Responses and articles about 26th Brno Biennial 2014, June 2014 – February 2015.

Collected and designed by Radim Peško (CZ)Radim Peško is a graphic designer based in London. He works in the field of type design, editorial and exhibition projects. Work includes identity for Secession Vienna (AT), Berlin Biennale 8 (DE) in collaboration with Zak Group, various work for Moravian Gallery, Brno (CZ), Eastside Projects, Birmingham (UK) or a long-term collaboration with artist Kateřina Šedá among others. In 2010 he has established his RP Digital Type Foundry that specializes on typefaces that are both formally and conceptually distinctive. He teaches at Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (NL) and École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Lyon (F). Since 2011 he is part of curatorial board of International Biennial of Graphic Design in Brno (CZ). , Tomáš Celizna (CZ)Tomáš Celizna (1977) is interested in graphic design in connection with new technologies. He is a founding partner of design studio dgú in Prague (2001–2005), recipient of J. W. Fulbright Scholarship (2006), and holds M.F.A. in graphic design from Yale University School of Art (2008). He currently lives and works independently in Amsterdam. Collaborations include, among others, BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht; Graduate School of Design Harvard University, Cambridge; Faculty of Architecture CTU, Prague; OASE Journal for Architecture, Rotterdam; Royal Academy of Art, The Hague; Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and The New Institute, Rotterdam. Since 2011 he is a lecturer in graphic design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, and a member of the curatorial team of the International Biennial of Graphic Design Brno. a Adam Macháček (CZ)Adam Macháček (1980) is a graphic designer. Following studies at the AAAD in Prague, Gerrit Rietveled Academie in Amsterdam and Ecal in Lausanne, he co-founded in 2004 studio Welcometo.as in Lausanne and is a member of 2014 Designers collective. His work includes publications, exhibition catalogues, illustrations and identities. Collaborations include, among others, The Moravian Gallery in Brno, Théâtre de Vevey (2003–2012 seasons), Galerie Rudolfinum, SFMOMA, Chronicle Books, Museum of Czech Literature, Brno House of Arts. For Brno Biennial he initiated and organized exhibitions Work from Switzerland (2004) and Work from Mars (2006, together with Radim Peško). Since 2011 he is a member of the curatorial team of the International Biennial of Graphic Design in Brno. He lives and works in Berkeley. .

Brno Biennial, 2015
print-on-demand paperback
136 pages, 21 × 29.7 cm, English, Czech, German, Italian, Korean, Slovak
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Contestations brings together a range of artists, theorists and other practitioners to consider the state of education and learning in light of political struggle, institutional crisis and new media platforms. Focusing on creative experiments in education, Contestations seeks to instigate a conversation about the future direction of education that challenges existing academic models while examining possibilities for strategic intervention and self-organisation.

Edited by Tim Ivison & Tom Vandeputte (NL)Tom Vandeputte is a writer and theorist based in London and Amsterdam. He teaches and convenes a critical theory programme at the Sandberg Institute and is a visiting lecturer at King’s College London. Vandeputte holds an MRes with distinction from the London Consortium and is currently completing a PhD in philosophy at the Centre for Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths College. His writings have been published in various books and journals, including Metropolis M and Log. Together with Tim Ivison, he edited Contestations (Bedford Press, 2013), a book on experimental forms of education and self-organised learning beyond the academy.
With contributions by Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi, Sean Dockray, Jakob Jakobsen, Nils Norman, Gregory Sholette and Ultra-red

Bedford Press, 2013
paperback with dust jacket
192 pages, 4.7 × 9.5 cm, English
ISBN 978-1-907414-23-7
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The publication was created as a catalog for No Perfect Schools So Far exhibition, part of 2014 Biennial OFF Program. The exhibition presented a collection of teaching tools (objects, aids, methods, rituals...) created by art school teachers for their students. Their methods are represented here by publications, texts and pictorial documentation.

Authors Ivana Dudková and Vojtěch Pochop
With texts by Vasil Artamonov, Petr Babák, Palo Bálik, Federico díaz a David Kořínek, Lenka Klodová, Tomáš Knoflíček, Vladimír Kokolia, František Kowolowski, Petr Lysáček, Luděk Rathousk. a Jiří Franta, Jiří Surůvka, Mária Topolčanská, Filip Vančo, Tomáš Vaněk, Martin Zet

Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Ostrava, 2014
Perfect bound paperback
150 pages, 14.8 x 21 cm, Czech, English
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Souborná publikace mapující grafický design s přesahem do současného umění je rozdělená do třech kapitol:

Manifest – kapitola první vytváří souvislosti mezi uměleckými intervencemi do veřejného prostoru, institucionální kritikou i obecněji postojem umělce ke společnosti a počiny z oblasti nakladatelství, časopisectví, ilustrace, plakátové tvorby nebo graffiti.

Nečitelnost – kapitola druhá ukazuje příklady dekonstrukce přesunu sdělení od formy k příjemci, víceznačnost tohoto metajazyka. Nesrozumitelnost a nečitelnost se stávají tématy autorů, kteří problematizují podstatu médií i lidské komunikace jako takové.

