June 15, 2020Comments are off for this post.

Interview: Three Questions with Kai Bracher

For a long time, in my mind, Kai Bracher was "the dragon guy." Why? Because he makes sculptural dragons that are whimsical yet often quite practical. But dragons are just one of the subjects for his art.

I've wanted to interview Kai for around ten months. He had just started a series of "Angels," sculptures made in reaction to the passing of his wife, and I thought an interview would be a good way for me to help share these sculptures with the world.

Sadly, we could never get the timing right, and as often happens, life gets in the way. But, with my decision to restart Three Questions after a 3-year hiatus, I reached out again to Kai to see if he would be willing to participate. He agreed.

THREE QUESTIONS with Kai Bracher


Jeremy: On your CV, you mention that in 2004-2005 you traveled through the USA and Latin America. I assume it was a valuable experience because you put it on your resume. What places did you visit, and did one area, in particular, stand out? And overall, what did/does this trip mean to you?

Kai: I'll start with the last part of the question.

For me, growing up in the 70s and 80s, visiting the USA was always a dream, since I grew up with American Comics, Movies, TV-series and Music. I missed the opportunities going to the US as an exchange student, either during High School or later, during University.

So, at the ripe age of 36, I still hadn't figured out what to do with my life, had just thrown away my (short) career in the advertising industry, because I couldn't stand it and was working all kind of odd jobs.

So it dawned on me that, on my death bed, I would be able to forgive myself if I never had a "career," but not if I never made the trip I always wanted to make because of fear. So I scraped together some money and went.

Since I am, as a German citizen, only allowed to stay in the US for 90 consecutive days without a visa, I decided to split it up:

  • First three months WWOOF-ing on a farm in California
  • Three months of traveling and learning Spanish (well, kind of) in Guatemala and Honduras
  • Another three months in the US. 

This time it was more the classical road trip.I rented a car in LA and drove through Joshua Tree, visited the Grand Canyon, and some other great sights in Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to reach my first destination: Tucson, Arizona, for a glassblowing workshop. 

Then rode on a Greyhound Bus to Atlanta [and then on] to do a blacksmithing workshop somewhere rural in North Carolina. Then visited Savannah, Atlanta, New Orleans (just a few months before Hurricane Katrina), and Denver (all with Greyhound). And from there took a train to San Francisco, where my flight home was departing.

During my time in Atlanta, I applied via email for an internship with a metal artisan in Germany, where I would work for 13 Years.

This trip was very important for me since it was a kind of emancipation from "society rules" or "the way things are done." There are no such things! Only our own decisions. It showed me that we can write our own rules for our lives.

Since Anne-Sophie visited me for a full month in Guatemala, which cemented our relationship, and I immediately could work as and with craftsmen afterward, the trip marks the start of the longest period in my life where I was really content with most things.

Outstanding Places

01 - Standing (almost alone, since it was still winter) at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. This is still Number One of all Nature sights, I have seen!!!

south rim of grand canyon

02 - Riding a rented bicycle over the Golden Gate bridge! (Hey, I grew up with "The Streets of San Francisco" on TV)

03 - Visiting the ancient temples of Tikal in Guatemala with the woman I loved.

Jeremy: Looking over your sculptural work, at least since 2012 when you started moving to digital sculpture and additive production, do you think there’s a theme, through-line, or thread linking them together? If there is, what might it be? In the alternative, if not, why do you think that is?

Kai: I see a number of themes that interest me and that keep surfacing, but I still can’t manage to tie them together in ONE direction. (Maybe that’s impossible).

1.   The beauty of anatomy and moving bodies (I tried to picture that in the “Angel” series, but also in more trivial stuff like some dragons

2.   An absurd kind of humor

Toilet Chess - See The Full Set On Kai's Bēhance Page

3.   or breaking the usual perception of things (eg. by hanging them on lightbulbs)

Jeremy: You transformed your feelings about your late wife Anne-Sophie’s passing into a series of sculptures called Angels. I’m not going to ask about your Angels. You have already prepared a lovely and informative page on your website where you share your thoughts on the series of sculptures. I would, however, like to ask you a question about her. If you would like to, can you share a memory you have of her that makes you smile when you think back upon it?

