw inspiration material" used for
creative purpose by the members of Ill-Studio
in 2010. This material rarely appears to be
strictly graphic, instead it covers all kinds
of fields and moments. Our inspiration
thrives on references that we specifically
research and look for or simply chance upon;
it is found in expected places such as art,
architecture and music, and in unexpected
encounters such as finding a rock in a forest
or observing the shape of an office plant.
Regardless of its origin, importance
or meaning, each compelling reference is
archived in visual form in Ill-Studio's inspiration folders. When working on a project,
digging in this ever-expanding catalogue of
not-so-general knowledge is often key to
our creative process, whether in a central
manner or as an Ariadne's thread leading us
to yet another idea.
Whilst our works are the products of our
savoir-faire as a multidisciplinary creative
studio, our influences are much more intimate.
It is this introspection that we share today,
as this book also accounts for the memories of those short or long lasting passions
that prompted us, at various points during
the year 2010, to explore and learn about
specific items.
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Being creative is dependant on a state
of mind known as inspiration. Inspiration,
however, is just as beautiful as it is elusive,
like a decidedly unquantifiable variable in a
world of deadlines and targeted objectives.
Because fertile ideas are but rarely found
on demand, or when expected, the quest for
inspiration is ongoing, often long predating
the project immediately at hand. Ill-Studio
works on diverse projects, which results in
sometimes very different modes of production, but our creative process always walks
the tracks of both innovation and lineage.
Popular Culture.
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Office Space Environment.
INSPI R ATIONS CLASSI F ICATION
Art & Design.
02. Dracaena marginata,
Madagascar Dragon Tree.
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A flowering plant in the Ruscaceae family,
native to Madagascar. It is a slow-growing
shrub or small tree, eventually reaching
heights of 2-5 m. The thin leaves are linear
and a deep, glossy green colour with red
edges; typically 30-90 cm long and 2-7 cm
wide, tapering to an acuminate point.
01.
Alessandro Mendini.
An Italian designer and architect. He played an
important part in the development of Italian design.
Alongside his artistic career, he also worked for
Casabella, Modo and Domus magazines.
03.
Archimedes of Syracuse.
A Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor,
and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists of classical
antiquity. His advances in physics included laying the
foundations of hydrostatics and statics, and an explanation
of the principle of the lever. 04. Chancel, Parish church in Riola,
designed by Alvar Aalto, 1975.
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In architecture, the chancel is the space
around the altar at the liturgical east end of
a traditional Christian church building.
It may terminate in an apse.
05. The Undersea World
of Jacques yves Cousteau.
A non-fiction documentary television series
focusing on marine biodiversity, hosted by the
French filmmaker, researcher and marine explorer,
Jacques Yves Cousteau. New episodes of the
series aired from 1968 until 1975.
06.
Fruit Hat.
A fruit hat is a festive and colourful
hat type popularised by Carmen
Miranda and associated with warm
climes. This type of hat has been worn
in films, by fashionistas, by comic
strip characters, and for Halloween.
08.
Balance Board.
A device used for recreation, athletic training, brain development, therapy, musical training and other kinds of personal development. The user must stay balanced enough to keep
the board's edges from touching the ground
and to keep from them falling off the board.
07. FlashBack, Un Nuovo Tiempo
per la Disco-Music, Gianni Arnaudo, 1974.
The discotheque comprises two floors to be used as a dance hall, bar
and services, with the upper part accomodating a horseshoe-shaped
auditorium inside the base of a large ionic column , where music can
be heard with headphones. The operation stems from a new and often
and demystifying attitude which opens a critical path into architecture through architecture itself.
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09.
Cassette Culture.
Refers to the trading of home-made audio cassettes, usually
of rock or alternative music. The culture was in part an offshoot
of the mail art movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In both the
United States and United Kingdom, it emerged from the DIY
ethic of punk. In the UK cassette culture was at its peak in
what is known as the post-punk period, 1978-1984. In the US,
activity extended through the late 1980s and into the 1990s.
10. Alexander Calder,
Two Spheres within a Sphere,
1931.
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An American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing the mobile.
In addition to his mobile and stabile
sculptures, Alexander Calder also
created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestries, jewellery and household
objects.
12.
Bjorn Rune Borg.
The former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden, he won
11 Grand Slam singles titles between 1974 and 1981. He
also won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and
four consecutive French Open singles titles. 11. Vanitas,
Philippe de Champaigne, 1671.
In the arts, vanitas is a type of symbolic work of art especially
associated with Northern European still life painting in Flanders and the Netherlands during the 16th and 17th centuries, though
also common in other places and periods. The word is Latin,
meaning "emptiness," and loosely translated corresponds to the
meaninglessness of earthly life and the transient nature of vanity.
14.
Astronomical Symbols.
The symbols used to represent various
celestial objects, theoretical constructs and
observational events in astronomy. These
symbols were commonly used by professional
and amateur astronomers.
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15.
13. Paul Outerbridge,
Party-mask with Shells, 1936.
An American photographer prominent
for his early use and experiments
in colour photography. Outerbridge was
a fashion and commercial photographer,
an early pioneer and teacher of colour
photography, and an artist who created
photographs of erotic nudes that could
not be exhibited in his lifetime.
