details
Blob Shop Collective (ongoing)
The Blob Shop Collective gathers multi-disciplinary artists and designers based in Amsterdam and Rotterdam (NL) and operates internationally. Our activities find their roots in inter-dependent publishing practices and foster connections across diverse subjectivities, backgrounds, and disciplines.
Blob Shop Collective combines the notion of a shop — that acknowledges and reacts to economic necessities within the independent publishing field — with the self-organized structure of a collective that caters togetherness. It is a meeting point where transactions and exchanges of knowledges, skills and resources are circulating.
Our desire to investigate publishing through experiments with new and traditional media, collective methodologies and DIY tools manifests in online and offline publications, as well as intimate gatherings, workshops and public moments.
As a publishing project in the making, we seek agency to build sustainable and self-sufficient practices. Motivated by an open source mentality, we want to explore alternative ways of living and working together and with others.
Name: Blob Shop Collective / Location: Rotterdam, Amsterdam / Year: 2021 – ongoing / Members: Ål Nik, Chae-Young Kim, Emma Prato, Erica Gargaglione, Francesco Luzzana, Gersande Schellinx, Jian Haake, Kimberley Cosmilla, Miriam Schöb, Mitsi Chaida and Supisara Burapachaisri
Modular Matter — Rewire your prints! (2023)
Modular Matter is the attempt to re-think desktop publishing through the concept of modular synthesis. The tool consists of several combinable hardware modules, each of them performing a specific operation with an operation-specific physical interface. Modular Matter can be played like an instrument in order to generate print layouts: Rotary knobs, slides and switches control the operation of each module. Patch cables connect the modules and create a custom workflow towards printed outcome. The purpose of Modular Matter is to offer a tangible and intuitive way of designing prints, to break open engrained ways of working and to spark critical conversations around tool ecologies in graphic design.
Modular Matter is an ongoing project and was first presented at Making Things Bubblic: Experimental Publishing (XPUB) Graduation Show 2023 at Slash Gallery, WORM (Rotterdam, 2023).
Title: Modular Matter — Rewire your prints! / Publisher: self-published / Location: Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam / Year: 2023 / Material: 6 printed circuit boards, Raspberry Pi, ESP32, patch cables, screen, laser printer
Modular Matter — A Situated and Annotated Manual (2023)
The handbook Modular Matter — A Situated and Annotated Manual accompanies the tool Modular Matter. It contains documentation and instructions as well as the research around the tool-making process. Readers get insights into the development, technicalities and backend of Modular Matter. The manual aims to situate the tool in the context of graphic design practice while critically reflecting on proprietary tool ecologies and their impact on print publishing.
A limited edition of DIY soldering kits includes the handbook and all modules, encouraging passive users of graphic design applications to start becoming active makers.
Title: Modular Matter — A Situated and Annotated Manual / Publisher: self-published / Location: Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam / Year: 2023 / Material: 21 x 29,7 cm, 128 pages
Drawing Robots — Make (with) your own Tools (2023)
Drawing Robots — Make (with) your own Tools transforms two robotic vacuum cleaners into drawing machines. The automatic movement of the robots is being hacked in order to be operated by DIY remote controls. Markers that are being attached to the robots leave traces on the floor.
The unusual tool offers a new approach to the familiar process of drawing. By operating the machine, the user is able to draw from a distance, covering a large area on the floor. While this new perspective allows for bigger dimensions, the user is being confronted with new limitations at the same time: The technique seems unfamiliar, edgy and less precise. The tool shapes the drawings, and little failures become happy accidents.
Drawing Robots — Make (with) your own Tools was presented at It broke, but it’s okay, we still have the pieces at Extrapool (Nijmegen, 2023).
Title: Drawing Robots — Make (with) your own Tools / Location: Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam / Year: 2023 / Material: 2 roombas, ESP32, marker
Black Mountain College as Multiverse (2022)
The publication Black Mountain College as Multiverse is the documentation of a symposium that was curated and hosted by Dr. Petra Maria Meyer and Arnold Dreyblatt at Muthesius Kunsthochschule Kiel in 2017. The series of lectures, accompanied by recurring artistic interventions, was inspired by Arnold Dreyblatt's PERFORMING the Black Mountain ARCHIVE, a work that was first presented in 2015 as part of the exhibition Black Mountain: Ein interdisziplinäres Experiment, 1933–1957 (Hamburger Bahnhof, Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Berlin) and two years later coined the character of the symposium in Kiel.
The idea of the living archive, both as starting point and source of inspiration for ongoing scientific discourse and artistic practice, has shaped the publication. The book opens with an index that lists and categorizes all materials, offering a non-linear navigation of the publication and highlighting the importance of the archive. Throughout the book, sections of text and images complement each other, demonstrating the non-hierarchical entanglement and reciprocal influence of archive, theory and practice. The thoughtful curation of diverse materials hopes to reveal new connotations, overarching questions and interconnections, both during and beyond the symposium.
Title: Black Mountain College as Multiverse / Editors: Arnold Dreyblatt, Petra Maria Meyer / Publisher: Verlag Kettler / Book concept & design: Jian Haake (ohjian) / Year: 2022 / ISBN: 978-3-86206-983-5 / Material: 21 x 29 cm, 560 pages, softcover
Summer School 2022 — Ghost Files (2022)
The Summer School is a yearly workshop format for typography and book design students, curated and hosted by ohjian. In 2022 the five-day visual research was focussing on matters of concern rather than matters of fact, resulting in sticky thoughts, speculative narratives and imaginary scenarios that attempt to delineate and capture the abstract idea of GHOST FILES. The outcome of this collaborative investigation is a publication, trying to grasp what is there but at the same time not actually there:
“Together we are searching for the abandoned and the over-looked, the lost souls that somehow stay with us, even haunt us at times. We are trying to trace the untraceable, hoping to catch a spark that could become the start of something new. We listen carefully to the echoes, well aware that these remnants of the past may transform into something else, leading us the way into unknown territories.”
