In a unique cooperation of the creative avantgarde from character and costume design, in 2006 Pictoplasma transformed the most captivating, screwball and outstanding characters of our time into fantastic costumes. Padded, hydraulic or helium-filled, the creatures have literally come to life at last. Based on the designs of illustrators from Buenos Aires, Miami, Barcelona, Toronto, Osaka or Paris, the new inhabitants of the virtual PictoOrphanage allowed real-life donors to sponsor them – and thereby enable the production and birth of corporeal characters from the realm of the digital image.
Dancers and performers under the direction of choreograph Jared Gradinger (Constanza Macras / Dorky Park, Berlin) explored these new life forms and their individual character. Freed from the binds of storytelling and advertising, the characters developed their individual will, which they proudly demonstrate on stage and in countless guerrilla style interventions during their ongoing tour. Meanwhile, the orphans have made memorable appearances in all corners of the globe, from France, Germany, New York, The Netherlands, Sweden, all the way to China, turning the urban streets into a main stage for their adventures.
No other living creature features as heavily in contemporary character design and art as the humble hare. Bunnies are definitely the most depicted creatures of all times, a fact that was also reflected by the endless stream of rabbits daily submitted to Pictoplasma’s archives by international artists. But what exactly makes bunnies so irresistible?
There’s no such thing as too much bunnies! And just to prove it, in 2006 Pictoplasma intentionally asked internationally established and upcoming character designers, illustrators and artists around the globe to send in their versions of rabbits, bunnies, hares and everything in between.
The result is a full-scale bunny overdose, with far more than 1.500 individual rabbits from 500+ international contributers. By condensing the endless variations of the rabbit motif into one ultimate system – a perfect bunny mandala – the true nature of the beast emerges: the eternal essence of rabbit.
“The Bunny Mandala Shrine” was installed at the sous-station of Projet Diligence in Nice (France), during the onedotzero Festival in London (UK), at Bios Athens (Greece) and the South Eastern Centre for Contemporary Arts (SECCA) in North Carolina (USA).
Pictoplasma’s “Colour Me!” maked an all-time dream come true: A selected group of approximately three international character designers and artists meet for the first time and create a unique colouring and activity room: while locked in the venue for several days, thousands of untouched black and white illustrations, scribbles and characters begin to cover a white room from floor to ceiling, wall to wall.
Upon completion, visitors are invited to enter the space and lovingly colour in the characters in special Cyan, Magenta and Yellow pens, turning the space into an ever evolving colouring and activity room in true CMYK.
Starting in 2005, until today numerous walls of established project spaces, upcoming galleries and high-art museums from Europe to Asia have been covered with thousands of black outline illustrations, only to find themselves coloured in to the point of total occlusion by a huge stampede of happy visitors.
Amongst others, “Colour Me!” has been set up in Düsseldorf, Halle, Hong Kong and Peterborough. Participating artists include Jon Burgerman, Sune Ehlers, Boris Hoppek, Shoboshobo, Neasden Control Centre, Ian Stevenson and Dennis Tyfus.
The installation “Characters at War” (2004) enabled visitors to meet the elite of international character design literally eye-to-eye. From Super Mario to Emily the Strange: Hundreds of all time favourites and shiny newcomers from the flat-faced world of character design, comics, graffiti and merchandising are pushing through to the third dimension!
The loveliest, cutest, and strangest characters stand tall as life-size cardboard stand-up soldiers arranged in a gigantic battlefield installation. Behind the foot soldiers of this enormous anthropomorphic army are none other than the heroes of the international design scene.
Characters at War has toured excessively around the globe, and has been installed in the Zentralbüro, Berlin and the Forum-NRW, Düsseldorf (GER), at the Space4 Gallery in Peterborough (UK), at the Secca in Winston-Salem (USA) and the California State Univeristy Long Beach Art Museum in Los Angeles (USA).
Artists participating in the installation include Snowcat, Fawn Gehweiler, Buero Destruct, Furi Furi, Francois Chalet, ESM artificial, ACNE, James Marschall aka Dalek, Phunk Studio, ShagArt, Mari-chan, Unit9, Jim Avignon, Genevieve Gaukler, Boris Hoppek, FriendsWithYou, Tim Biskup, Flying Fortress, Doma Collective, Love Ablan, and many, many more…
Avoiding the lure of creating a straightforward sequel or the simple repetition of the winning formula, pictoplasma has once again distilled a fine selection of first-rate works from over 9,000 entries. While the traditional role of these loveable icons as commercial branding tools remains important, this volume delves even deeper into the world of contemporary character design, additionally focussing on their wider usage outside of the printed page. No matter if it’s sculptures, installations, graphical work, street art, urban vinyl toys, dolls or fine art, for pictoplasma its all about the power of reduced and abstract character visualization, and its usage as an global language.
Pictoplasma 1, the first ever documentation of modern character design, presented a comprehensive overview of this truly global graphic language and illustrates the remarkable status figures with lively traits and faces have achieved in our society, culminating in a visual feast. As likeable, global identifiers they act as indispensable mediators in the era of multimedia, serving purposes as diverse as branding, logo design, game design, web design, icons or mascots. Selected from more than 6,000 excellent entries Pictoplasma offers both independent artists and corporations an international platform.
