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About the Author
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Steven Heller is the cofounder and the cochair of the MFA Designer as
Author program at the School of Visual Arts. He writes the Visuals
column for the New York Times Book Review and the Graphic Content
blog for T-Style; is editor of AIGA Voice; and is a contributor to Design Observer. He is the author, coauthor, and/or editor of more
than 120 books on design and popular culture, including the forthcoming
Born Modern: The Life and Design of Alvin Lustig (Chronicle Books). More information can be found at his homepage.
See all Daily Heller posts here.
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Blood Work
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by Steven Heller
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I for one, am not only feint of heart, I faint at the sight of
blood. So this tale of design madness makes me more than a little
queasy. Dear reader, stop right here if you feel the same.
The poster for the Swedish “Black Metal” band Watain (above) was designed by the Paris-founded, New York-based designer, Metastazis,
and was silk-screen printed using real, human blood. There is not much
more to say except: whoever said designers invest blood, sweat and
tears in their work, did not mean it to be taken so literally.
This poster goes the extra mile. And the entire process is documented here and here.
Metastazis says his studio is “dedicated to the most scandalous yet
refined forms of expression.” Founded in 1999 By Valnoir, and joined
by “almost nazi-gay illustrator DJ Holowestcoast and recently by the
post-soviet arrogant doll Anastasia Ilyna,” they have shined up Black Metal with high production values and theatrical staging (see here). Their work bridges design and performance in a manner that is becoming more frequent these days.
However, is the act of using human blood scandalous yet refined? You
be the judge. In the “end of print” era it seems that spectacle is
becoming as significant as content (although the poster is
impressive). I’m reminded of Raymond Lowey‘s
“Most Advanced Yet Acceptable” measuring stick for novel design. Maybe
“scandalous yet refined” is the 21st century corollary. (Thanks to Mirko Ilic for bringing Metastazis to my attention.)
If you missed Saturday’s post on Mad Men go here.
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Reader Comments
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This has been done before, by the masters of spectacle.... KISS. They put their blood into their comic book printing in 1977.
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By
tanjo
July 19, 2010
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Metastazis, I love your work. I own every album whose cover you designed, but that was just an accident. Your work for Secrets Of The Moon, Antaeus, is amazing.
I live in NYC, I'd love to visit your studio. I definitely want to buy one of these posters...
Here's a quote you might like...comes from France's best literature stylist, E M Cioran
"If with each word we win a victory over nothingness, it is only the better to endure its reign. We die in proportion with the words which we fling around us...Those who speak have no secrets. And we all speak. We betray ourselves, we exhibit our heart; executioner of the unspeakable, each of us labors to destroy all the mysteries, beginning with our own. And if we meet others, it is to degrade ourselves together in a race to the void, whether in the exchange of ideas, schemes or confessions. Curiosity has provoked not only the first fall but the countless ones of every day of our lives.
Life is only that impatience to fall, to fail, to prostitute the soul's virginal solitudes by dialogue, ageless and everyday negation of Paradise. Man should listen only to himself in the endless ecstasy of the intransmissible. Word, should create words for his own silences and assents audible only to his regrets. But he is the chatterbox of the universe; he speaks in the name of others; his self loves the plural. And anyone who speaks in the name of others is always an impostor.
There is only the artist whose lie is not a total one, for he invents only himself. Outside of the surrender to the incommunicable, the suspension amid our mute and unconsoled anxieties, life is merely a fracas on an unmapped terrain, and the universe a geometry striken with epilepsy."
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By
singevalah
July 26, 2010
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It's like a scratch n sniff for vampires!
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By
Blazelz
July 19, 2010
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Why is no one asking WHERE they got the blood from? Did they take it from themselves or did they take it from a blood bank, hence taking it away from someone who really needed it. Or, perhaps, some poor animal died for them to take it from?
I understand the need to be different from the rest of the pack in the design world, but this really crosses the line. I don't much care if it is a "black metal" band, what really is the point of making something out of real blood? I really see no point in it, other than to generally disgust people.
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By
Kirvi_Inci
July 19, 2010
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Underware recently produced a book on voluntary suffering (showcasing their Fakir face) printed in the authors blood.
http://www.underware.nl/site2/index.php?id1=underware&id2=publications&id3=the_book_of_war_mortification_and_love
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By
kostal
July 19, 2010
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To Kirvi_Inci,
Maybe you should READ and CLICK the links before saying nonsense and asking useless questions.
Blood was mine, and from a Watain's fan as well. And not from a "Poor" animal.
Watain's message is about the way Darkness and death rule the world. All their concept is about death and flesh corruption and the use of real rotten blood is part of their live rituals happenings.
This was not made just for the sake of "being different", we're not that immature. It was made that way because it makes perfect coherent sense with the universe of Watain.
Lines are made to be crossed. This how creation works.
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By
Metastazis
July 22, 2010
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