Title: Summer School 2022 — Ghost Files / Concept: Jian Haake (ohjian) / Participants: Adrian Herzig, Alexandra Knurowski, Anja Germanova, Charlotte Köhncke, Christin Großmann, Heidi Ceder, Irene Janson, Laura Stange, Lina Kaltenberg, Maj-Brit Wussow, Milan Doctor, Saskia Falke / Special guest: Supisara Burapachaisri / Photo credit: Irene Janson, Alexandra Knurowski / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2022 / Material: 12,5 x 17 cm, 171 pages, riso printed, acrylic hardcover
Thinking with the Book (2022)
Thinking with the Book is a research tool for anyone interested in reading, thinking and making (with) books. A simple python function called Book Generator runs on a Raspberry Pi that is connected to a receipt printer. Based on definitions, thoughts and quotes that have been collected over years, the function generates new interpretations and contributes to the ongoing attempt of trying to delineate the nature of books. Whenever the button is pushed, a new definition for the book is being generated and printed, offering new, at times unusual perspectives to scientific discourse as well as artistic and design practice.
Thinking with the Book was presented at Happy to present to you … Publishing Ink at spce Gallery (Kiel, 2022).
Title: Thinking with the Book / Exhibition: Happy to present to you … Publishing Ink / Location: spce Gallery, Kiel / Year: 2022 / Material: 368 receipts, thermal printer, Raspberry Pi
Summer School 2021 — Future Record (2021)
The Summer School is a yearly workshop format for typography and book design students, curated and hosted by ohjian. In 2021 the six-day visual research was exploring the paradox of FUTURE RECORD. In experimental material and form studies a variety of future artifacts emerged, intricate particles, iridescently shimmering in between the no-more and the not yet. These traces of possible futures and pasts were recorded in a collective publication, offering multi-perspective views on imaginary scenarios.
Title: Summer School 2021 — Future Record / Concept: Jian Haake (ohjian) / Participants: Andrea Kahlke, Angelina Simon, Anja Germanova, Ann-Sophie Kettlitz, Lina Jeppener, Lisa Semrau, Louise Preuß, Merle König, Pauline Heppeler, Safeya Fawzy, Stefanie Henningsen, Svea Schröder / Special guest: Nele Kieseritzky / Photo credit: Louise Preuß / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2021 / Material: 21 x 29,7 cm, 196 pages, softcover
Anna Schapiro: In Difference Without Fear (2021)
In Difference Without Fear (Ohne Angst Verschieden) is a poster series by the artist Anna Schapiro, designed by Jian Haake (ohjian). Displayed in the town hall of Offenbach as representative for all town halls over Germany, the posters pose an urging question to citizens as well as to authorities: What should this city do so that you can live in difference without fear?
Title: In Difference Without Fear (Ohne Angst Verschieden) / Artist: Anna Schapiro / Design: Jian Haake (ohjian) / Location: Rathaus der Stadt Offenbach am Main / Year: 2021 / Material: 7 posters, 59,4 x 84,1 cm
Summer School 2020 — Lovebrut (2020)
The Summer School is a yearly workshop format for typography and book design students, curated and hosted by ohjian. In 2020 the one-week visual research was inspired by the concept of LOVEBRUT, exploring the aesthetics, poetics and contradictions of this fictitious term. In the exceptional circumstances of 2020 the workshop took place online. All participants received a physical toolkit via mail that created a tangible connection and sense of community. Working from home while connecting and collaborating online led to a new experience of collective publishing. The diverse visual outcome resulted in an online publication.
Title: Summer School 2020 — Lovebrut / Concept: Jian Haake (ohjian) / Participants: André Finster, Anika Mohr, Anja Germanova, Anna Kaune, Debora Bialowons, Helen Ziemer, Jonas Fischer, Leo Sell, Lina Jeppener, Louise Preuss, Paula Timm, Stefanie Etzel / Special guest: Philipp Neumeyer / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2020 / Material: website, 156 files
The Mistake of this Book is to be a Book (2020)
»Der Fehler dieses Buches ist, ein Buch zu sein. Daß es Einband hat, Rücken, Paginierung. Man sollte zwischen Glasplatten ein paar Seiten davon ausbreiten u. sie von Zeit zu Zeit wechseln. Dann würde man sehen, was es ist.«
“The mistake of this book is to be a book. That it has a cover, a spine, pagination. One should take a few pages and spread them between sheets of glass, exchanging them from time to time. So one would see what it is.”
(Robert Musil)
The exhibition The Mistake of this Book is to be a Book presents the outcome of a two-year research concerned with the literary remains of the author Robert Musil. The experimental book concept includes various printed matter spread on a horizontal display, and expands to the windows, using them as three dimensional extension of the surface. This new edition of The Man Without Qualities comprises many interconnected parts and becomes readable only by propagation in space.
The work circles around pending questions: What impact does book design have on the reception and experience of written text? How to re-imagine a book in order to do justice to the diverse and entangled nature of multi-layered material? Could space, and intermediate spaces, help to broaden the understanding of what a book is, opening up spaces of possibilities?
