Avant la lettre: Insights 2009 Design Lecture Series: Experimental Jetset
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The Gradient

Avant la lettre: Insights 2009 Design Lecture Series: Experimental Jetset

Tuesday, March 24, 7 pm
Experimental Jetset, Amsterdam
Marieke Stolk and Danny van den Dungen

1. What music were you into before you became EXPERIMENTAL JETSET?

XXX ( 1) suicidaltendencies ( 2) zombie8 ( 3)

01 ( 4) thespecials ( 5) 1184793279 ( 6)

prince5-770364-728382 (7) polaroids_japan_nyc ( 8) pixies ( 9)

The Cramps(1) , Suicidal Tendencies(2)The Zombies (3) , The Beatles (4)The Specials(5)Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (6), Prince (7)Japan(8) , The Pixies (9).

2. Who were your heroes before you became EXPERIMENTAL JETSET?

misfits_pushead1(1) pic_003(2  )4375487_4b7233f009_o (3) dietrich-schiaparelli1 (4) charlie-chaplin-cbs (5)

Pushead (1), Savage Pencil (2)Debbie Harry (3), Marlene Dietrich (4), Charlie Chaplin (5)My friends .


3. What were your obsessions before becoming EXPERIMENTAL JETSET?
Drawing, reading, skateboarding, punk music; Horror; Drawing, reading, making mix-tapes.

4. What were your dreams before you became EXPERIMENTAL JETSET?
To become a comic artist; To open a bar; To become a tap-dancing architect.

5. What were you reading before you became EXPERIMENTAL JETSET?

bradbury-ray-1(1) poe (2) 17elsschot1 (3)

arts-graphics-2008_1184081a (4) paul_auster (5) 2 (6)

Science fiction (mostly short stories by writers such as Ray Bradbury) (1),  Edgar Allen Poe (2) , Willem Elsschot (especially ‘Lijmen / Het Been’) (3),
Hanif Kureishi (4), Paul Auster (5), Harry Crews (6).

6. What did you use to collect before you became EXPERIMENTAL JETSET?
Comics, fanzines; Posters; Records.


7. Who were you before EXPERIMENTAL JETSET?

In no specific order:
Danny van den Dungen, Marieke Stolk, Erwin Brinkers.

crouwel_and_ej1 (1)

Danny van den Dungen, Marieke Stolk, Erwin Brinkers with Wim Crowel

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Based in Amsterdam and founded in 1997 by Marieke Stolk, Erwin Brinkers, and Danny van den Dungen, Experimental Jetset has been consistently reinterpreting the implications of modernism, often from the perspective of a youth-based counterculture. The studio is perhaps best known to U.S. audiences from their appearance in the documentary Helvetica (2007), and their dogmatic use of that typeface has become a defining aspect of their work and has influenced new generations of graphic designers. Experimental Jetset’s iconic print work explores ways in which we are both shaped by and help shape our material environment. Projects for cultural clients include collaborations with the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum, Purple Institute, Centre Pompidou, Colette, Dutch Post Group, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Le Cent Quatre, De Theatercompagnie, and 2K/Gingham, which released their iconic John&Paul&Ringo&George T-shirt design. The studio’s work has been exhibited in galleries across the world, and in 2007 New York’s Museum of Modern Art acquired a large selection of their projects for inclusion in its permanent collection. Since 2000, members of Experimental Jetset have been teaching at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.

www.experimentaljetset.nl

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