Ill Studio as contemporary practice in relation to Jameson’s theory on blank parody, ‘pastiche’.
“Curators, art directors, publishers, designers - it’s difficult to pin down exactly what Paris-based collective Ill Studio do.”
Dazed Digital article on Ill Studio project ‘72 Dots Per Inch’.
“The Internet has mutated into this infinite area of free creativity built around the notion of amateurism. Anyone can make his own animated gif, blog, photoshop hoax, meme, viral video and this all creates a massive mess
where cultural references which have nothing to do with each other mix, where reality is twisted, where any notion of time has disappeared, where bad tastes become good tastes. We like to mix-up very different cultural references in our work and Internet is an incredible source of inspiration for that.”
Ill Studio responds to a question Dazed Digital asked about the internet and online content.
“We wanted to do something about the Internet world for quite a long time and thought this exhibition was the perfect occasion. We've been quite obsessed by all this Internet amateur aesthetic for a while and we spend a lot of time wondering around on many different websites about very random subjects. Bart Simpson next to Marco Van Basten and a pineapple. This is the randomness that we wanted to capture through the exhibition.”
Ill Studio talks about the internet and how it influenced the content of the exhibition.
The 72 Dots Per Inch project aimed to depict the random nature in which imagery is compiled, and found on the internet. It also looks at 'free creativity' as Ill Studio label it, and the amateurism it ensues. In an interview with Dazed Digital, a suitably online sector of Dazed and Confused magazine, Dazed Digital asks, "As someone whose day to day work is based largely around the internet, how does the evolving nature of its content and ideas inspire the way you work?" Ill Studio answered, "The Internet has mutated into this infinite area of free creativity built around the notion of amateurism. Anyone can make his own animated gif, blog, photoshop hoax, meme, viral video and this all creates a massive mess where cultural references which have nothing to do with each other mix, where reality is twisted, where any notion of time has disappeared, where bad tastes become good tastes. We like to mix-up very different cultural references in our work and Internet is an incredible source of inspiration for that." Ill Studio simply observe this type of mass culture, rather than theorise it, which would suggest that using the internet to inspire creativity has become second nature. Ill Studio state that 'bad tastes become good tastes' and describe the internet as a 'massive mess' of 'cultural references', and because this statement covers such a large area, it is hard to discuss all of the reasons as to why the internet may have become this hybrid creative reference. Dazed Digital goes onto ask, "What was your idea behind 72 Dots Per Inch?", with the reply, "We wanted to do something about the Internet world for quite a long time and thought this exhibition was the perfect occasion. We've been quite obsessed by all this Internet amateur aesthetic for a while and we spend a lot of time wondering around on many different websites about very random subjects. Bart Simpson next to Marco Van Basten and a pineapple. This is the randomness that we wanted to capture through the exhibition." Ill Studio talk about why the internet inspired them to set up the exhibition, where they talk about their obsession with 'amateur aesthetic', where 'Bart Simpson next to Marco Van Basten and a pineapple'. This juxtaposition they reference as an amateur aesthetic may reference digital moodboards that are perhaps in the form of a Tumblr blog, and if so, it's hard to tell why found imagery complied onto a digital moodboard would be considered amateur. Ill Studio do not state that Tumblr is the source of their observations, but undoubtedly Tumblr does display this kind of random juxtaposition. Ill Studio talk about amateurism, but fail to extend the reason as to why this aesthetic is amateur, which could suggest that they feel that anyone can exude creativity through composition of found imagery. If Ill Studio are commenting on a contemporary culture of found images regurgitated through the medium of a blog, and then placed next to contrasting images, then they may refer to accessibility, rather than creativity in itself. The internet is accessible to anyone and everyone, allowing people to create their own blog where they can generate any kind of content they choose. It could be argued that 72 Dots Per Inch shows symptoms of amateurism itself, where the same method of juxtaposition of found imagery is displayed, where he difference lies in the medium, ignoring Ill Studio as a professional practice. This in turn breaks down the boundary between amateur and professional. As the exhibition is largely a print project, Ill Studio make digital imagery tangible, and take the digital into the real world. Where random Tumblr blogs showcase random imagery, it becomes impossible to separate the concept for the exhibition from the source. This goes to say the project is a direct result of the proliferation of blank pastiche displayed through the medium of the internet. Though the project is a relevant observation, and comment on contemporary culture, it simply repeats an aesthetic that anyone has access to. It takes the accessible into an unaccessible realm, the art world. As Jameson stated in his work Postmodernism or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, "For with the collapse of the high-modernist ideology of style - what is as unique and unmistakable as yout own fingerprints, as incomparible as your own body (the very source, for an early Roland Barthes, of stylistic invention and innovation) - the producers of culture have nowhere to turn but to the past: the imitation of dead styles, speech through all masks and voices stored up in the imaginary museum of a now global culture." Which would sum up the project, where it uses instinct to repeat, and imitate something that already exists.