Exhibition: The Mistake of this Book is to be a Book (Der Fehler dieses Buches ist, ein Buch zu sein) / Context: Muthesius Projekt, Research Grant 2018 – 2020 / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule / Year: 2020 / Material: table with printed matter, window illustrations
The Man Without Qualities, An Experiment (2017 – 2020)
With his project »The Man Without Qualities« Musil initially aimed for a two-part novel. Whereas the first part was published in 1930, the second part was never completed and ultimately remained a fragment. Over the years Musil discovered the sheer infinite possibilities of how to finish the novel. His excessive writing process resulted in numerous varying drafts for the missing ending, equally existing in his archive and spanning a non-hierarchical and network-like structure of text and hypertext. The author´s estate comprises around 12,000 pages, including numerous chapters, drafts, notes and annotations as well as essays, diary entries, lists and correspondences.
This experimental book edition, which takes into account the findings of literary studies and philology, was realized as part of a two-year scholarship. An extensive network of various interconnected printed matter, including books, folders, leporellos and loose-leaf collections, questions the limitations of the term book and suggests a more open, fluid, and spatial approach to book design. The book edition evolved into an exhibition, considering the exhibition display, the space and interspaces as well as the body experiencing the text as integral parts of the experimental publication.
Title: The Man Without Qualities, An Experiment / Context: Muthesius Projekt, Research Grant 2018 – 2020 / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2017 – 2020 / Material: 7 books, 9 booklets, 1 folder, 1 atlas, 5 small books, 1 loose-leaf collection, 1 leaflet, 1 leporello
Summer School 2019 — Urban Jungle (2019)
The Summer School is a workshop format for typography and book design students, curated and hosted by ohjian. In 2019 the two-week program took place under the motto URBAN JUNGLE. Through collaborative work sessions, field trips and extensive visual research the students were exploring the nooks and crevices of a bewilderingly complex and brutally competitive urban environment. The workshop resulted in a custom font, a poster series and a printed publication, documenting fragility and savageness.
The results of the workshop were presented at Urban Jungle — Poster Exhibition Summerschool 2019 (Kiel, 2019).
Title: Summer School 2019 — Urban Jungle / Concept: Jian Haake (ohjian) / Participants: Anastasia Marx, André Finster, Anika Mohr, Ann-Sophie Kettlitz, Birte Reimers, Charlotte Köhncke, Christine Salmen, Helen Ziemer, Joana Moldenhauer, Kaspar Pansegrau, Kristina Hilse, Louisa Kirchner, Paula Timm, Tim Stülten / Co-host: Tobias Herber / Special guest: Nina Massow / Custom font: Anastasia Marx, Kristina Hilse / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2019 / Material: 70 posters, 59,4 x 84,1 cm; publication, 21 x 27,5 cm, 246 pages, softcover; 1 custom font
Pathosformel (2019)
Poster design for the lecture Zwischen Traum und Tanz, zwischen Affekt und Geschichte. Aby Warburgs Ausfaltung der Pathosformel by Dr. Bauerle-Willert on Aby Warburg's pathos formula.
Title: Pathosformel / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2019 / Material: poster, 42 x 59,4 cm
Robert Musil's sense of possibilities in “The Man Without Qualities” (2018)
In his novel The Man Without Qualities Robert Musil cultivates the concept of sense of possibilities as opposed to sense of reality. This imaginative and playful approach is manifested in the progression of the plot, but also in style of writing and the overall structure of the novel. Finally, the increasingly fragmented text is only published in parts and remains unfinished.
Robert Musil's sense of possibilities in “The Man Without Qualities”, as presented in the exhibition Muthesius Preis 2018 at Kunsthalle Kiel, is an attempt to recover the unpublished sections and optional endings of the novel and bring them together in an experimental book edition.
Title: Robert Musil's sense of possibilities in “The Man Without Qualities” / Exhibition: Muthesius Preis 2018 / Location: Kunsthalle Kiel / Year: 2018 / Material: table with printed matter, chalkboard illustration
Artist Books #17—32 (2017)
This poster series announces the book launch and presentation of several artist books. 16 unique prints, one for each publication, emphasize the diversity and complexity of the experimental objects. Black and white copies of each artist book provide a fleeting glimpse of interesting detail in original size and invite the visitors to think about the book as a medium and artwork.
Title: Artist Books #17—32 / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2017 / Material: 16 posters, 50 x 70 cm
Steppenwolf (2016)
The novel Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse is named after the protagonist Harry Haller, who is a middle-aged misanthrope split between a civilized life and his wolf-like character traits. Entangled in an irresolvable struggle of fighting society and fighting himself, the Steppenwolf´s desperation and dark thoughts lead to mysterious and almost dreamlike encounters.
This atmosphere is reflected in demonic imagery, stark typographic details and the unprotected book block, loosely framed by a raw cover. Steppenwolf contains three levels of text: a foreword, the main story and a book-in-the-book. Each part has its own characteristics in language, layout, typography and paper. Selected poems by the author, printed on soft pink paper, are attached to the novel.
Title: Steppenwolf / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2016 / Material: 18,5 x 23,8 cm, 260 pages, hardcover
info
ohjian is the plural-creative practice of Jian Haake (she/her), currently operating in Rotterdam. Jian Haake is a graphic designer, workshop facilitator and experimental maker. In 2017 she graduated from, and continued teaching at the communication design department at Muthesius Kunsthochschule (Kiel). Coming from a background in book making and printed matter, her practice is strongly influenced by this perspective, while shifting towards a more hybrid and open understanding of publishing. She graduated from a second Master course in Experimental Publishing at Piet Zwart Institute (2023) and is founding member of the Rotterdam based Blob Shop Collective. In her independent and collaborative work, as well as in her workshops and summer schools, Jian Haake establishes a making practice that cultivates frameworks as well as happy accidents.
