Alexwed27sept

VERSION 2

1 press play to play

What?

Press play to play is an interactive installation. It shows 3 ply wood boards next to each other leaning against a wall with 7 old classical tape players mounted on it, arranged in a grid. As the viewers get closer to the installation they may get in touch with one of the players and operate it. By doing so they create a new soundtrack for example if they exchange the tape in a player. Onside of the installation there are different cassettes, that have been prerecorded and manipulated. Most of them now contain loops. The visitor now puts in a new cassette, presses play and a new piece of music rings out.

How?

While experimenting with samples in a digital way I came across a old tape player of mine and wondered if you could use it for sampling. I started to experiment with tape-loops and multiple tape players to create new samples and compositions. Therefore I opened the cassettes and removed the tape inside. I had cut down 21cm of the tape and attached the both ends to each other with sticky tape. I ended up with a 4 seconds loop. The project is really about getting hands on and transferring digital ideas into analog means. By this it shows how we perceive the nature of the digital in contrast to the analog. On over 100 cassettes I recorded different samples, like drums, vocals or other instruments. They all ended up in the exhibit and are therefore part in an unique, unknown and unrepeatable composition, that only the analog medium can provide.

Why?

I was curious about how an idea out of the digital age like sampling and remixing music could be translated into the physical world. It started as a university project at Hof University about remix and music. This project included a collaboration with DJ Spooky, a contemporary musician, and Richard Wagner, a german composer from the 19th century. I wanted to make visible what’s going on inside the blackbox computer and I was interested in finding new ways of understanding how remixes are made by literally getting hands on. I also found that the medium of a tape player is interesting when showing it to different age-groups.

2 new tools for new design

What?

New tools for new design is a book intersecting design and research. Mainly lead by the question if new tools could change what designers create. The book looks like a magazine in the size of A5. It does not have a fixed binding, it just consists of single pages that are folded and put together loosely. Only a rubber band may keep them together at the back. On the orange cover there is a distorted typeface and a grid printed with white using indigo techniques.

How?

I started to make my own tools with my own rules and use strange tools for the matter of design. For instance I created a javascript-based web-application to distort typefaces. Just in the way a scanner would distort the scan when moving the paper while scanning. Furthermore I used a synthesizer to produce shapes. So instead of hearing music while playing I would receive visual output. During the process I was looking for more and more tools that could help me to create graphic design in a more innovative process. In the book I documented these tools and described the theoretical background I researched on.

Why?

This project is my bachelor thesis for my mediadesign graduation. My main inspiration was the fact that I realised that when I look at my computer I see the pink InDesign Logo every time I’m working in a project regarding graphic design. So I kicked that icon out of my dock. I started to open snapchat and make posters using their interface and developed that idea further and further till I ended up programming my own tools. By publishing this in a book I want to encourage other designers to think beyond their restricting adobe programs.

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VERSION 1

1 press play to play

Press play to play is an interactive installation. It shows 3 ply wood boards next to each other leaning against a wall with 7 old classical tape players mounted on it, arranged in a grid. All of these players can be used by the visitor as one might expect: Press play, pause, change cassettes… By doing so they create a new composition and a new remix in a analog way. Onside of the installation there are different cassettes, that had been prerecorded and manipulated. Most of them contain loops. The visitors are invited to change those tapes, play with the tape player, and to even re-record them.

While experimenting with samples in a digital way I came across a old tape player of mine and wondered if you could use it for sampling, remixing or making compositions. I started to experiment with tape-loops and multiple tape players to create new samples and compositions. Therefore I opened the cassettes and removed the tape inside. I had cut down 21cm of the tape and attached to both ends to each other with sticky tape. So if you insert this cassette into a the player it will play a loop of 4,3 seconds. On like 100 cassettes I recorded different samples, like drums, vocals… and by combining them you could create a new composition.

It started as a university project about remix and music, including a collaboration with DJ Spooky, a contemporary musician, and Richard Wagner, a german composer from the 19th century. I was curious about how an idea out of the digital age like sampling and remixing music could be translated into the physical world. In order to make visible what’s going on inside the blackbox computer and to maybe find new ways of understanding how remixes are made by literally getting hands on. Changing perspective and tools to gain new insights.

2 new tools for new design

New tools for new design is a book, but it’s also a research about tools and it’s usage in the field of design. Mainly lead by the question if new tools could change what designers create. The book looks like a magazine in the size of A5. It has a orange cover printed with black and white color on it. It shows a white grid with a distorted black typeface that covers nearly the whole page on it. The book does not have a fixed binding, it just consists out of single paged that are folded and put together loosely. Only a rubber band may keep them together at the back.

I started to make my own tools with my own rules and use strange tools for the matter of design. For instance I created a program to manipulate typefaces, to resample pictures like in a puzzle, I used a synthesizer to produce shapes and compositions… In the book I documented these tools and described the theoretical background I researched on. The inside of the book links my tools with the influence I found they have on the design and design process.

This project is my bachelor thesis for my mediadesign graduation. My main inspiration was the fact that I realised that when I look at my computer I see the pink InDesign Logo every time I’m working in a project regarding graphic design. So I kicked that icon out of my dock and tried to create a poster with other programs that where not intended to be graphic design tools and examined if it would change the way I work.