Kai: The way she danced, when she felt unwatched or very energetic. It was rather quirky and maybe nobody else would have noticed. But for me that was unique and funny.


Kai Bracher's work can be found at http://www.kaibracher.de/

June 12, 2020Comments are off for this post.

Interview: Three Questions with Dr. Kimberly Falk of Ontogenie

I've known Kim Falk for several years. We've never actually met in person but have communicated online in forums and chats. I thought an interview with Kim for the reboot of Three Questions would be the perfect way to begin this series again. 

In her own words, Kim is "a former scientist, a nature lover, and a 3D printing design fanatic." The designs Kimberly made that first caught my eye were inspired by the drawings and illustrations of Ernst Haeckel, a contemporary of Charles Darwin. Recreating natural forms within the design constraints of what is possible to produce via 3D Printing is not easy. It takes skill, patience, and to keep at it, a real love for the work. Visit her website, and you'll be mesmerized by her work. 

CORAL LEPTOCYATHUS PENDANT - Image Kimberly Falk

THREE QUESTIONS with KIMBERLY FALK


Jeremy: You’re a former scientist, a nature lover, and a 3D printing design fanatic. Love of nature seems to meld those two interests. How did one lead to the other, and what got you hooked on 3D design?

Kim: Growing up in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., there were a lot of opportunities for me to experience nature. My family camped, hunted and fished, and although I enjoyed being out in nature with them, I failed miserably at the killing animals part.

I have a clear memory of walking through the forest with my dad when I was about 15 years old, rifle slung across my chest, realizing that if a deer crossed my path that I wouldn’t be the one to take it down. Since then, I’ve sought out nature on my own terms (and I don’t walk in the woods with a rifle).

The thing that always brings me joy is seeing an animal, insect or plant that I’ve never seen before. I’m a zoo junkie, and although I can understand the folks who don’t like seeing animals confined, zoos are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to species conservation. My favorite zoo is in Leipzig, Germany. They have the largest collection of non-human primates in Europe and conduct research in association with the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology. They’ve slowly renovated the depressingingly small Soviet-era cages to expansive landscapes where the animals seem content.

One of the photos is from Kim's time in the lab, taken around 2002. She was working with desert locusts at the time - that's what she's holding. 
Left: Image Kim Falk. Right: Wikipedia

My interest in science goes hand in hand with my interest in nature. I was a little science nerd at a young age. When I was in first grade, the Apollo 11 mission landed on the moon and it was all my teacher talked about for days. I internalized the message that smart people did science and that science was an amazing thing to do. Eventually, I finished my Ph.D. and started post- doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. I was working there until about 10 years ago when a constellation of personal stuff, mainly the need to be more flexible for my kids, led me to quit and follow my creative muse.

I taught myself Blender so that I could make scientific graphics and animations for the plant and insect scientific community. That was going well until I realized that my modeling skills could be adapted to 3D printing to make precious metal jewelry. When I got those first prints from Shapeways, I was obsessed. It’s still an absolute high every time I get a box from Shapeways containing a new model. I’m waiting on a steel stink bug (Pentatomid) model at the moment and I’m very excited to see it.

Jeremy: You’re originally from Spokane, Washington, but now live in Jena, Germany. Is Germany now “home,” and if so, what was the thing (if you can put a finger on it) that made you realize that?

Kim: Germany is home, but it’s taken a long time for me to get to that point. It helps that everything in the U.S. is a mess at the moment. My daughters are European through and through, despite their U.S. passports. Neither one of them has any intention of moving to the U.S. although there’s no assurance that they won’t end up in New Zealand or Thailand or some other far-flung place. I would like to be within a one day train trip of wherever they are, but their lives are their own. Jonathan, my husband, sometimes waxes poetic about retiring in the U.S. so he can be closer to his culture as he ages but I remind him that the U.S. is not the same as when we left 22 years ago. Then I cook him Mexican food (it goes well with German beer, by the way) and he’s good.