→ ohjian is currently open for collaborations, workshops and inquiries
| publications | 2023 | Modular Matter — A Situated and Annotated Manual by ohjian |
| 2023 | Modular Matter — DIY Kit by ohjian | |
| 2023 | Making Things Bubblic Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2022 | Ghost Files Kit by ohjian | |
| 2022 | Take away Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2022 | Black Mountain College as Multiverse Petra Maria Meyer & Arnold Dreyblatt Verlag Kettler, Bönen book concept & design by ohjian ISBN: 978-3-86206-983-5 | |
| 2022 | Summer School 2022 — Ghost Files ohjian x Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel book concept by ohjian | |
| 2022 | Special Issue #18 — Radio Implicancies Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2022 | unPublic #81: X-unPub La Générale Nord-Est, Paris XIV, France by Har$, Kam Seng Aung and (ohjian as part of) XPUB collective | |
| 2022 | Special Issue #17 — This box found you for a reason Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2021 | Special Issue #16 — Learning How to Walk While Catwalking Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2021 | Summer School 2021 — Future Record ohjian x Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel book concept by ohjian | |
| 2020 | Summer School 2020 — Lovebrut ohjian x Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel book concept by ohjian | |
| 2019 | Summer School 2019 — Urban Jungle ohjian x Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel book concept by ohjian | |
| 2018 | Fanzine 1—12 ohjian x Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel book concept by ohjian and Tobias Herber | |
| 2016 | Nichts — Eine Ausstellung der Malereiklasse Antje Majewski Raum der Publikation, Kiel book concept and design by ohjian and Evelyn Solinski ISBN: 978-3-943763-46-1 | |
| 2015 | Jimocracy — A Biography about Jimok Choi Jimok Choi, Simon Reich Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel book concept and design by ohjian and Nadja Haase ISBN: 978-3-943763-43-0 |
| tools | 2023 | Modular Matter — Rewire Your Prints! |
| 2023 | Drawing Robots — Make (with) your own tools! | |
| 2021 | Book Generator | |
| 2021 | Cocktail Generator |
| teaching | 2017 – 2022 | Textgestaltung Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel |
| Bibliothek der möglichen Bücher Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel | ||
| Raum für Publikationen Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel |
| workshops | 2024 | Textual Encounters I – III Blob Shop Collective, Rotterdam |
| 2022 | Summer School 2022 — Ghost Files Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel by ohjian, feat. Supisara Burapachaisri | |
| 2021 | Summer School 2021 — Future Record Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel by ohjian, feat. Nele Kieseritzky | |
| 2020 | Summer School 2020 — Lovebrut Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel by ohjian, feat. Philipp Neumeyer | |
| 2019 | Summer School 2019 — Urban Jungle Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel by ohjian /w Tobias Herber, feat. Nina Massow | |
| 2018 | Fanzine Workshop Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel by ohjian and Tobias Herber |
| talks | 2023 | Zine Camp 2023 — Binding Voices Panel hosted by Lu Lin (Not Just a Collective) and Elisa Piazzi (Pangaea) WORM, Rotterdam |
| exhibitions | 2023 | Re-coding Everyday Technology LUX Pavillion Mainz Working group for unusual input and output media Hochschule Mainz, University of Applied Science and NODE Forum for Digital Arts |
| 2023 | Making Things Bubblic: Experimental Publishing (XPUB) Graduation Show 2023 Slash Gallery, WORM, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2023 | It broke, but it’s okay, we still have the pieces curated by Anna de Vriend Extrapool, Nijmegen Drawing Robots by ohjian | |
| 2022 | Happy to present to you … Publishing Ink curated by Sven Christian Schuch spce Gallery, Kiel Thinking with the Book by ohjian | |
| 2022 | Special Issue #17 — This box found you for a reason Page Not Found, Den Haag by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2021 | Special Issue #16 — Learning How to Walk While Catwalking Varia, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2020 | The Mistake of this Book is to be a Book Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel by ohjian | |
| 2019 | Urban Jungle — Poster Exhibition Summerschool 2019 Flämische Straße 6 – 10, Kiel curated by ohjian | |
| 2018 | Robert Musil und der Möglichkeitssinn — Ein buchgestalterisches Experiment Raum für Kunst, Kunstquartier, Salzburg by ohjian | |
| 2018 | Muthesiuspreis 2018 Kunsthalle Kiel Robert Musil's sense of possibilities in The Man Without Qualities by ohjian | |
| 2017 | Artist Books #17—32 Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel curated by ohjian and Merle Michaelis | |
| 2016 | Jimocracy — A Biography about Jimok Choi Raum der Publikation, Kiel by ohjian and Nadja Haase | |
| 2015 | Performing the Black Mountain Archive by Arnold Dreyblatt in Black Mountain: An Interdisciplinary Experiment, 1933 – 1957 Hamburger Bahnhof, Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Berlin performing the archive /w ohjian, Tobias Herber, Evelyn Solinski and David Beyer |
| residencies | 2022 | Radio Implicancies: Methods To Practice Interdependencies La Générale Nord-Est, Paris XIV, France Blob Shop Collective |
| features | 2023 | Re-coding Everyday Technology Working group for unusual input and output media Hochschule Mainz, University of Applied Science and NODE Forum for Digital Arts |
| 2023 | Bibliothek der möglichen Bücher Band 2 Annette le Fort, André Heers Verlag für moderne Kunst, Wien | |
| 2019 | Bibliothek der möglichen Bücher Band 1 Annette le Fort, André Heers Verlag für moderne Kunst, Wien | |
| 2017 – 2023 | Einblick / Ausblick Catalogue Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design |
| prizes and scholarships | 2018 – 2020 | Muthesius-Projekt Research scholarship Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel |
| 2018 | Muthesiuspreis 2018 Muthesius Gesellschaft e.V. |
| studies | 2023 | MA in Fine Arts and Design: Experimental Publishing (XPUB) Piet Zwart Institute Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam |
| 2017 | MA in Communication Design — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel | |
| 2014 | BA in Communication Design — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel |
Blob Shop Collective (ongoing)
The Blob Shop Collective gathers multi-disciplinary artists and designers based in Amsterdam and Rotterdam (NL) and operates internationally. Our activities find their roots in inter-dependent publishing practices and foster connections across diverse subjectivities, backgrounds, and disciplines.