Alchimia Studio.
Founded by Alessandro and Adriana
Guerriero and Bruno and Giorgio
Gregori in 1976, this Milan-based
avant-garde experimental design
group worked outside the constraints
of mass production, evolving from the
Anti-Design experimentation of Italian
radical design groups of the 1960s
such as Archizoom and Superstudio.
Alchimia was opposed to the dogma of
elegance and "good taste" so evident in
much mainstream Italian design of the
1950s and 1960s.
16. Jean Nouvel,
The Anne Frank College, 1978.
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Jean Nouvel is a French architect.
Nouvel studied at the Ecole des
Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a
founding member of Mars 1976
and Syndicat de l'Architecture. The
Anne Frank College is the fruit of
a bet. Starting from an industrial
model which traditionally restricts
the architect to a subordinate role
of adaptation to the site, Nouvel
has taken the liberty of producing
a particularly forward critical and
ironic work.
18.
17. Hipgnosis,
Ashra Correlations, 1979.
Hipgnosis was a British art and
design group that specialised in
creating cover art for the albums
of rock musicians and bands, most
notably Pink Floyd, The Pretty
Things, UFO, 10cc, Bad Company,
Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions,
Yes, The Alan Parsons Project,
Genesis, ELO and XTC. Hipgnosis
consisted primarily of Storm
Thorgerson, Aubrey Powell, and
later, Peter Christopherson.
Geometry.
The branch of mathematics concerned
with questions of shape, size, relative
position of figures, and the properties
of space. Geometry is one of the oldest
mathematical sciences. Initially a body
of practical knowledge concerning
lengths, areas, and volumes, in the
3rd century BC geometry was put into
an axiomatic form by Euclid, whose
treatment set the standard for many
centuries to follow.
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19.
Cyberculture.
A culture that has emerged, or is
emerging, from the use of computer
networks for communication,
entertainment and business. It is also
the study of various social phenomena
associated with the Internet and other
new forms of network communication,
such as online communities, online
multi-player gaming, and email usage.
20.
Navajo String Game.
A design formed by manipulating string on,
around, and using one's fingers, and
sometimes between the fingers of several
people. String figures may also involve the
use of the mouth, wrists, and feet. Versions
of this game have been found
in indigenous cultures all over the world,
from the Arctic to the Equatorial regions. 24
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21. Ugo La Pietra,
Servomuto "Alberello", 1984.
Born in 1938, in Bussi sul Tirino, Italy,
Ugo La Pietra is an artist, architect,
designer and theoretician. Since 1960
he has been part of several artistic
trends such as "sign art", "conceptual
art", "environmental art", "neweclecticism", "radical architecture
and design". He has always enriched
his research and his experiences
with intense teaching and publishing
activity, and has also launched a
research and exhibition group with the
enthusiastic involvement of artists,
architects and designers.
22.
Goldfish.
A freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of the order Cypriniformes.
It was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated and remains one of the most
commonly kept aquarium fish.
23.
Minimal Synth.
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Mainly characterised by minimal
musical structures, the sound of
the Minimal Synth movement was
hallmarked by the use of the analogue
synthesizers and drum machines
which were manufactured in the
1970s and 1980s by Roland, Korg,
Yamaha, ARP, Linn, Oberheim, Moog
and Sequential Circuits. Most of the
Minimal Wave bands recorded in their
home studios and created the album
artwork themselves, which naturally
paved the way for a DIY aesthetic to
emerge. The musicians were influenced
by avant-garde movements such as
futurism and constructivism as well as
by the literature of science fiction and
existentialism.
24.
GRAFFITI.
The name for images or lettering
scratched, scrawled, painted or
marked in any manner on property.
Graffiti is any type of public marking
that may appear in any form from
simple written words to elaborate
wall paintings. Graffiti has existed
since ancient times, with examples
dating back to Ancient Greece and
the Roman Empire.
25.
Marble.
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed
of re-crystallised carbonate minerals, most
commonly calcite or dolomite. Geologists use the term
"marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however
stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass
unmetamorphosed limestone. Marble is commonly used
for sculpture and as a building material.
26. Giorgio de Chirico,
Love Song, 1914.
Pre-Surrealist and then Surrealist GreekItalian painter born in Volos, Greece, to
a Genovese mother and a Sicilian father.
He founded the scuola metafisica art
movement. De Chirico strongly influenced
the Surrealist movement.
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27.
Roland Juno-60.
A popular analogue 61-key polyphonic synthesizer produced
by the Roland Corporation in the early 1980s and a successor
to the slightly erarlier Juno-6. Like its predecessor, the Juno-60
has some digital enhancements, used only for clocking the
oscillators and for saving/loading patches.
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29. SHeep.
Quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock.
Like all ruminants, sheep are
members of the order Artiodactyla,
the even-toed ungulates. Although
the name "sheep" applies to many
species in the genus Ovis, in
everyday usage it almost always
refers to Ovis aries.
30.
28.
Snellen chart.
An eye chart used by eye care professionals and
others to measure visual acuity. Snellen charts are
named after the Dutch ophthalmologist Hermann
Snellen who developed the chart in 1862. The symbols
on an acuity chart are known formally as optotypes.