As Ill Studio have curated exhibitions, so they have also art directed for publishing and editorial design, in the form of Le Colette magazine. The magazine has an aesthetic that could be described as playful, and is visually colourful. It takes the content of any usual lifestyle magazine and displays it in a deconstructed manner. A basic colour way is used, in conjunction with an array of surface pattern, to form borders, and create a structure for the randomly placed content. This work mirrors the original aesthetic created by Memphis group, a furniture design and architecture collective, that were founded in 1981. As Rick Poyner points out in his work, No More Rules: Graphic Design and Postmodernism, he talks about Memphis Group, "Memphis objects were most striking for their use of plastic laminates printed with a wild variety of of colourful patterns. Like roadside neon signs, laminates were identified with ordinary, 'undesigned' environments: coffee shops, ice cream parlours, milk bars, fast-food restaurants, and kitchens and bathrooms in the home." The visual style that Memphis had created was partially based on practicality and functionality of everyday environments, and so this took the modernist principle of form follows function, and turned this on it's head. Style over substance was the basis for the objects of desire Memphis would create. Other influences for Memphis were previous artistic movements Art Deco and pop art, and so this mixture of styles created something new and exciting. Memphis chose what they liked visually to inspire their work, and were open in talking about their influences. As Poyner goes onto quote the Memphis chronicler Barbara Radice, "The whole Memphis idea is oriented toward a sensory concentration based in instability, on provisional representation of provisional states and of events and signs that fade, blur, fog up and are consumed. ... Communication - true communication - is not simply the transmission of information ... communication always calls for an exchange of fluids and tensions, for a provocation, and a challenge." This places memphis as a pioneer of hybrid design, creating something new from older practices, aesthetics, and existing surface pattern. The laminate surface pattern incorporated into the furniture design designed by Ettore Sottsass and Nathalie Du Pasquier, have become popular patterns that have been incorporated into creative practices such as graphic design. Perhaps the most commonly used pattern was designed by Ettore Sottsass, which comprises of random wiggly lines, usually monotone placed over another colour. The magazine Le Colette incorporated similar surface pattern once created by members of Memphis, along with the linear shapes that create borders and platforms for the content that mimic the furniture that Memphis similarly designed. Ill Studio have not stated that Memphis have been an influence, though it is perfectly plausible that they have seen something else that mimics the aesthetic Memphis originally created. As Ill Studio make it clear in the project 72 Dots Per Inch, that they are influenced by what they see on the internet, images of Memphis pattern and furniture design may have been viewed online without knowing where their origins lie. Many other examples of graphic design exude Memphis style aesthetic, so another reason for the way the magazine looks and feels is the proliferation of the same aesthetic used by other designer since the beginning of the 1980s, and so Memphis style has become a sort of trend. Of course the Memphis style may also simply evoke a sense of nostalgia for Ill Studio. There could be many factors in the influence and process that Ill Studio went through to create something that mimics Memphis aesthetic so obviously.
Ill Studio, a French 'multi-disciplinary platform' founded in 2007, uses aesthetics originally created by Memphis and to a lesser extent April Greiman. They do not state any of their influences on their portfolio website, and simply state, "The studio evolves in various creative areas such as art-direction, graphic design, photography, typography and motion design, for both personal or commissioned works." Which only states the areas they work in. As Jameson talks about blank pastiche, in Ill Studio's case, their practice suggests that blank pastiche itself has proliferated since the 1980s, and even the 1990s. If Ill Studio are in fact knowledgeable about Memphis, Greiman, and other postmodern forerunners in graphic design and architecture from earlier decades, they haven't made it clear, and public opinion would also confirm that Ill Studio believe that they are forerunners in innovation and new aesthetic. In a short post by Grain Edit, an online creativity blog, they said, "Ill Studio is a Parisian design studio with an incredibly experimental edge. They have just released a massive update featuring some beautiful typography-based projects. I’ve been a fan of theirs for years, and love their effortless propensity for creating an inspiring and very new set of work. With each new iteration of their portfolio they get better & better at honing their craft, while maintaining a very specific nod to the past with classic styling and type choices." They use the term 'very new' to describe Ill Studio's work which would suggest that their type of work has never been seen before. Another short review by blog Design Work Life said, "Dang! These folks in Paris are doing it right. Ill Studio finds a good balance between work and play. Maybe it’s work and play within each project? Whatever the balance, the product is bizarre and fun." Design Work Life have taken it up a notch, describing Ill Studio's work as 'playful, bizarre and fun', with enthusiasm that sounds as though the folks running the blog are astounded by the work. Not to say that Ill Studio have produced some fun and playful work, it could be described as a stretch to call it new, as some key examples of their work would suggest direct influence from Memphis.
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