Blob Shop Collective combines the notion of a shop — that acknowledges and reacts to economic necessities within the independent publishing field — with the self-organized structure of a collective that caters togetherness. It is a meeting point where transactions and exchanges of knowledges, skills and resources are circulating.
Our desire to investigate publishing through experiments with new and traditional media, collective methodologies and DIY tools manifests in online and offline publications, as well as intimate gatherings, workshops and public moments.
As a publishing project in the making, we seek agency to build sustainable and self-sufficient practices. Motivated by an open source mentality, we want to explore alternative ways of living and working together and with others.
Name: Blob Shop Collective / Location: Rotterdam, Amsterdam / Year: 2021 – ongoing / Members: Ål Nik, Chae-Young Kim, Emma Prato, Erica Gargaglione, Francesco Luzzana, Gersande Schellinx, Jian Haake, Kimberley Cosmilla, Miriam Schöb, Mitsi Chaida and Supisara Burapachaisri
Modular Matter — Rewire your prints! (2023)
Modular Matter is the attempt to re-think desktop publishing through the concept of modular synthesis. The tool consists of several combinable hardware modules, each of them performing a specific operation with an operation-specific physical interface. Modular Matter can be played like an instrument in order to generate print layouts: Rotary knobs, slides and switches control the operation of each module. Patch cables connect the modules and create a custom workflow towards printed outcome. The purpose of Modular Matter is to offer a tangible and intuitive way of designing prints, to break open engrained ways of working and to spark critical conversations around tool ecologies in graphic design.
Modular Matter is an ongoing project and was first presented at Making Things Bubblic: Experimental Publishing (XPUB) Graduation Show 2023 at Slash Gallery, WORM (Rotterdam, 2023).
Title: Modular Matter — Rewire your prints! / Publisher: self-published / Location: Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam / Year: 2023 / Material: 6 printed circuit boards, Raspberry Pi, ESP32, patch cables, screen, laser printer
Modular Matter — A Situated and Annotated Manual (2023)
The handbook Modular Matter — A Situated and Annotated Manual accompanies the tool Modular Matter. It contains documentation and instructions as well as the research around the tool-making process. Readers get insights into the development, technicalities and backend of Modular Matter. The manual aims to situate the tool in the context of graphic design practice while critically reflecting on proprietary tool ecologies and their impact on print publishing.
A limited edition of DIY soldering kits includes the handbook and all modules, encouraging passive users of graphic design applications to start becoming active makers.
Title: Modular Matter — A Situated and Annotated Manual / Publisher: self-published / Location: Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam / Year: 2023 / Material: 21 x 29,7 cm, 128 pages
Drawing Robots — Make (with) your own Tools (2023)
Drawing Robots — Make (with) your own Tools transforms two robotic vacuum cleaners into drawing machines. The automatic movement of the robots is being hacked in order to be operated by DIY remote controls. Markers that are being attached to the robots leave traces on the floor.
The unusual tool offers a new approach to the familiar process of drawing. By operating the machine, the user is able to draw from a distance, covering a large area on the floor. While this new perspective allows for bigger dimensions, the user is being confronted with new limitations at the same time: The technique seems unfamiliar, edgy and less precise. The tool shapes the drawings, and little failures become happy accidents.
Drawing Robots — Make (with) your own Tools was presented at It broke, but it’s okay, we still have the pieces at Extrapool (Nijmegen, 2023).
Title: Drawing Robots — Make (with) your own Tools / Location: Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam / Year: 2023 / Material: 2 roombas, ESP32, marker
Black Mountain College as Multiverse (2022)
The publication Black Mountain College as Multiverse is the documentation of a symposium that was curated and hosted by Dr. Petra Maria Meyer and Arnold Dreyblatt at Muthesius Kunsthochschule Kiel in 2017. The series of lectures, accompanied by recurring artistic interventions, was inspired by Arnold Dreyblatt's PERFORMING the Black Mountain ARCHIVE, a work that was first presented in 2015 as part of the exhibition Black Mountain: Ein interdisziplinäres Experiment, 1933–1957 (Hamburger Bahnhof, Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Berlin) and two years later coined the character of the symposium in Kiel.
The idea of the living archive, both as starting point and source of inspiration for ongoing scientific discourse and artistic practice, has shaped the publication. The book opens with an index that lists and categorizes all materials, offering a non-linear navigation of the publication and highlighting the importance of the archive. Throughout the book, sections of text and images complement each other, demonstrating the non-hierarchical entanglement and reciprocal influence of archive, theory and practice. The thoughtful curation of diverse materials hopes to reveal new connotations, overarching questions and interconnections, both during and beyond the symposium.
Title: Black Mountain College as Multiverse / Editors: Arnold Dreyblatt, Petra Maria Meyer / Publisher: Verlag Kettler / Book concept & design: Jian Haake (ohjian) / Year: 2022 / ISBN: 978-3-86206-983-5 / Material: 21 x 29 cm, 560 pages, softcover
Summer School 2022 — Ghost Files (2022)
The Summer School is a yearly workshop format for typography and book design students, curated and hosted by ohjian. In 2022 the five-day visual research was focussing on matters of concern rather than matters of fact, resulting in sticky thoughts, speculative narratives and imaginary scenarios that attempt to delineate and capture the abstract idea of GHOST FILES. The outcome of this collaborative investigation is a publication, trying to grasp what is there but at the same time not actually there:
“Together we are searching for the abandoned and the over-looked, the lost souls that somehow stay with us, even haunt us at times. We are trying to trace the untraceable, hoping to catch a spark that could become the start of something new. We listen carefully to the echoes, well aware that these remnants of the past may transform into something else, leading us the way into unknown territories.”