Klaus Schulze.
A German electronic music composer
and musician. He also used the alias
Richard Wahnfried. He was briefly
a member of the electronic bands
Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel
before launching a solo career
consisting of more than 60 albums
spanning five decades.
31.
Matila Costiesco Ghyka.
A novelist, mathematician, historian,
philosopher and diplomat at the Romanian Plenipotentiary Minister in the United Kingdom from the late
1930s until 1940. 32
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33.
32.
Rock balancing.
The practice of balancing rocks on top
of one another in various configurations
which appear to be physically impossible.
Rock balancing can be a simple hobby as
much as performance art. No tools are
required, as some people generate quality
structures using only their hands.
Pizza Delivery.
Since the 1970s, pizza delivery has been a recurring plot
vehicle in pornographic films, in which it is used to introduce
men (or women) for random sexual encounters. Titles in this
genre include Pizza Girls, We Deliver (1978); The Pizza Boy: He
Delivers (1986); California Pizza Girls (1992); Hawaiian Pizza
Punani (1993), Pizza Sluts (1995); Big Sausage Pizza (2003),
Fresh Hot Pizza Boy (2004); DD Pizza Girls (2004),
and Pepperoni Tits (2006).
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34.
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF).
A bitmap image format that was introduced by
CompuServe in 1987 and has since come into
widespread use on the World Wide Web due to
its wide support and portability. It also supports
animations and allows a separate palette of 256
colours for each frame.
36.
Dance Diagram.
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A description diagram of various
dance moves commonly used in
various contemporary social dances.
They are usually isolated, defined,
and organised so that beginners can
learn and use them independently
of each other. Dance diagrams tend
to emphasise the concepts of lead,
follow and connection.
37. Bruno Munari,
Macchina Inutile, 1934.
35.
Airbrush.
A small, air-operated tool that sprays various media
including ink and dye, but most commonly paint, through
a process of nebulisation. Spray guns developed from the
airbrush and are still considered a type of airbrush.
Bruno Munari was an Italian artist and
designer, who fundamentally contributed
to many fields of the visual arts such
as painting, sculpture, film, industrial design
and graphics, as well as the non-visual arts
with his research on games, infancy and
creativity. In 1948 he founded Movimento
Arte Concreta (MAC), the Italian movement
for concrete art.
38.
Ctenophora.
A phylum of animals that live in
marine waters worldwide. Their
most distinctive feature are their
"combs", groups of cilia that they
use for swimming. The comb rows
of most planktonic ctenophores
produce a rainbow effect, which
is not caused by bioluminescence
but by the scattering of light as the
combs move. Most species are also
bioluminescent, but the light is
usually blue or green and can only
be seen in darkness.
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40. Robert Venturi,
Princeton University, 1983.
39. Fischli & Weiss,
Quiet Afternoon, 1984.
Peter Fischli and David Weiss are
an artistic duo, collaborating since
1979. They are among the most
renowned contemporary artists from
Switzerland. Their best known work
is the film "Der Lauf der Dinge" (The
Way Things Go). This was described
by The Guardian as being "Post
Apocalyptic" as it is about chain
reactions and the way in which
objects fly, crash, and explode
across the studio it was shot in.
An American architect, the principal founder of
the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates,
and one of the major figures in twentieth century
architecture. He is known for coining the maxim
"Less is a bore" as an antidote to Mies van der
Rohe's famous modernist dictum "Less is more".
41.
EriK Alfred Leslie Satie.
43.
Tie-Dyed Milk.
Liquids like water and milk have a property
known as surface tension, due to the
cohesive forces of the molecules of the
liquids. When soap is added to the middle,
the surface tension is broken and the
unbroken surface tension draws the majority
of the food colouring to the outside of the
bowl, creating a colourful design.
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A French composer and pianist.
Starting with his first composition
in 1884, he signed his name as Erik
Satie. Satie was introduced as a
"gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly
before writing his most famous
compositions, the Gymnopédies.
Later, he also referred to himself as
a "phonometrician" preferring this
designation to that of a "musician",
after having been called "a clumsy
but subtle technician" in a book on
contemporary French composers
published in 1911.
42.
LA GEODE.
An Omnimax theatre in the Parc
de la Villette at the Cité des
Sciences et de l'Industrie in Paris.
It opened on May 6th 1985. It is fitted
with the only 12.1 sound system in
the world, designed by Cabasse.
After a similar venue located at La
Défense closed in 2001, La Géode
became the only spherical building in
the Ile-de-France region of France.
44.
Soap Bubble
A soap bubble is a very thin
film of soapy water that forms
a sphere with an iridescent
surface. They usually last for
only a few seconds before
bursting, either on their own
or on contact with another
object. Soap bubbles can help
solve complex mathematical
problems of space, as they
will always find the smallest
surface area between points
or edges.
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46. Ettore Sottsass,
Asteroide Lamp, 1968.
45. Optical Resolution,
ISO 12233 Test Chart.
Describes the ability of an imaging system to resolve detail
in the object that is being imaged. An imaging system
may have many individual components including a lens
and recording and display components. Each of these
contributes to the optical resolution of the system, as does
the environment in which the imaging is done.
