OFFSET 2010

ATTENTION : Upfront service information to the potentially stressed reader : this is a looong one.

Oh my … Where to start! OFFSET was really inspiring to me!

3 days of brilliantly talented creatives from Ireland, UK and US doing talks, live Q & A’s, sharing good advice and showing some really amazing work – all of it wrapped inside the quite impressive Grand Canal Theater in Dublin.

Wow!

Lights outside Grand Canal Theatre.

And some quite scary reflections in the nearby windows.

The talks!
Being in advertising it was really huge for me, to meet the legendary George Lois, who completely revolutionized the business back in the 60’s and did some work, that still works (and knocks people over) today.

 

George Lois is probably mostly known for his work with the launch of MTV and his really provocative covers for Esquire magazine – but for me he’s also known to be the man who says: “Go fuck yourself!!” in every 3rd sentence! : ) All though mostly used to tell stories from the old days in advertising, where he to fight quite a deal to get it his way.

Which he usually did ; )

Cover for Esquire Magazine. Mid 60’s as I recall. Amazing.

Q&A with George Lois.

 

Speaking of legendary …
While we’re on the legendary pieces of work, Lance Wyman was there as well. Amongst other thing, showing his work on the Mexico Olympics in 1968. Which is still really great work!

 

Wow. How’s that for nice interior!? : )

 

Design DOES save the world! Sometimes.
Lance Wyman also showed some of his really huge pieces of way finding work on metro systems. I found these really amazing. The HUGE amounts of work really got to me!

Creating entire way finding systems for such a complex thing as metro – using no letters (NONE!) as the system should work in 3 different languages and also serve the great amount of illiterate people living in Mexico City. Lance Wyman and his colleagues build the entire metro system using only pictograms and easily understandable graphics.
Wauw.

If you like this, then make sure to visit the Lance Wyman site. Hours of interesting work awaits you! : )

 

Finally it makes sence!!
Despite both of these really amazing hard-working creative legends, there was one guy in particular who really blew me away. Daniel Eatock.

London-based artist / designer / everything in between + circle fanatic.

Personally I can get quite frustrated with some of my ideas, because I can’t seem to make them real or turn them into something concrete. I find them to be stupid, not useful or ehm … a little hard to tackle. That’s why meeting Daniel Eatock was such a great experience! He has actually found a way to use all of his ideas and transform them into something both engaging, unique and somewhat sellable as well. For one, that was really inspiring, but most importantly – it appears that he sees the world, in the same way that I do!? Which is sooo nice when you sometimes think that you’re really loosing it …

Daniel Eatocks work is quite hard to describe, but if you stop by his website, you’ll find days worth of entertainment!

 

Quick links
(well … the first ones are quick, anyway)

Other really nice experiences was the Wooster Collective and their new book called Trespassers. In there you will find some of the most amazing pieces of street art and public interventions and also the magnificent excentric; Philippe Petit. All of the pieces in the book were done in restricted and forbidden areas, hence the title, and if it wasn’t so darn heavy and coffee table book-like, I would’ve bought it on the spot! It looked really nice.

Alan Clarke (Dublin based artist & person!) was also really cool with his funny, yet intelligent, illustrations and insanely funny stories and rimes!
Check his website here – He promises that it’s “a mighty fine piece of internet!”

Emily Forgot, young Dublin illustrator, who did some really nice illustrations with funny small hidden objects in them, and who also really won me over, by her focus on “keeping that child like feeling of not really caring what other people think.”

Steve ESPO Powers.
The next time you meet someone, who thinks, that nothing good could ever (EVER!!) come from graffiti and that “the kids should be locked up!!” you come armed. You come bringing : Steve Powers.

Touché.

Steve Powers was based in graffiti, known as ESPO, but today he’s (mostly) doing some really nice (legal) pieces.  Changing trashy urban areas into lovely, poetic, art pieces – “one eyesore at a time“.

RELEVANCE!
What I find so special about his work is for starters the really romantic angel on things and secondly the way he really tries to engage the neighbours in the work he does. If he’s painting a mural in a town, he makes sure to know the history and feel of the city, and also to TALK to the people there, and ask them what they’d like to look at.

I really think that’s something special.
And something that many artist can learn from.

When the art piece is relevant to the people around it, it gains value and it might end up as something way more than “just” something that’s nice to look at.

 

As for instance this mural, made alongside the train rails in a really trashed up part of Philadelphia, US.
Steve Powers was hired to make something that could bound the people, living on each side of the rail, closer together.

Every day tons of Phillys pass by the mural – known today only as the “Hold Tight wall”. Really nice.
Fore more on Steven Powers. Go here.

Conclusion : Wauw.
I still haven’t quite absorbed or digested the OFFSET experience. But as you can probably tell, this was really amazing. Big up to the three Dublin guys who devote most of their wake hours doing this, so that I can do this ; )

If you liked this, then make sure to visit the OFFSET site to see the full program, as it was loaded with brilliant artist!

//Ida