X/I – I Digital Idea
TENWORDSANDONESHOT originated as a blog. Kevin Krumnikl placed it in the web on 15 April 2010 to show young artists in a loose association of ten words and one photograph. Ten words that have now served more than 100 artists as key words in reporting on their art and how they view the world, on what they do and about themselves – at times reflective, blunt or provocative, at times with a self-mocking wink or founded on art theory and at times spontaneously inspiring. The blog shows just one shot, the one photo. Taken exactly where art and artists have their origin: at work. Into the studio or following the view out of it, on single objects or on the whole world. For viewers this snapshot results in the diversity with which TENWORDSANDONESHOT wishes to present contemporary artwork at its source.
X/I – II Analogue continuation
The blog is continued analogically in a book which presents the first 100 artists to have made TENWORDSANDONESHOT a home for a creative contemporary present. Using this as an analogue response to an idea that could only be realised so diversely and in less than a year in the Internet is far more that mere repetition. For the viewer, a look into the book means experiencing an exact contrast to the blog. Instead of the fleetingness of rapid information, viewers now experience the timelessness of medial consistency. Beyond the smooth, bright flat surface, book pages rustle while we are scrolling and secretly beginning to wish for the orderliness of a book. We flip through the pages of the analogue continuation of TENWORDSANDONESHOT and time and again allow ourselves a glimpse of artists and their works.
Our eyes move across more than 100 double pages of new, unique typographic designs. In a deliberate reversal of digital severity, the seriousness of the blog makes way for a playful book. Following up on the digital idea with the help of the analogue techniques of the Mannheim graphic design agency DeutscheundJapaner clearly shows that there is ample space for both blog and book. The deliberate focus is on contrast instead of on the tedious, same old competition among the media. The strict order of the blog thus consciously becomes a new typographic playfulness on every page of the book. Ten words and one photo shows strength and potential. Turns the book of TENWORDSANDONESHOT into an info byte serial in playing with digital and analogue.
The first book will be the start of a series created to present new blog artists over the coming few years. The number of copies for each publication of altogether ten scheduled issues will rise by 100 – from currently 100 copies to 1,000. Books will gradually be accumulated to present the whole blog as a collection.
Blog and book both aim at drafting the drive behind young artists’ work – to take us to where the artists permanently recreate themselves and their art. It is not the work itself that is the centre of attention; instead it is the place of creation that actually earns artistic merit. Artists and their environment are thus presented on an equal footing with the works of art. Artists only becomes artists for TENWORDSANDONESHOT through the work in their studio. Become a (their) work of art in time. This becoming is shown in both blog and book.
X/I – III On works of art
The results, the works of art, of diverse processes of creation have now given rise to the idea of generating international contemporary exhibitions from TENWORDSANDONESHOT. From the works of the artists shown in blog and book. Artists presented in the book can exchange their copy for a work of their own. The only specification is the format: just like the printed book, the works of art should be 17cm x 24 cm. In each publication the books are gradually to be swapped for works of art by new artists. Copies of the books that are not exchanged by artists are all offered for sale through blogs and galleries.
If this swapping of books for works of art functions, the result will be a unique collection. A collection that is to be shown worldwide in the artists’ galleries, new exhibition locations and off-spaces. Offline and online will then join forces in communication about the work, the art in the blog, in the book, in the exhibition – as the moment at the end of a creative process preceded by many such processes and to be followed by many.
TENWORDSANDONESHOT would like to share this moment when friends and people who are interested, enthusiasts and those who are curious all join together in communication with the artists and many others.
Everything you need to know – about the books, the exhibitions and new artists – is currently available at TENWORDSANDONESHOT.COM.
TENWORDSANDONESHOT is a process that requires a lot of time, energy and organisation. I pursue this project on my own, and put a lot of effort into its concept and financing. This is why I bear full responsibility, with all the associated risks – and at the same time experience a sense of great joy and pride. To all those who accompany and support the project, my thousand thanks.
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