Ettore Sottsass was an Italian architect and designer of the late
20th century. In 1981 Sottsass and an international group of young
architects and designers came together to form the Memphis
Group. The group's colourful, ironic pieces were hailed as one of
the most characteristic examples of Postmodernism in design and
the arts. Sottsass described Memphis in a 1986 Chicago Tribune
article: "Memphis is like a very strong drug. You cannot take too
much. I don't think anyone should put only Memphis around:
It's like eating only cake."
48. Ready-made,
Marcel Duchamp Bicycle Wheel, 1913.
Art created from the undisguised, but
often modified, use of objects that are not
normally considered art, often because they
already have a non-art function. Marcel
Duchamp was the originator of Readymade
in the early 20th century, with the Bicycle
Wheel in 1913, the Bottle Rack in 1914, and
the Fountain (by R.Mutt) in 1917.
47. Paul Virilio,
Bunker ArchEologie.
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Paul Virilio is a cultural
theorist and urbanist. He is
best known for his writings
about technology, as it has
developed in relation to speed and
power, with diverse references to
architecture, the arts, the city and
the military.
49.
Venus and Mars.
Venus and Mars is the fourth album by Wings, Paul
McCartney's group formed after The Beatles split. Released
as the follow-up to the enormously successful Band on the
Run, Venus and Mars continued Wings' string of successes
and would prove a springboard for a year-long worldwide tour.
50. Alvin Lustig,
Incantation fabric design
for Laverne, 1947.
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An American graphic designer and
typeface designer. He studied at
Los Angeles City College, Art Center,
and independently with Frank Lloyd
Wright and Jean Charlot. He began
designing for books in 1937. In 1944
he became Director of Visual
Research for Look magazine. He also
designed for Fortune, New Directions
and Girl Scouts of America. He began
teaching in 1945.
52.
Popular Science.
Sometimes called "the literature
of science", Popular Science is the
interpretation of science intended
for a general audience. While science
journalism focuses on recent scientific
developments, popular science is
broad ranging, and is often written by
scientists as well as journalists.
51.
Robert Abel and Associates
A pioneering production company specializing in TV adverts made
with computer graphics. Abel and his team created some of the most
advanced and impressive computer-animated works of their time,
including full ray-traced renders and fluid character animation at a
time when such things were largely unknown.
54.
Eureka Magazine.
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The journal of The Archimedeans, the
Cambridge University Mathematical
Society. It has been published
approximately annually since 1939
and usually includes a short summary
of the activities of the society, articles
published by students and professors
as well as eminent "guest writers",
a set of mathematical problems and
solutions as well as book reviews.
53.
Child.
Biologically, a child is generally a human
between the stages of birth and puberty.
Some definitions also include the unborn
or foetus. The legal definition of "child"
generally refers to a minor, otherwise
known as a person younger than the age
of maturity.
55.
Tensegrity. Tensional integrity is a type of structure in which the integrity is
based on a balance between tension and compression components. In a tensegrity structure the
compressive members are connected
to each other by tensile members.
56. Al Jarnow,
"Block Civilization".
58. Michele De Lucchi,
First Chair, 1983.
Born in 1951 in Ferrara, Italy. He is
an Italian artist, designer, architect,
painter and sculptor. During a period of
radical and experimental architecture
he was a prominent figure in movements
such as Cavart, Alchimia and Memphis. De Lucchi has designed lamps and
furniture for the most well-known Italian
and European companies.
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Al Jarnow was an artist, sculptor,
and filmmaker, whose video
works appeared on Sesame
Street and 3-2-1 Contact. He wrote
the lyrics to "Box City Recycling
Rap", and co-wrote the rap
"One Thousand Faces". During
his short time as a book cover
illustrator, he illustrated for Alfred
Hitchcock and Agatha Christie.
His artworks have been displayed
at New York City's Museum
of Modern Art and the Centre
Pompidou in Paris.
57.
MORSAY.
The founder of the French rap band "Truands 2 la Galère",
Morsay became a YouTube icon through numerous videos
taking place in his booth at the Parisian flea market at
Porte de Clignancourt.
59. Courreges,
"Space Age" collection,
1964.
60.
A French fashion designer,
known for his ultra-modern
designs. At the age of 25, after
studying to be a civil engineer,
he went to Paris to work at
the Geanne Lafaurie fashion
house. A few months later he
crossed over to Balenciaga,
the renowned Spanish
designer. Courreges built his
dresses rather than designed
them. The shapes of his clothes
were geometric: squares, trapezoids, triangles.
Aleister Crowley.
Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley,
and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, mystic and ceremonial magician,
responsible for founding the religious philosophy
of Thelema. He was also successful in various other
fields, including mountaineering, chess and poetry.
It has been alleged that he was a spy for the British
government.
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61.
Engine.
An engine or motor is a machine designed to
convert energy into useful mechanical motion.
62. Takenobu Igarashi,
"Space Graphics", 1983
Takenobu Igarashi is one of Japan's
most outstanding, original, and
prolific designers. He is best known
for his three-dimensional letterforms,
posters, calendars, and sculptures.
Two very famous works of his are the
poster design for Expo '85 and his
ten-year project of designing the
Igarashi Poster Calendar. His calendar
began with five years for the Museum
of Modern Art in New York, and then
five more years for the Alphabet
Gallery in Tokyo.