Title: Summer School 2022 — Ghost Files / Concept: Jian Haake (ohjian) / Participants: Adrian Herzig, Alexandra Knurowski, Anja Germanova, Charlotte Köhncke, Christin Großmann, Heidi Ceder, Irene Janson, Laura Stange, Lina Kaltenberg, Maj-Brit Wussow, Milan Doctor, Saskia Falke / Special guest: Supisara Burapachaisri / Photo credit: Irene Janson, Alexandra Knurowski / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2022 / Material: 12,5 x 17 cm, 171 pages, riso printed, acrylic hardcover
Thinking with the Book (2022)
Thinking with the Book is a research tool for anyone interested in reading, thinking and making (with) books. A simple python function called Book Generator runs on a Raspberry Pi that is connected to a receipt printer. Based on definitions, thoughts and quotes that have been collected over years, the function generates new interpretations and contributes to the ongoing attempt of trying to delineate the nature of books. Whenever the button is pushed, a new definition for the book is being generated and printed, offering new, at times unusual perspectives to scientific discourse as well as artistic and design practice.
Thinking with the Book was presented at Happy to present to you … Publishing Ink at spce Gallery (Kiel, 2022).
Title: Thinking with the Book / Exhibition: Happy to present to you … Publishing Ink / Location: spce Gallery, Kiel / Year: 2022 / Material: 368 receipts, thermal printer, Raspberry Pi
Summer School 2021 — Future Record (2021)
The Summer School is a yearly workshop format for typography and book design students, curated and hosted by ohjian. In 2021 the six-day visual research was exploring the paradox of FUTURE RECORD. In experimental material and form studies a variety of future artifacts emerged, intricate particles, iridescently shimmering in between the no-more and the not yet. These traces of possible futures and pasts were recorded in a collective publication, offering multi-perspective views on imaginary scenarios.
Title: Summer School 2021 — Future Record / Concept: Jian Haake (ohjian) / Participants: Andrea Kahlke, Angelina Simon, Anja Germanova, Ann-Sophie Kettlitz, Lina Jeppener, Lisa Semrau, Louise Preuß, Merle König, Pauline Heppeler, Safeya Fawzy, Stefanie Henningsen, Svea Schröder / Special guest: Nele Kieseritzky / Photo credit: Louise Preuß / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2021 / Material: 21 x 29,7 cm, 196 pages, softcover
Anna Schapiro: In Difference Without Fear (2021)
In Difference Without Fear (Ohne Angst Verschieden) is a poster series by the artist Anna Schapiro, designed by Jian Haake (ohjian). Displayed in the town hall of Offenbach as representative for all town halls over Germany, the posters pose an urging question to citizens as well as to authorities: What should this city do so that you can live in difference without fear?
Title: In Difference Without Fear (Ohne Angst Verschieden) / Artist: Anna Schapiro / Design: Jian Haake (ohjian) / Location: Rathaus der Stadt Offenbach am Main / Year: 2021 / Material: 7 posters, 59,4 x 84,1 cm
Summer School 2020 — Lovebrut (2020)
The Summer School is a yearly workshop format for typography and book design students, curated and hosted by ohjian. In 2020 the one-week visual research was inspired by the concept of LOVEBRUT, exploring the aesthetics, poetics and contradictions of this fictitious term. In the exceptional circumstances of 2020 the workshop took place online. All participants received a physical toolkit via mail that created a tangible connection and sense of community. Working from home while connecting and collaborating online led to a new experience of collective publishing. The diverse visual outcome resulted in an online publication.
Title: Summer School 2020 — Lovebrut / Concept: Jian Haake (ohjian) / Participants: André Finster, Anika Mohr, Anja Germanova, Anna Kaune, Debora Bialowons, Helen Ziemer, Jonas Fischer, Leo Sell, Lina Jeppener, Louise Preuss, Paula Timm, Stefanie Etzel / Special guest: Philipp Neumeyer / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2020 / Material: website, 156 files
The Mistake of this Book is to be a Book (2020)
»Der Fehler dieses Buches ist, ein Buch zu sein. Daß es Einband hat, Rücken, Paginierung. Man sollte zwischen Glasplatten ein paar Seiten davon ausbreiten u. sie von Zeit zu Zeit wechseln. Dann würde man sehen, was es ist.«
“The mistake of this book is to be a book. That it has a cover, a spine, pagination. One should take a few pages and spread them between sheets of glass, exchanging them from time to time. So one would see what it is.”
(Robert Musil)
The exhibition The Mistake of this Book is to be a Book presents the outcome of a two-year research concerned with the literary remains of the author Robert Musil. The experimental book concept includes various printed matter spread on a horizontal display, and expands to the windows, using them as three dimensional extension of the surface. This new edition of The Man Without Qualities comprises many interconnected parts and becomes readable only by propagation in space.
The work circles around pending questions: What impact does book design have on the reception and experience of written text? How to re-imagine a book in order to do justice to the diverse and entangled nature of multi-layered material? Could space, and intermediate spaces, help to broaden the understanding of what a book is, opening up spaces of possibilities?
