Ready, Set, Go!

READY, SET, GO!

 

by Better Known As

 

“In 1993 the musician Prince, in protest of his production company refusing to release his enormous backlog of music at a steady pace, changed his name into a symbol. Creating a challenge for the media, they eventually had to refer to him as ‘The Artist Formerly Known As’. 25 years later, in 2018, the continuous request of artistic production hasn’t slowed down but rather has increased. The implementation of the internet and the smartphone has certainly contributed to it. The amount of images we see in a day today, for example, was once seen in an entire lifespan. How do contemporary designers deal with the increasing request for two-dimensional visual representations? Where does production take place in a post-studio age? What are the methods they choose in order to test their discipline? 

 

‘Better Known As’ challenges this demand. Their name obviously evokes a familiarity to Prince’s modus operandi. However, the significant difference is that it invents an alternative collective identity, instead of a singular position. 

 

Thomas Ballouhey, Boris de Beijer, Koos Breen, Reijnald Kolthof and Lonneke van der Palen are practitioners of today. Their disciplines capture products, objects, jewelry, graphics, textile and photography – transdisciplinary studios. While they run their own studios on daily basis, they choose the collective as common method of operation. All of them embrace the ambivalence of their profession, a natural shift from commercial to cultural work, from commissioned to personal assignments, while most notably they are not only producers but also providers of compositions that place their work in a recognizable style. 

 

The common place for production takes place at this year’s Salone del Mobile where ‘Better Known As’ presents a constantly changing exhibition that resembles a photo studio. Equipped with objects, props and elements associated with set-design they publicly perform the elaborative work behind the glossy images we daily see. Thomas Ballouhey, Boris de Beijer, Koos Breen, Reijnald Kolthof and Lonneke van der Palen assemble various sets while each of them will step into various roles from set-dresser, light assistant, retoucher, prop-maker to image producer. 

 

Prince was constantly creating new music, and he wanted to release as much of it as possible. ‘Better Known As’ wants to create, perform and release works of design following the widespread adoption of the internet. READY, SET, GO! is a flawless adaption of Prince’s urges to our times. It may be understood as a rebellious act but in fact it is a symbolic contemporary gesture.”

 

Matylda Krzykowski 

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