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The “unttld” Series x 22QUADRAT – VIDEO & INTERVIEW

A few weeks ago 22QUADRAT contacted us to present one interesting new project to us, the „unttld“ series. To understand what this is about we decided to interview one member of the collective. Please take your time to read the interview below and the first video of the series!

Hello! First of all, please introduce yourself

My name is Patrick Voigt. In 2005 I founded the artist and designer collective 22quadrat together with a friend, from which our interdisciplinary studio 22quadrat emerged in 2008. Today we work on various free and applied projects, mostly spatially influenced. Free works were always the basis for almost all applied projects: both in research on the subject of people, spaces and culture, as well as in applied design on the subjects of spatial graphics, signage, installations and interior design.

Could you describe your „unttld“ series. What is the idea behind the project and what we can expect in the near future to see or watch?

Drawing was always my passion and I got my own laptop rather late. And then only because I needed it for university. During the last couple of years the digital development went too far for our taste and our longing for something real, for the rough, for the brittle grew almost immeasurable. At the same time, we have noticed an extreme passivity in dealing with positions in the economy. Everything is always primarily subordinated to economics. There are less and less consistent positions in the field of design. The time for self-developments is dwindling and inspiration nowadays means that one only has to quickly do some research on the internet or to check what can be sold well. Radical positions are becoming increasingly scarce. Through our curiosity for culture and through our own past, it has become clear to us that there have always been small subcultures that have preserved this consequence. Be it in graffiti, pirate copying of films on the internet or in the hardcore music scene, playing in the smallest clubs. These people have always avoided the masses in order to preserve authenticity instead of selling their souls. We have rediscovered this attitude in Japanese culture: In Zen or the Wabi Sabi. Our project, our movement called “unttld” developed out of these influences. It is to be understood as a kind of resistance. We don’t want to support this world of zeros and ones, permanently “being on” and with money as our ultimate goal in life. The more fake stuff was put into our lives the more we started to rebel against the resulting imprisonment of our minds. You can compare it with the attitude of protest that drove us to paint back then. At that time I already didn’t like this kind of homogeneity. Therefore we develop series of drawings on the platform unttld, which deal with the intrinsic human expressions. We humans are characterized by more than just functioning. We are not machines. I think we are in the world to develop ourselves, to deal with art and with nature. This power, which is invested in us, reappears through such works, becomes tangible, helps us, the creator as well as the observer, to remind ourselves of it again, challenges us to give it space again. There are still traces, corners and edges recognizable.

Basically, it’s not even about art. It’s about these traces that have been created in us by what we call nature. Arno Stern called these formulations “organic memories”. Each of our series will deal with a human characteristic, be it with the pen, the brush, the can – whatever. And beyond that, there are countless other “gestures” in nature that we no longer even consciously perceive, of which we no longer know what they tell us. Among other things, these will be an issue for unttld in the future.

The result will always be series in which individual parts will connect a wide variety of people, because they will always receive a part of a larger whole. They will feel that they are always involved in something bigger – that is at least our intention.

What products you prefer to use within the series and why?

We have a very clear attitude towards our tools. I always had the need to work exclusively with good tools, because they give more pleasure than short-lived material. Everyone who has drawn with a high-quality pen or brush after working with cheap ballpoint pens will know what I mean. For example: I’ve bought a Japanese chef’s knife more than 20 years ago, which far exceeded my monthly budget at the time back then. Everyone thought I was crazy to spend 200 dm on it, but I still enjoy working with this knife to this day. The same applies to the pens, paints or the chairs in our studio – there is no compromise with tools. That’s why we have been working with MOLOTOW markers, tools and paints in our projects since the very beginning. We have found our own position in them – and we still do.

Now, the first video is ready to air online, please give us a few information about the video and the artwork

As already mentioned, it is not art at all. It is rather organic memories, original notations that are stored in all of us. It is like a language that we master from birth and that everyone understands, regardless of birthplace, religion or education. Even small children have mastered the language of scribbling. The work in the video shows a kind of drawing that we started years ago as a long-term series. It’s about scribbling, doodling – fast intuitive drawings that don’t seem to want to represent anything but the dynamics of a short moment. The entire work covers a format of 3 x 5.60 meters. This format is made up of 24 cardboard boxes of the same size, which together form the bigger whole. After the completion of the drawing, the entire work is divided into the 24 individual elements, which are now intended for 24 different people. The pictures form a kind of invisible bridge between these people, an invisible band that will connect them from then on. the film documents the process of creation and allows a view of the bigger whole, which will probably not come together again in this original form.

Thanks for the interview! Where people can follow you on social media to learn more?

The unttld project has its own website and its own instagram account called unttld.de. We are currently setting up the pinterest account. We can also be found as 22quadrat on the internet – just enter the name in a search engine. There’s a lot to find. Or classically via our website 22quadrat.com. 22quadrat can also be found at instagram, youtube and pinterest. The studio that produced the films for unttld can be found at 9sekunden.com or at instagram. We are looking forward to your resonance out there!

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