manufacturer: Extratapete

design: Kathrin Kreitmeyer, Matthias Gerber

 

The wallpaper picture, which results from an extreme enlargement of the page of an atlas, shows a small island somewhere in the ocean. The patterns are formed by elements familiar from geography: the network of meridians, the topographic lines, the printed names as well as the colour nuances between brown and blue. When we get closer, we notice that the matrix dots have begun to break up at this level of magnification. Although references to art – especially Pop Art – are conspicuous here, this is not the decisive point. Extratapete develops small, clearly defined collections that each follows a unifying principle. The aim is to achieve a different, innovative treatment of the graphical possibilities offered by wallpaper. In the case of Kollektion 3, the motifs are taken from found graphics spontaneously collected by Kathrin Kreitmeyer and Matthias Gerber. This might be a map, a piece of fabric or wrapping paper, or perhaps an excerpt from a picture on the television screen or a photo downloaded from the Internet. Enlargement breaks open the finer structure. Patterns emerge that are not a rtificial and which are virtually unparalleled in their vitality. Subsequent processing then enhances the wallpaper character. Through the use of hardly identifiable, but nonetheless real original objects, the dimension of content is added. When for example in Pedro (-> p.439) a postcard misprint shows only the outlines of a beach resort, the myths of the South come into play. The new wall decoration hence not only offers interesting fodder for our perceptual faculties, but also, through its sometimes ironic handling of meanings, becomes a playful kind of cultural medium.