54
55
64.
63.
Diffraction.
Various phenomena which occur
when a wave encounters an obstacle.
Italian scientist Francesco Maria
Grimaldi coined the word "diffraction"
and, in 1665, was the first to
accurately record observations of the
phenomenon.
Tony Smith, "Moondog", 1964.
American sculptor, visual artist, architectural
designer, and a noted art theorist. He is often cited as
a pioneering figure in American Minimalist sculpture.
66. Jean PainlevE,
Cristaux Liquides, 1978.
57
56
A film director, actor, translator, animator,
critic and theorist. He was the son of
mathematician and twice prime-minister
of France, Paul Painlevé. Advocating
the credo "science is fiction," Painlevé
managed to scandalise both the scientific
and the cinematographic world with a
cinema designed to entertain as well as
edify. He portrayed sea horses, vampire
bats, skeleton shrimps, and fanworms
as endowed with human traits. Painlevé
single-handedly established a unique kind
of cinema, the "scientific-poetic cinema".
65.
Martin Margiela.
A Belgian fashion designer. He studied at
Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts along
with the legendary avant-garde fashion collective
the Antwerp Six. He is still considered to be the
"7th member" of the collective.
67.
Walter Smetak.
A cellist, composer and inventor, who played
and conducted music with instruments he
invented. Smetak was deeply involved in the
Brazilian music scene, collaborating with
Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé and Uakti, and is
considered the guru of "Tropicalia" music. 68. Norman MacLaren,
"Rythmetic", 1956.
59
58
A Canadian animator and film
director known for his work for the
National Film Board of Canada.
McLaren is remembered for his
experiments with image and
sound as he developed a number
of groundbreaking techniques
for combining and synchronizing
animation with music.
70.
69.
William Tell. A folk hero from Switzerland. His legend
is recorded in a late 15th century Swiss
chronicle. It is set in the period of the
founding of the Old Swiss Confederacy in
the early 14th century. According to the
legend, Tell was an expert crossbow
marksman who assassinated Gessler,
a tyrannical reeve of Habsburg Austria,
located in Altdorf, Uri. Along with Arnold
Winkelried, Tell is a central figure
in Swiss patriotism as constructed during
the Restoration of the Confederacy after
the Napoleonic era.
Table tennis.
A sport in which two or four players hit a
lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using
table tennis bats. The game takes place on a
hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial
serve, players must allow a ball played toward
them only one bounce on their side of the table
and must return it so that it bounces on the
opposite side.
72. Cubism,
Three Musicians, 1921.
A 20th century avant-garde art movement,
pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges
Braque, that revolutionised European painting and sculpture, and inspired
related movements in music, literature
and architecture. The first branch of cubism,
known as Analytic Cubism, was both radical
and influential as a short-lived but highly
significant art movement in France between
1907 and 1911. In its second phase,
Synthetic Cubism, the movement spread
and remained vital until around 1919, when
the Surrealist movement gained popularity.
60
71.
Pulley.
Also called a sheave or a drum, a
pulley is a mechanism composed of
a wheel on an axle or shaft that may
have a groove between two flanges around its circumference. A rope, cable, belt, or chain usually runs over
the wheel and inside the groove, if
present. Pulleys are used to change
the direction of an applied force,
transmit rotational motion, or realise
a mechanical advantage in either a
linear or rotational system of motion.
Artificial Intelligence.
The intelligence of machines and
the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks
define the field as "the study and
design of intelligent agents" where
an intelligent agent is a system that
perceives its environment and takes
actions that maximise its chances
of success.
61
73.
74.
Electrical Network.
The interconnection of electrical elements such as
resistors, inductors, capacitors, transmission lines,
voltage sources, current sources and switches. An
electrical circuit is a special type of network, one that
has a closed loop giving a return path for the current.
62
63
76. Studio 65,
"Baby-Lonia", 1973.
Founded in 1965 by Franco Audrito and a team of
young designers, Studio 65 created cult objects such
as the Bocca sofa and Capitello chair. Today, with
offices in Torino, Jeddah, Cairo, and Bali, the firm
has created landmark buildings all over the world.
75.
Nautical Flags.
Flag signals can mean any of various
methods of using flags or pennants to
send signals. Flags may have individual
significance as signals, or two or more
flags may be manipulated so that their
relative positions convey symbols. Flag
signals allowed communication at a
distance before the invention of radio and
are still used, especially in connection
with ships.
78.
Skateboard.
A skateboard is typically a specially designed
plywood board combined with a polyurethane
coating for smoother slides and greater durability,
used primarily for the activity of skateboarding.
64
65
77.
Madeleine Vionnet.
Madeleine Vionnet was a French fashion
designer. Called the "Queen of the bias cut"
and "the architect among dressmakers",
Vionnet is best-known today for her elegant
Grecian-style dresses and for introducing
the bias cut to the fashion world.
79.
LEVER.
In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used
with an appropriate fulcrum or pivot point to
either multiply the mechanical force (effort)
that can be applied to another object or
resistance force (load), or multiply the distance
and speed at which the opposite end of the
rigid object travels.
80.
ASCII art.