Je to design – kapitola třetí klade otázku, zda je grafik umělcem? Je umělec designérem? Pozice obou oblastí se v této kapitole vzájemně prolínají. Autonomizace obvykle „užité“ sféry ústí k experimentálnímu a autorskému grafickému designu.

Authors: Petr Bosák, Robert Jansa With texts by Petr Babák, Blumfeld S. M., Petr Bosák, Tomáš Celizna, Karel Císař, Vít Havránek, Ondřej Chrobák, Robert Jansa, Iva Knobloch, Jiří Kovanda, Václav Magid, Markéta Magidová, Adam Macháček, Marek Meduna, Radim Peško, Tomáš Pospiszyl, Kateřina Přidalová, Jan Rous, Richard Rozhoň, Jiří Skála, Ondřej Slačálek, Jan Šerých, Markéta Vinglerová

Quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, 2013
sewn paperback
244 pages, 16,9 × 24 cm, Czech
ISBN 978-80-87259-22-1
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The publication summarizes fifty years of work of one of the leading Czech graphic designer, typographer and professor at the Academy of Arts and Design in Prague. Structured chronologically, the book shows Vaněk’s work spanning from his school projects, to a number of posters and prints for cultural events, to large commissions from early 21st century. His close collaboration with the Brno Biennial, a major international exhibition of graphic design, is also documented as well as his major projects that includes visual style for the Prague Metro, Czechoslovak Commercial Bank and Czechoslovak Airlines. A number of examples represents Vaněk’s contribution in the area of book design. He designed hundreds of books for major Czech publishing houses. The publication also documents his postal stamp design. The second part of the publication showcases Vaněk’s type design, an area he’s been devoted to for the past ten years. All of his typefaces are represented in practical examples, but also sketches of future fonts for Signature Type Foundry are shown.

With texts by Karel Haloun, Milena Klasová, Iva Knobloch (CZ)Iva Knobloch (1964). Curator of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, Prints and Drawings dpt., focuses on graphic design and product design history, author and editor of several books: Ladislav Sutnar: Prague-New York (2003), Ladislav Sutnar in texts (2010), visiting teacher of graphic design history on Academy of Art, design and Architecture in Prague. , Marek Pokorný (CZ)Marek Pokorný (b. 1963) is a curator, publicist and a cultural manager. In the 90s, he was active as a curator and art critic in daily press, from 1995 to 2000 as an editor of Detail – a magazine for visual culture. In 2003 and 2004 he was the main curator of House of The Kunstat Lords of the Brno House of Arts. Between 2004 and 2012 he was a director of the Moravian Gallery in Brno. He curated a wide range of exhibitions of contemporary art, including projects for Czecho-Slovak pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2005 and 2013). Since 2013 he is a member of PLATO – platform for contemporary art Ostrava. He is a chair of the organisation committee of the International Biennial of Graphic Design Brno. , Jan Solpera, Jiří Šetlík, Alan Záruba

KANT, 2014
sewn paperback
425 pages, 21,7 × 21,6 cm, Czech, English
ISBN 978-80-7437-136-3
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Draw your classmate. Look at your shoe. Make a horizon. Let a river of ink flow down a sheet of paper, make an egg appear as if it were floating. Create music with Illustrator, explain the world in ten images, and draw a letter in three seconds. Now say goodbye to the computer. Become a human algorithm. Clean your apartment, make a picnic, build a kite, and tell a joke. Don’t take it too seriously. Make it simple, small, big, more. Do not fear failure. Work quickly and roughly. Work accurately and systematically. Think more, design less. Design is visual pollution, design is always for others, design changes people’s lives. The world is changing. What can you do? What if? Why? Be convincing. Be ambitious. Be on time. Come prepared. Work alone. Work together. Observe, examine, imagine, conceive, present, discuss, repeat. Start over. Begin from zero.

Taking a Line for a Walk brings attention to something that is often neglected: the language and verbal artefacts of design instruction. Including contemporary and historical examples, this book is a compendium of 224 assignments in design education.

This publication departed from the exhibition Taking a Line for a Walk, part of the 26th Brno Biennial 2014, 19 June – 26 October 2014, The Moravian Gallery in Brno

