Allowing us no time to dwell on the past, straight after the Pictoplasma Berlin Festival we were kicked out of our office. Instead of falling into the inevitable annual coma, a new home for us and all of our beloved characters had to be found. Et voilà (address below): In the center of what can easily be described as Berlin's last Bermuda Triangle, our new office apparently used to serve the Stasi in former GDR times. Today - apart from the current chaos - it makes a rather secluded and peaceful impression.
To celebrate our first days in the new location and get the Karma spinning, we've uploaded a little excerpt of Dan Deacon's performance at our recent Missing Link Show ... and as we try to recreate the bliss of 300+ happy festival attendees circling around the big stage by hopping about our pile of unopened boxes, the first good news pops up! Our brand new publication is finally hitting the shelves:

Not A Toy - Fashioning Radical Characters!

Quite an impressive detour from our regular cuddly graphic collections you've come to expect, this massive compilation is the world's first to examine the growing influence of character design in contemporary fashion and art. Featuring page after page of avant-garde costumes, edgy haute couture and playful hairstyles, the volume witnesses the re-invention of the human body as a radical, new character, while it is sent off onto the catwalk and beyond.
Our heaviest and fattest book to date has been edited by Greek cultural organization for fashion research ATOPOS cvc, and highlights a global scene of established fashion designers, such as Issey Miyake, Walter Van Beirendonck, Hussein Chalayan or Bernhard Willhelm, features the work of contemporary artists such as Nick Cave, Olaf Breuning or Lucy & Bart, and introduces surprising, upcoming talents - Gareth Pugh, Cassette Playa, Charlie Le Mindu, Shin Murayama and many others.
While we here are most likely not going to win any Lady Gaga look-a-like contest, the book definitely withholds some valuable stimulus on how to. Take a look and order your 4.5 pounds of monstrous garment online here!

As soon as our phone is properly re-connected and we found out what to do with all of those dusty surveillance cameras in every corner, next up for us is to stand in line for the return to New York and the 3rd PICTOPLASMA NYC conference and festival of contemporary character design and art! From November 4 to 5, the Tishman Auditorium of Parsons New School for Design will once more host a marathon of presentations, special talks and cinema screenings of outstanding international character driven art.

The extended weekend event will drop heaps of groundbreaking anthropomorphic appeal and tons of character right unto the heart of Manhattan, with a diverse lineup of speakers covering a wide range of media, artistic ideas and inspirational sources.

Already half of the splendid cast of presenting artists has been confirmed, including the likes of Keepon headquarters and Uncanny Valley tamers BeatBots (JP/USA), infinite king of doodle delights Jon Burgerman (UK), the beautiful toxin bubbles of Allyson Mellberg Taylor (USA), Community Service Announcement master-mind Jeremyville (AUS), creator of charming unicellular characters meet Technicolor digital mash Geneviève Gauckler (FR) and award-winning illustrator and artist superb Gary Taxali (CA).

Never been to a Pictoplasma Conference before? Don't know what to expect? Here's a little 12 minute snippet of last year's talk by Peter de Séve to help you make up your mind. And that's not nearly all! The lectures, artist talks and presentations will be accompanied by a magnitude of freshly hatched Characters in Motion hitting the big screen, with the very best contemporary short films, music videos, character-driven motion graphics and experimental work.

Topping it off you'll be expected by series of exhibitions throughout the NYC area from November 3 - 6. This so called Character Walk combines numerous galleries, stores, project spaces and venues, all made temporarily available to host presentations, installations, group shows and performances of international character eye-candy.

Whilst we're holding back more details on the program until next month, you can get a first glimpse of what to expect at http://nyc.pictoplasma.com
Oh, and while you're at it, take a look at the early bird offer! Secure your full NYC festival pass and character overdose now and save serious $$$.

Now back to unpacking those boxes,

peter & lars