67
66
Graphic design technique that uses
computers for presentation and consists of
pictures pieced together from the 95 printable
characters (from a total of 128) defined by
the ASCII Standard from 1963 and the ASCII
compliant character sets with proprietary
extended characters. The term is also loosely
used to refer to text based art in general. ASCII
art can be created with any text editor, and is
often used with free-form languages.
82. Barbara Kasten,
Construct XXII, 1984.
81
Chanel N°5, 1979.
This Ridley Scott directed commercial for
Chanel No. 5 is appropriately titled "Share
the Fantasy" - something the perfumer has
been doing since 1979. The spot, by Doyle
Dane Bernbach, features a bronzed woman
lying by the side of a swimming pool where
she is soon joined by an equally tanned
and scantily clad man.
An American artist influenced by Constructivism. She
explores modes of reorganizing the visual environment.
In her work since the early 1980s she has created
abstract interpretations of interior spaces and
architectural details with geometric shapes, mirrors,
glass, lighting gels and a lighting crew recruited from the
film industry. Evident in "Architectural Site #17, The High
Museum" is Kasten's use of super-saturated colour and
dramatic juxtapositions of line, angle, and form.
84.
Gaelic Alphabet.
The term Gaelic type, a translation of
the Irish phrase cló Gaelach, refers to a
family of insular typefaces devised for
writing Irish, used between the 16th and
20th centuries. Sometimes, all Gaelic
typefaces are called Celtic or uncial,
though most Gaelic types are not
technically uncials.
68
69
83.
The Scarlet Macaw.
A large, colourful macaw. It is native to humid
evergreen forests in the American tropics. Its
range extends from extreme south-eastern
Mexico to Amazonian Peru, Bolivia and Brazil,
in lowlands up to 500m. Formerly it ranged
from the north to southern Tamaulipas. It can
still be found on the island of Coiba. It is the
national bird of Honduras.
85.
KwieKulik.
Przemyslaw Kwiek and Zofia Kulik worked
together as KwieKulik from 1971 to 1987.
They included their son in their work,
documenting his daily life and relating his
activities to various configurations of the
general conception of art with which they
were experimenting. One of the purposes in
doing so was to investigate the applicability
of mathematical logic, cybernetics and the
linguistic theory of signs to art.
86.
Pineapple.
71
70
The common name for a tropical plant
and its edible fruit of coalesced berries.
Pineapples are the only bromeliad
fruit in widespread cultivation. It can
be grown as an ornamental plant,
especially for its leafy top.
88.
87. Massimo Vignelli,
Kono table for Casigliani,
1985.
Massimo Vignelli is an Italian
designer who has done
work in a number of areas
ranging from package design,
furniture design, public signage
and showroom design, through
Vignelli Associates. Fireworks.
Fireworks are a class of explosive
pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic
and entertainment purposes. They use
many forms to produce the four primary
effects: noise, light, smoke, and
floating materials.
90.
String Art.
72
89.
73
String art is characterised by an
arrangement of coloured thread
strung between points to form
abstract geometric patterns or
representational designs such
as a ship's sails, sometimes with
other artistic material comprising
the remainder of the work. String
art has its origins in the "curve
stitch" activities invented by Mary
Everest Boole at the end of the 19th
Century to make mathematical
ideas more accessible to
children. It was popularised as a
decorative craft in the late 1960s
through kits and books.
Marco Van Basten.
A former Dutch footballer, who played for AFC
Ajax and A.C. Milan, as well his national team,
in the 1980s and early 1990s. He is regarded
as one of the greatest forwards of all time and
scored 277 goals in a high-profile career cut
short by injury.
91.
Human Leg.
The precise definition of the leg in human
anatomy refers to the section of the lower limb
extending between the knee and the ankle. Legs are
used for standing, walking, jumping, running, kicking,
and similar activities, and constitute a significant
portion of a person's mass. 92.
Compact Disc.
A compact disc (CD) is a small, portable,
round medium made of moulded polymer for
electronically recording, storing, and playing
back audio, video, text, and other information
in digital form. The Compact Disc is a spin-off
of Laserdisc technology, a home video disc
format, and was the first commercial optical
disc storage medium, initially marketed as
Discovision in 1978.
74
75
93.
Construction Set.
A set of standardised pieces that
allow for the construction of a variety
of different models or buildings.
The pieces avoid the lead time of
manufacturing custom pieces,
and of requiring special training or
design time to construct complex
systems. This makes them suitable for
temporary structures, or for use as
children's toys.
94. Sol LeWitt,
Incomplete Open Cubes, 1974.
An American artist linked to various
movements, including Conceptual art and
Minimalism. LeWitt came to fame in the late
1960s with his wall drawings and "structures"
(a term he preferred to "sculptures"), but was
prolific in a wide range of media including
drawing, printmaking, and painting.
96.
EBAY.
American Internet company that
manages eBay.com, an online auction and
shopping website in which people and
businesses buy and sell a wide range of
goods and services worldwide.
76
77
95. Peter Shire,
Hourglass teapot, 1984.
A Los Angeles based artist. His sculpture,
furniture and ceramics have been exhibited
in the United States, Italy, France, Japan and
Poland. Shire has been associated with the
Memphis Group of designers and worked on
the Design Team for the XXIII Olympiad with
the American Institute of Architects.