My main criticism of my adopted home, however, is that Germans don’t realize how good they have it. Their go-to response for everything is no. No, that can’t be done. No, we don’t do it that way. No, it’s not possible. It’s exhausting. They have a higher quality of life than most of the world and yet they still find discontent. I guess humans everywhere just need drama in their lives, whether it’s warranted or not. All this no-ing, however, provides an opportunity for someone who doesn’t see the world like that. If you can ride out their disapproval, you can do great things.

Jeremy: In addition to designing, you are also head of marketing, customer service, and IT for your website (https://ontogenie.com/). What’s your favorite aspect of running a business? And least favorite? What do you think could be improved?

Kim: Oh, business, such a steep learning curve! There’s so much about running a business that you can’t learn until you’re knee-deep in the muck.

Hands down, my favorite aspect is getting to know my customers, hearing their stories and finding out why they’re purchasing a particular piece. When you make things that are as weird and unusual as I do, the customers are just as fascinating. I love hearing their suggestions for new designs, because a lot of times it’s some creature or fossil I’ve never heard of before and I learn something.

My least favorite aspect of the business? Taxes.

If you have a regular job, taxes are fairly streamlined. If you have a business, it’s so much more complicated and I would never attempt it in Germany without an accountant. There are just too many ways to screw up badly. As for marketing, photography, website maintenance, shipping, etc., I get that stuff done, but I’m pretty mediocre at it. My social media marketing has no consistent, overarching style like all marketing gurus tell you you’re supposed to have. It’s important to me to try to involve my followers in the process by showing them works in progress and sharing my inspiration instead of just pushing the finished product. That makes my Instagram and Facebook feeds a little messy, but I’m okay with that. My social media presence has taken a hit since the pandemic. I haven’t been posting consistently, but I definitely need to get back into it.


Learn more about Kimberly and see her work at Ontogenie.

See her (messy) instagram at @ontogenie

May 7, 2020Comments are off for this post.

RETRO INTERVIEW: 3 Questions with Riccardo Sabatini

The premise of 3 Questions is simple. What would happen if you asked a complete stranger three questions? This interview with Riccardo Sabatini first appeared on ELLO as part of the original interview series.

If you visit Riccardo Sabatini, be ready to go down the rabbit hole of trippy hallucinogenic and utterly brilliant design. It's an experience and one that made me want to know a little more about the person behind those fantastic ideas.

3️⃣ Questions with Riccardo Sabatini

1️⃣ You always seem to have something going on. You've mentioned, that you have a messy life. What’s your advice for time management and tips for remaining focused while juggling multiple projects at once?

RS: First, you have all the time to be quiet in the grave 💀 so at least a messy life is not so bad.

In the making, I'm the opposite of messy; I tend to be very systematic and precise in the creation of my projects. But when it's about time management, I don't have a lot to teach. I work from home, so my hour schedules are very flexible.

I don't work on multiple projects at the same time. For me, once I enter a job session, it's full immersion till the end.

And then go to the next.

2️⃣ Your work runs the gamut from re-purposed hair to an homage to Bushido. If you had a full gallery exhibition all to yourself and an ample budget - what might you focus on and why? How might you present your exhibition - video installations, tactile experience booths, music, etc.? (Though, since you nearly always put a soundtrack with your projects, I imagine there would be music involved.)

RS: The wide gamut doesn't imply to show everything together. As I wrote before, for me, full immersion also means a sort of isolation.

If you see my portfolio, it's easier to explain. Each project has its own showcase once you enter. It's the opposite of a general art-board, which, in general, I hate. I do work that switches genres heavily from one to another.

When I participate in exhibitions, I always show one thing (a single series, I mean), not a mix of them. Type is type. Geometric art is its own thing. Digitally modified portraits another, and so on.

The concept of brand image can be applied to everything, and it involves one of the most important things into aesthetics, a pattern.