Exhibition: The Mistake of this Book is to be a Book (Der Fehler dieses Buches ist, ein Buch zu sein) / Context: Muthesius Projekt, Research Grant 2018 – 2020 / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule / Year: 2020 / Material: table with printed matter, window illustrations
The Man Without Qualities, An Experiment (2017 – 2020)
With his project »The Man Without Qualities« Musil initially aimed for a two-part novel. Whereas the first part was published in 1930, the second part was never completed and ultimately remained a fragment. Over the years Musil discovered the sheer infinite possibilities of how to finish the novel. His excessive writing process resulted in numerous varying drafts for the missing ending, equally existing in his archive and spanning a non-hierarchical and network-like structure of text and hypertext. The author´s estate comprises around 12,000 pages, including numerous chapters, drafts, notes and annotations as well as essays, diary entries, lists and correspondences.
This experimental book edition, which takes into account the findings of literary studies and philology, was realized as part of a two-year scholarship. An extensive network of various interconnected printed matter, including books, folders, leporellos and loose-leaf collections, questions the limitations of the term book and suggests a more open, fluid, and spatial approach to book design. The book edition evolved into an exhibition, considering the exhibition display, the space and interspaces as well as the body experiencing the text as integral parts of the experimental publication.
Title: The Man Without Qualities, An Experiment / Context: Muthesius Projekt, Research Grant 2018 – 2020 / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2017 – 2020 / Material: 7 books, 9 booklets, 1 folder, 1 atlas, 5 small books, 1 loose-leaf collection, 1 leaflet, 1 leporello
Summer School 2019 — Urban Jungle (2019)
The Summer School is a workshop format for typography and book design students, curated and hosted by ohjian. In 2019 the two-week program took place under the motto URBAN JUNGLE. Through collaborative work sessions, field trips and extensive visual research the students were exploring the nooks and crevices of a bewilderingly complex and brutally competitive urban environment. The workshop resulted in a custom font, a poster series and a printed publication, documenting fragility and savageness.
The results of the workshop were presented at Urban Jungle — Poster Exhibition Summerschool 2019 (Kiel, 2019).
Title: Summer School 2019 — Urban Jungle / Concept: Jian Haake (ohjian) / Participants: Anastasia Marx, André Finster, Anika Mohr, Ann-Sophie Kettlitz, Birte Reimers, Charlotte Köhncke, Christine Salmen, Helen Ziemer, Joana Moldenhauer, Kaspar Pansegrau, Kristina Hilse, Louisa Kirchner, Paula Timm, Tim Stülten / Co-host: Tobias Herber / Special guest: Nina Massow / Custom font: Anastasia Marx, Kristina Hilse / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2019 / Material: 70 posters, 59,4 x 84,1 cm; publication, 21 x 27,5 cm, 246 pages, softcover; 1 custom font
Pathosformel (2019)
Poster design for the lecture Zwischen Traum und Tanz, zwischen Affekt und Geschichte. Aby Warburgs Ausfaltung der Pathosformel by Dr. Bauerle-Willert on Aby Warburg's pathos formula.
Title: Pathosformel / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2019 / Material: poster, 42 x 59,4 cm
Robert Musil's sense of possibilities in “The Man Without Qualities” (2018)
In his novel The Man Without Qualities Robert Musil cultivates the concept of sense of possibilities as opposed to sense of reality. This imaginative and playful approach is manifested in the progression of the plot, but also in style of writing and the overall structure of the novel. Finally, the increasingly fragmented text is only published in parts and remains unfinished.
Robert Musil's sense of possibilities in “The Man Without Qualities”, as presented in the exhibition Muthesius Preis 2018 at Kunsthalle Kiel, is an attempt to recover the unpublished sections and optional endings of the novel and bring them together in an experimental book edition.
Title: Robert Musil's sense of possibilities in “The Man Without Qualities” / Exhibition: Muthesius Preis 2018 / Location: Kunsthalle Kiel / Year: 2018 / Material: table with printed matter, chalkboard illustration
Artist Books #17—32 (2017)
This poster series announces the book launch and presentation of several artist books. 16 unique prints, one for each publication, emphasize the diversity and complexity of the experimental objects. Black and white copies of each artist book provide a fleeting glimpse of interesting detail in original size and invite the visitors to think about the book as a medium and artwork.
Title: Artist Books #17—32 / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2017 / Material: 16 posters, 50 x 70 cm
Steppenwolf (2016)
The novel Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse is named after the protagonist Harry Haller, who is a middle-aged misanthrope split between a civilized life and his wolf-like character traits. Entangled in an irresolvable struggle of fighting society and fighting himself, the Steppenwolf´s desperation and dark thoughts lead to mysterious and almost dreamlike encounters.
This atmosphere is reflected in demonic imagery, stark typographic details and the unprotected book block, loosely framed by a raw cover. Steppenwolf contains three levels of text: a foreword, the main story and a book-in-the-book. Each part has its own characteristics in language, layout, typography and paper. Selected poems by the author, printed on soft pink paper, are attached to the novel.
Title: Steppenwolf / Location: Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel / Year: 2016 / Material: 18,5 x 23,8 cm, 260 pages, hardcover
info
ohjian is the plural-creative practice of Jian Haake (she/her), currently operating in Rotterdam. Jian Haake is a graphic designer, workshop facilitator and experimental maker. In 2017 she graduated from, and continued teaching at the communication design department at Muthesius Kunsthochschule (Kiel). Coming from a background in book making and printed matter, her practice is strongly influenced by this perspective, while shifting towards a more hybrid and open understanding of publishing. She graduated from a second Master course in Experimental Publishing at Piet Zwart Institute (2023) and is founding member of the Rotterdam based Blob Shop Collective. In her independent and collaborative work, as well as in her workshops and summer schools, Jian Haake establishes a making practice that cultivates frameworks as well as happy accidents.