97.
Richard Buckminster Fuller. American engineer, author, designer,
inventor and futurist. Fuller invented
and popularised terms such as
"Spaceship Earth", "ephemeralization",
and "synergetics". He also developed
numerous inventions, mainly architectural
designs, the best known of which is
the geodesic dome. Carbon molecules
known as "fullerenes" were later named by
scientists because of their resemblance to
geodesic spheres. 99.
NSFW.
Internet slang or shorthand for "Not Safe
For Work". Typically, the NSFW tag is used in
e-mail, videos, and on interactive discussion
areas to mark URLs or hyperlinks which may
be sexually explicit or include audio containing
profanity, helping the reader avoid potentially
objectionable content.
78
79
100.
GRAVITY.
A natural phenomenon by which physical bodies attract
with a force proportional to their mass. In everyday
life, gravitation is most familiar as the agent that gives
weight to objects with mass and causes them to fall
to the ground when dropped. Gravitation is one of the
four fundamental interactions of nature, along with the
strong force, electromagnetism and the weak force.
98. Michel Genest,
Crystal Fantasy.
Debut release from 1984. Cassette.
102.
Haruomi Hosono.
81
80
Japanese popular musician, best known
internationally as a member of the Yellow
Magic Orchestra. In 1978, Hosono formed
the Yellow Magic Orchestra with Yukihiro
Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The
Yellow Magic Orchestra (a.k.a. YMO)
released a number of albums in the late
1970s and early 1980s to considerable
acclaim both inside and outside Japan.
After YMO disbanded in 1984, Hosono
released a number of solo albums
covering a variety of styles, including film
soundtracks, and a number of electronic
ambient albums.
101. Nathalie du Pasquier,
Arizona Carpet, 1983.
A French painter based in Milan, Italy. Until 1986 she
worked as a designer and was a founder member of
Memphis for which she designed many textiles, carpets,
furniture and objects. When the group broke up in 1987,
painting became her main activity.
103.
Video feedback, 1988.
The process that starts and continues
when a video camera is pointed at its
playback video monitor. The image
from the camera is delayed slightly
in time as it travels through the
extensive circuitry of the recording
system and is output to the video
playback monitor.
104.
Video Days, 1991.
Skateboarding video by Blind Skateboards.
It is considered by many in the skateboarding
community to be "the Citizen Kane of
skateboarding videos". Video Days is the
first movie/video directed by Spike Jonze and
stars Mark Gonzales, Rudy Johnson, Jason
Lee, Guy Mariano and Jordan Richter.
82
83
105. Barney Bubbles,
Spasticus Autisticus, 1981.
Colin Fulcher aka Barney Bubbles was a
radical English graphic artist, whose work
primarily encompassed the disciplines
of graphic design, painting and music
video direction. He is most renowned
for his distinctive contribution to the
graphic design associated with the British
independent music scene during the 1970s
and early 1980s. His symbol-laden and
riddle-laden record sleeves were his most
visible output. 106. Andrea Branzi,
Animali Domestici, 1986.
Andrea Branzi is an Italian architect and designer.
Along with Paolo Deganello, Massimo Morozzi and
Gilberto Coretti, he founded Archizoom Associates.
He is a promoter of the Italian Radical Architecture
movement. From the Radical Period, came the very
famous Superarchitettura theoretical framework,
which brought about the Anti-Design movement.
84
85
107.
YouTube.
Video-sharing website on which users can upload,
share, and view videos; created by three former
PayPal employees in February 2005. The company
uses Adobe Flash Video technology to display a wide
variety of user-generated video content, including
movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as
amateur content such as video blogging and short
original videos.
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2 0 1 0 - 2 0 11
ba l a n ce b oa r d
ba l a n ce b oa r d
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C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
0 2 , 0 3 , 0 5 , 0 8 , 1 2 , 2 2 , 2 5 , 3 2 , 3 7,
3 9 , 5 2 , 7 9 , 8 2 , 8 7.
0 2 , 0 3 , 0 5 , 0 8 , 1 2 , 2 2 , 2 5 , 3 2 , 3 7,
3 9 , 5 2 , 7 9 , 8 2 , 8 7.
00
Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 2 4 h o u r s
W o o d b o a r d , m a rb l e b l o c k , n i k e s h o e s a n d g o l d f i s h .
04 / 2010
W o o d b o a r d , m a rb l e b l o c k , n i k e s h o e s a n d t e n n i s b a l l s .
00
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WH ITE MAGIC
MAUSOLEUM
Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 1 2 h o u r s
C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
0 1 , 0 4 , 0 7, 1 5 , 1 6 , 2 5 , 4 0 , 6 0 , 7 2 ,
7 6 , 7 7, 8 9 , 1 0 1 .
1 8 , 1 9 , 2 0 , 2 9 , 3 6 , 4 8 , 5 5 , 6 7,
78, 90, 96, 104.
00
d a m i a n h i r s t s k at e b o a r d , n a i l s a n d s t r i n g s o n w a l l .
Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 4 8 h o u r s
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IN K J ET P R INT ON SIL K SCA R f.
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l a c q u e r e d w o o d e n s t a i r s , b l a c k w o o d s t r u c t u r e a n d s t r i p e d F A B R IC .