A recurring feeling of recognition, what makes you say " this is so-and-so's work." I take this rule seriously but as a watertight chamber. Fuck the market, which says that for a better self-branding, you gotta do one thing.

I want to have several brands that live separately on their own. (Maybe that why agents have a hard time labeling and categorizing my work for sale. It doesn't fit into a box or catalog.

Besides this professional rant, let's go back to the exhibition question.

Yes, music of course, from a live set even better (I got a lot of musician friends), and sculptures, if I would have the money to print my stuff on 3d subjects.

A few artworks but colossal size, and screens with gifs playing everywhere. What a mess.

3️⃣ What keeps you up at night . . . and what puts you to sleep? What nourishes your soul and what saps your strength?

RS: I don't have office hours and even if I tried to be I'm the opposite of a morning person, ergo, I go to bed usually at 2-3 am.

I go to sleep because society says, "it's nighttime. This is when you should sleep." Instead, what keeps me up till that hour beside working (best hours for me to have ideas) is everything; from movies to music to browsing the web for news, reading, comics online, the social networks and so on.
I leave reading books and comics for when I'm in bed, though.

About what nourishes my soul it's basically the same, I like to learn and discover new things as much as possible, but also to travel (something that I don't do enough because of low funds, but it's definitely something I want to fix for the future).

Last but not least, I would like to make a comparison with the movie Inside Out. It's not joy who pushes you to go beyond, it's a mix of fantasy (Bing Bong RIP), fear and anger who really fuels you.

Joy comes after, eventually.

I said I was a mess. Thanks for reading, cheers!

About what nourishes my soul, it's the same. Learning and discovering new things as much as possible, and travel (something that I don't do enough, but it's something I want to fix for the future).

Last but not least, I would like to make a comparison with the movie Inside Out. It's not joy who pushes you to go beyond; it's a mix of fantasy, fear, and anger that fuels you.

Joy comes after, eventually.

I said I was a mess. Thanks for reading. Cheers!

I said I was a mess. Thanks for reading, cheers!

- j o y c o m p l e x


CONTACT RICCARDO

https://www.riccardosabatini.it

hello@riccardosabatini.it
(+39) 320 69 46 379

FOLLOW

Facebook
Instagram
Linkedin
Vimeo
Soundcloud

March 4, 2020Comments are off for this post.

Design Interview: STILNEST

Reprint of a September, 2014 interview conducted by Isabel Städler, then Head of Curation at Stilnest.

Stilnest (German for "style nest") is an online jewelry company based in Berlin. Stilnest was founded in 2013 by Julian Leitloff, Florian Krebs, Raoul Schäkermann, Mike Schäkermann, Michael Aigner and Tim Bibow.

Stilnest is known for working with social media stars and celebrities. The company currently ships to 65 countries worldwide and uses 3D printing technology to help produce its jewelry.

Stilnest commissioned me to create an exclusive jewelry collection and this interview was done in conjunction with the release of the "Soundscapes" Collection

Where and how were you educated?

I received my BA in English and Philosophy at Tulane University. I was close to minoring in fine arts - my concentration was in glass blowing and sculpture - but ran out of time! I never lost my love for art and sculpture. Through law school and my career as a practicing attorney, I made time to study and hone my craft. I worked and apprenticed with some fantastic artists, including glass blower Larry Livolsi , designer/sculptor Dorothy Hafner, and painter/sculptor Denis Folz. My education is ongoing and crosses disciplines.

Where did you work?

My career was in law. I was a litigator in New York before I took on a supervisory role at a boutique legal services company in Columbus, Ohio. However, as satisfying as a good day's work could be, it was never my passion. The practice of law has creative aspects and creative people; it just didn't stoke my fire. I appreciate the experience and education. It helps a lot on the business side of things. It's good not to be intimidated by fine print!

Why do you design jewelry?

A piece of jewelry is a wearable sculpture. Take the soundscape collection I made for Stilnest. If you scale it up, it would be just as fascinating to look at. 