→ ohjian is currently open for collaborations, workshops and inquiries
publications
| 2023 | Modular Matter — A Situated and Annotated Manual by ohjian | |
| 2023 | Modular Matter — DIY Kit by ohjian | |
| 2023 | Making Things Bubblic Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2022 | Ghost Files Kit by ohjian | |
| 2022 | Take away Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2022 | Black Mountain College as Multiverse Petra Maria Meyer & Arnold Dreyblatt Verlag Kettler, Bönen book concept & design by ohjian ISBN: 978-3-86206-983-5 | |
| 2022 | Summer School 2022 — Ghost Files ohjian x Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel book concept by ohjian | |
| 2022 | Special Issue #18 — Radio Implicancies Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2022 | unPublic #81: X-unPub La Générale Nord-Est, Paris XIV, France by Har$, Kam Seng Aung and Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2022 | Special Issue #17 — This box found you for a reason Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2021 | Special Issue #16 — Learning How to Walk While Catwalking Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2021 | Summer School 2021 — Future Record ohjian x Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel book concept by ohjian | |
| 2020 | Summer School 2020 — Lovebrut ohjian x Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel book concept by ohjian | |
| 2019 | Summer School 2019 — Urban Jungle ohjian x Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel book concept by ohjian | |
| 2018 | Fanzine 1—12 ohjian x Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel book concept by ohjian and Tobias Herber | |
| 2016 | Nichts — Eine Ausstellung der Malereiklasse Antje Majewski Raum der Publikation, Kiel book concept and design by ohjian and Evelyn Solinski ISBN: 978-3-943763-46-1 | |
| 2015 | Jimocracy — A Biography about Jimok Choi Jimok Choi, Simon Reich Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel book concept and design by ohjian and Nadja Haase ISBN: 978-3-943763-43-0 |
tools
| 2023 | Modular Matter — Rewire Your Prints! | |
| 2023 | Drawing Robots — Make (with) your own tools! | |
| 2021 | Book Generator | |
| 2021 | Cocktail Generator |
teaching
| 2017 – 2022 | Textgestaltung Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel | |
| Bibliothek der möglichen Bücher Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel | ||
| Raum für Publikationen Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel |
workshops
| 2022 | Summer School 2022 — Ghost Files Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel by ohjian, feat. Supisara Burapachaisri | |
| 2021 | Summer School 2021 — Future Record Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel by ohjian, feat. Nele Kieseritzky | |
| 2020 | Summer School 2020 — Lovebrut Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel by ohjian, feat. Philipp Neumeyer | |
| 2019 | Summer School 2019 — Urban Jungle Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel by ohjian /w Tobias Herber, feat. Nina Massow | |
| 2018 | Fanzine Workshop Communication Design M.A. — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel by ohjian and Tobias Herber |
talks
| 2023 | Zine Camp 2023 — Binding Voices Panel hosted by Lu Lin (Not Just a Collective) and Elisa Piazzi (Pangaea) WORM, Rotterdam |
exhibitions
| 2023 | Re-coding Everyday Technology LUX Pavillion Mainz Working group for unusual input and output media Hochschule Mainz, University of Applied Science and NODE Forum for Digital Arts | |
| 2023 | Making Things Bubblic: Experimental Publishing (XPUB) Graduation Show 2023 Slash Gallery, WORM, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2023 | It broke, but it’s okay, we still have the pieces curated by Anna de Vriend Extrapool, Nijmegen Drawing Robots by ohjian | |
| 2022 | Happy to present to you … Publishing Ink curated by Sven Christian Schuch spce Gallery, Kiel Thinking with the Book by ohjian | |
| 2022 | Special Issue #17 — This box found you for a reason Page Not Found, Den Haag by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2021 | Special Issue #16 — Learning How to Walk While Catwalking Varia, Rotterdam by Blob Shop Collective | |
| 2020 | The Mistake of this Book is to be a Book Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel by ohjian | |
| 2019 | Urban Jungle — Poster Exhibition Summerschool 2019 Flämische Straße 6 – 10, Kiel curated by ohjian | |
| 2018 | Robert Musil und der Möglichkeitssinn — Ein buchgestalterisches Experiment Raum für Kunst, Kunstquartier, Salzburg by ohjian | |
| 2018 | Muthesiuspreis 2018 Kunsthalle Kiel Robert Musil's sense of possibilities in The Man Without Qualities by ohjian | |
| 2017 | Artist Books #17—32 Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel curated by ohjian and Merle Michaelis | |
| 2016 | Jimocracy — A Biography about Jimok Choi Raum der Publikation, Kiel by ohjian and Nadja Haase | |
| 2015 | Performing the Black Mountain Archive by Arnold Dreyblatt in Black Mountain: An Interdisciplinary Experiment, 1933 – 1957 Hamburger Bahnhof, Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Berlin performing the archive /w ohjian, Tobias Herber, Evelyn Solinski and David Beyer |
residencies
| 2022 | Radio Implicancies: Methods To Practice Interdependencies La Générale Nord-Est, Paris XIV, France Blob Shop Collective |
features
| 2023 | Re-coding Everyday Technology Working group for unusual input and output media Hochschule Mainz, University of Applied Science and NODE Forum for Digital Arts | |
| 2023 | Bibliothek der möglichen Bücher Band 2 Annette le Fort, André Heers Verlag für moderne Kunst, Wien | |
| 2019 | Bibliothek der möglichen Bücher Band 1 Annette le Fort, André Heers Verlag für moderne Kunst, Wien | |
| 2017 – 2023 | Einblick / Ausblick Catalogue Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design |
prizes and scholarships
| 2018 – 2020 | Muthesius-Projekt Research scholarship Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel | |
| 2018 | Muthesiuspreis 2018 Muthesius Gesellschaft e.V. |
studies
| 2023 | MA in Fine Arts and Design: Experimental Publishing (XPUB) Piet Zwart Institute Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam | |
| 2017 | MA in Communication Design — Typography and Book Design Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Kiel | |
| 2014 | BA in Communication Design — Typography and Book Design |