C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
0 7, 1 8 , 3 3 , 4 1 , 4 2 , 4 6 , 4 7, 5 4 ,
5 9 , 6 4 , 9 7, 9 5 .
00
Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 7 2 h o u r s
00
geo d e s i c DOME
COLO R S
COLO R S
w o o d e n t o y s d i s p l a y.
C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
0 1, 0 4 , 1 5 , 2 3 , 3 4 , 4 0 , 4 9 , 5 3 , 5 6 , 5 8 ,
62, 75, 76, 83, 88, 93.
0 1, 0 4 , 1 5 , 2 3 , 3 4 , 4 0 , 4 9 , 5 3 , 5 6 , 5 8 ,
62, 75, 76, 83, 88, 93.
00
Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 2 4 h o u r s
Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 2 4 h o u r s
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w o o d e n t o y s d i s p l a y.
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"A"
B R OWN FOX
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references
C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
1 0 , 1 8 , 2 1 , 2 5 , 3 1 , 3 7, 4 6 , 4 8 ,
5 5 , 6 7, 6 9 , 1 0 6 .
2 3 , 2 4 , 2 7, 2 8 , 3 5 , 3 8 , 4 3 , 4 4 , 4 5 , 6 3 ,
66, 68, 82, 83, 98, 103.
00
Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 6 0 h o u r s
t y p o gr a p h y s t e n c i l , s p r a y p a i n t o n p a p e r .
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A p p l e , m a rb l e b l o c k , w o o d e n s t i c k s a n d wh i t e s t r i n g s .
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0 1 / 2 0 11
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C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
0 6 , 0 7, 0 9 , 1 1 , 1 3 , 2 4 , 2 6 , 3 4 , 4 1 ,
48, 70, 85, 86, 99.
00
N e w b a l a n c e s h o e s , O F F ICE J UN K .
00
FOND DE TI R OI R
A F TE R PA R TY
A F TE R PA R TY
Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 1 2 h o u r s
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references
C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
0 1 , 0 7, 1 3 , 1 5 , 1 9 , 2 7, 2 7, 3 4 , 5 1 , 5 3 ,
63, 88, 92, 99, 102.
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63, 88, 92, 99, 102.
00
Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 1 2 h o u r s
pa r t y s u p p l i e s d i s p l ay o n b l a c k pa p e r
12 / 2010
pa r t y s u p p l i e s d i s p l ay o n b l a c k pa p e r
00
12 / 2010
va n itas tote m s
va n itas tote m s
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references
C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
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32, 39, 48, 58, 100.
0 3 , 0 6 , 0 8 , 1 1, 1 3 , 1 9 , 2 1, 2 6 ,
32, 39, 48, 58, 100.
00
Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 6 h o u r s
e a r t h e n w a r e p hr e n o l o g y b u s t a n d fr u i t s .
01 / 2010
s i lv e r m a s k , d o l l l e g , w o o l b a l l , p l a s t i c p u z z l e , m e ta l s p r i n g .
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11 / 2 0 1 0
SOUTH A FR ICA
j oy
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C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
1 4 , 1 8 , 2 3 , 2 8 , 3 0 , 3 1, 4 5 , 5 0 ,
68, 74, 80, 84.
0 9 , 1 7, 1 8 , 2 0 , 2 3 , 3 1 , 3 6 , 4 0 ,
4 1, 6 1, 7 1, 7 3 , 1 0 5 .
00
Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 2 4 h o u r s
b l a c k p a i n t, p u l l e y s a n d r o p e o n w a l l .
02 / 2010
one color screenprinted poster.
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C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
1 1, 1 3 , 1 9 , 2 3 , 2 6 , 3 3 , 7 0 , 9 9 , 4 1,
46, 48, 52, 74, 96.
00
r e d t a p e , b o p h o n e , p i g m e n t s , p e rf u m e b o t t l e , p o c k e t b o o k a n d b l o n d e w i g .
00
s cr i bb le
I n co m ple te o pe n legs
I n co m ple te o pe n legs
Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 4 8 h o u r s
C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
C o rr e s p o n d i n g
references
1 8 , 2 7, 3 3 , 3 8 , 5 7, 6 2 , 6 5 ,
8 1, 9 1, 9 4 , 9 6 .
1 8 , 2 7, 3 3 , 3 8 , 5 7, 6 2 , 6 5 ,
8 1, 9 1, 9 4 , 9 6 .
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Pr o d u c t i o n t i m e : 4 8 h o u r s
pa i n t e d Wo o d p i ec es, Lo u i s v u i t to n s h o es.
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pa i n t e d Wo o d p i ec es, Lo u i s v u i t to n s h o es.
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Acknowledgments :
Yorgo Tloupas , Sarah Ghlamallah, John Whelan,
Alexis Le-Tan, Romuald Stivine, Google Images,
Wikipedia, and all the authors named in this book.
Typography :
Moods Regular / Ill-Studio.
Copy Editor :
Adam Biles
Edition of 500 copies, not for sale.
Printed in France by Escourbiac.
© Ill-Studio 2011
www.ill-studio.com
www.monsieurlagent.com
By
ILL - STUDIO
e n c yclo pe d i a o f i n s pi r ati o n