When I go to a museum or a gallery, I have to consciously hold myself back from reaching out and touching the things I see. I like jewelry because it's made to be touched and worn close to your skin. My goal for every piece is for people to unconsciously have to touch it. This is why I design jewelry.

How did you get the idea to work with 3D printing and what do you like about it? What inspires you?

I got the idea to work with 3D printing by just being aware of the technology via tech blogs. I noticed the technology a few years ago and started to educate myself on it bit by bit. Back then, there was a story once every other month. Now there are stories every day!

The idea of 3D printing is exciting by itself, no? Pressing a button and making something appear out of just the amount of material you need. Amazing! Who wouldn't want to get involved in something like that? 

I also enjoy working within the confines of technology. It is frustrating at times, but that's what I like about it - the push and pull of what I want to do and what the technology will let me do. However, since the technology of 3D printing is continually improving, I find that I can do more and more. That is inspiring in its own way.  

Favorite designer/architect/music/philosophy/etc.?

I have a spectrum of likes. 

I admire Steve Jobs - for his business acumen, his visual aesthetic, his eye for detail. 

I admire Andy Warhol and think he is as much a philosopher as he is an artist and businessman.  

I enjoy Roy Lichtenstein's work. His work is to art what CliffsNotes are to literature. That is meant as a compliment. There are a lot of things to see and read and anything that can help you find your way is good in my book. 

I really do like IKEA. I don't care if people think it's cheap college furniture. I could walk around IKEA every day and not get bored.  

I like what Miguel Angel Galluzzi has done with Ducati design and look forward to seeing how his work develops at Piaggio, especially as it concerns Moto Guzzi. 

My music choices have evolved but I will always listen to Radiohead and Björk. I am currently enjoying Sakanaction, Eliphant, Asaf Avidan, and Starcadian.

I don't have a favorite architect, but I'll quote John Landis, who himself was paraphrasing John Huston, that "Politicians, old buildings and prostitutes become respectable with age." 

 Any other interesting information about you?

I recently acquired the only car I ever wanted. A 1991 Monte Carlo Yellow SAAB 900 convertible. It lives up to the mental pedestal I had it placed on for the past 20 years. 

How does your designing process look like?

It usually starts with me setting out a goal. "I want to make x." And then proceeding to figure out how to. Sometimes I have a clear procedure in mind and know how I'm going to achieve my goal. Many times I hit a wall and start over again several times. I always find a way through, around, or under any block. I'll go out and walk the dog and, without thinking about the problem, come home and an answer presents itself. Or at the very least, I'll have been inspired to do something else, which inevitably leads to a solution somewhere down the line.

I occasionally sketch an idea on paper, but most of the time will start directly on the computer - whether it's for 3D printing or something else. Since I was 4, I was using a computer - starting with the Commodore 64 - and feel comfortable using one as my blank page. But I am a big fan of post-it notes! I have them stuck everywhere on my desk, in my car, on the walls, and on the computer. I sketch pictures on them, I suss out design problems on them while I'm on the computer, I write down ideas for designs and stories on them. I think it's the immediacy of them that I like.  

I am in the Rembrant school of thought when it comes to deciding whether or not the goal has been met - in my mind, it's done "when he had achieved his purpose."  

Vista With Bridge (1996)

Say something about your design presented at Stilnest. What ́s the idea, you have had in mind?

I have developed several jewelry designs derived from spoken word sound waves. My Stilnest design is a further distillation of that process. The end product here is a "landscape of sound" or, more simply, a soundscape. I was inspired by the late 90's landscapes of Lichtenstein - "Vista with Bridge," which is a great example. He, in turn, was inspired by the classic landscape paintings of ancient China and Japan. I wanted something between the two - Lichtenstein's works have stark separations, and the Chinese landscapes a more ethereal quality. I wanted both. I wanted to see the sound wave blended into a scene, the profile of the mountains and valleys, derived from the waveform. 


Recognized by HUFFPOST as the "coolest engagement ring available on Stilnest."

 J O Y C O M P L E X / Copyright MMXIV-MMXXII / Privacy PolicyTerms & Conditions