Conceived by Nina Paim (BR)Born in 1986 in Brazil Nina Paim lives and works in Berlin. After a detour into economics and philosophy, Nina studied graphic design at Esdi, Rio de Janeiro and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam. Her bachelor project was Escola Aberta, a temporary design school in Rio from August 6–11, 2012. Nina's work usually involves many others and revolves around notions of directing and collaborating. Since graduation, she has been working independently as a graphic designer as well as taking forays into the fields of curating, mediating, and teaching. In June 2013 her collaboration with Corinne Gisel was nominated for the Swiss Design Award. , Corinne Gisel (CH)Born in 1987 in Switzerland, Corinne Gisel lives and works in Zürich. Since graduating from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2012, Corinne has mostly been working in the fields of art and culture as an independent graphic designer, working by herself or assisting and collaborating with other designers. Her work shows great care and a keen interest for language in its written form, which manifests itself both in the typography of her designs and in actual writing. In June 2013 her collaboration with Nina Paim was nominated for the Swiss Design Award. , and Emilia Bergmark (SE)Born in 1986 in Sweden Emilia Bergmark is currently living and working in Amsterdam and London. After combining studies in arts and graphic design she graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in 2012. Bergmark’s work takes a phenomenological stance on the mundane and through her work the viewer may rediscover the poetic and absurd in everyday subjects. She works in multiple mediums as diverse as installations, objects, films and printed matter.
Edited by Nina Paim (BR)Born in 1986 in Brazil Nina Paim lives and works in Berlin. After a detour into economics and philosophy, Nina studied graphic design at Esdi, Rio de Janeiro and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam. Her bachelor project was Escola Aberta, a temporary design school in Rio from August 6–11, 2012. Nina's work usually involves many others and revolves around notions of directing and collaborating. Since graduation, she has been working independently as a graphic designer as well as taking forays into the fields of curating, mediating, and teaching. In June 2013 her collaboration with Corinne Gisel was nominated for the Swiss Design Award.
Coedited by Emilia Bergmark (SE)Born in 1986 in Sweden Emilia Bergmark is currently living and working in Amsterdam and London. After combining studies in arts and graphic design she graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in 2012. Bergmark’s work takes a phenomenological stance on the mundane and through her work the viewer may rediscover the poetic and absurd in everyday subjects. She works in multiple mediums as diverse as installations, objects, films and printed matter.
With an accompanying essay by Corinne Gisel (CH)Born in 1987 in Switzerland, Corinne Gisel lives and works in Zürich. Since graduating from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2012, Corinne has mostly been working in the fields of art and culture as an independent graphic designer, working by herself or assisting and collaborating with other designers. Her work shows great care and a keen interest for language in its written form, which manifests itself both in the typography of her designs and in actual writing. In June 2013 her collaboration with Nina Paim was nominated for the Swiss Design Award.

Spector Books, 2016
Wire-o with softcover in reverse binding
280 pages, 20.3 × 25.4 cm (8 × 10 inches), English
ISBN: 978-3-95905-081-4

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Is it possible to understand graphic design as a practice beyond an object-centric approach, as a practice beyond the conception and production of well-designed and printed artefacts? Which other potentials to create a public should be considered integral to design as an activity? The Visual Event explores the question of how such an extended practice could be thought, which graphic, spatial and temporal forms such a situational practice could take, and tests the idea of the “visual event” from various perspectives of visual culture. The project compiles numerous contributions by artists, academics, designers, architects, and students of the System-Design Class at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig.

Edited by Oliver Klimpel (DE)Oliver Klimpel (narozen v Drážďanech) je grafický designér, který žije v Londýně a vede tam studio Büro International. Podílí se na mnoha designových projektech pro kulturní i komerční sektor, jako například Tate Modern v Londýně, Museum Folkwang v Essenu, Goethe-Institut v Londýně či Taipei Contemporary Art Center. Po letech vyučování na Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design a London College of Communication byl v roce 2008 jmenován profesorem na Akademii výtvarných umění v Lipsku, kde vede třídu systémového designu.
With contributions by Oliver Klimpel, James Hellings, Planningtorock, William Haggard, Alexander Garcia Düttmann, Friedrich Tietjen, Eva Weinmayr, Carolin Lerch, Mia Frostner & Robert Sollis (EUROPA), Franciska Zólyom, System-Des

Spector Books, 2014
paperback with dust jacket
200 pages, 15 × 22 cm, English
ISBN: 978-3-944669-62-5
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We asked ourselves what we want education to be and exchanged different approaches on teaching design. We discussed with the curators about this year’s Biennal, their role as teachers and if students censor themselves. We got our hands dirty and painted collaboratively. We thought about appropriation and its connection to education. We visited the Villa Tugendhat and traced its history with earphones, pencils and copy machines. We reviewed the so-called importance of failing and examined possibilities to visualize thought. We compared our individual ways of seeing and explored the visual language of education. We visited the exhibition »Taking a Line for a Walk« with curator Nina Paim and problematized the role and use of assignments. Finally, we gave the lecture »Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish, Said the Academy and Fed Us to the Lions.«

Organization, Documentation & Layout: Robert Haselbacher, Robert Preusse, Stefanie Rau, Till Wittwer Special thanks to our guests: Tomáš Celizna, Jan Kristek, Adam Macháček, Nina Paim, Radim Peško. As well as: Henk Groenendijk, Jarek Sedlak, Oliver Klimpel, Anna Šimková, Dima Stefanova. Type: Our Times, Our Times Grotesk, Times New Roman Supported by: Verein der Gestaltung e.V., Berlin Printed wherever possible.

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