IS THIS ART?
Book Design | Exhibition
The general perception of contemporary art often leans towards it being "commercialized" and "laughable," prompting questions like, "Is this art?" To address this, the exhibition book "Is This Art?" is designed to encourage deeper contemplation on the art of our times.
The book features the works of seven renowned yet controversial artists: Banksy, Maurizio Cattelan, Grayson Perry, David Shrigley, Cindy Sherman, and Jeff Koons. Their creations not only vividly illustrate the dark humor inherent in contemporary art but, more importantly, provide a profound satire on societal issues.
EXHIBITION POSTERS
Since this book was created for the exhibition of these extraordinary artists at MOCA, to promote this art exhibition, I designed a series of posters, utilizing the works of three iconic contemporary artists as the main visuals to pique the audience's curiosity.
To reflect the irreverent nature of contemporary art, I used hand-written titles with marker pens for the posters.
The barcodes next to these "absurd" artworks reveal the commercialized nature of contemporary art.
OPENING
To visually and conceptually convey the ethos of contemporary art and to showcase its imagination and freedom of expression, I employed numerous unconventional techniques in the book's layout.
For instance, I used a variety of colors to differentiate chapters and incorporated many hand-written titles. The overall presentation exudes a sense of irreverence and playfulness.
ARTICLE
In each chapter, I paid close attention to color coordination. The primary background color of each chapter aligns with its content and mood.
For text, I never used colorful text and staggered the text blocks, creating an unconventional layout that better reflects the characteristics of contemporary art and captures the audience's attention.
INTERVIEW SECTION
To provide deeper insights into the artists' minds, I included interviews with Maurizio Cattelan and Cindy Sherman in the book.
I used different layout styles for each chapter, making it easy for readers to distinguish between various content sections. The two-column layout, in particular, is well-suited for the interview content.
ARTISTS SECTION
Most of the book is dedicated to showcasing each artist's works, carefully selected to fully reflect their personality and thoughts. Each artist is represented by a unique color, chosen based on my understanding of their experiences and works.
The layout of the artworks is designed to create a dialogue between the left and right pages, featuring strong contrasts, gradual reveals of complete works, and interconnected stories between the pieces.
END MATTER
FINAL PRODUCTION
The book ultimately features a hardcover, presenting the appearance of a children's picture book. This aligns with contemporary artistic tastes and conveys the idea that modern art can be appreciated by everyone.
Each chapter uses different colored paper as a background, allowing readers to distinguish between chapters from the side of the book.
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