The Hybrid Publishing Research Awards series showcases the work of recipients of the Willem de Kooning Research Award from 2015 to 2020. Established by the Willem de Kooning Foundation, the Research Awards are granted to outstanding graduation projects that provide new insights to broader audiences through their research. All publications in this series are archived online in a sustainable way and can be found here. All physical publications are available for sale via the webshop of Underbelly.
The series includes:
- Adobefashion by Rosalie van Pinxteren, 2021
- Wells of Knowledge: Poetry, Music and Resistance in Turkey by Merve Kılıçer, 2021
- Author by Amy Pickles, 2020
- GHAR by Nienke Galjaard, 2019
- She Knows How She Might Behave by Tracy Hanna, 2018
- Supertoys Supertoys by Merle Flügge, 2018
- Blindly Organised by Sophie Dirven, 2018
- Recrafting Craft: A Synergy of Crafts within Fashion Design Education at Art Schools in the Netherlands by Mascha Van Zijverden, 2018
- Crangon Crangon by Jade Ruijzenaars, 2017
- Living Light by Ermi van Oers, 2017
- Meat Market by Daisy Thijssen, 2017
- Retour Afzender (Return to Sender) by Lou Muuse, 2016
- Form Follows Organism by Emma van der Leest, 2016
If you are interested in purchasing a particular publication, and they are for sale, you can click the link in the list above and you are redirected to the webshop of Underbelly.
Adobefashion: on the reality of the real in the representation of fashion by Rosalie van Pinxteren, 2021
A striking contradiction dominates the current digital fashion landscape: distorted, manipulated images exist alongside ‘real’ photos meant to show commonness and spontaneity. These two opposing aesthetics, of the real and artificial, seem to depend on each other to represent today’s reality. I don’t think there is one, singular, answer to what reality is. Neither do I believe that it is possible to embody “reality” in any specific form since, just like authenticity, “reality” is an immaterial idea.
With this work, I want to make people rethink the relationship between digital imagery and our physical world, while emphasizing the fluid definition of today’s fashion design. In this book, I have collected a series of case studies – experimental probes of the contradictions and paradoxes of the representation of fashion within internet culture. By using fashion as the primary medium, these images also serve to confront people with their distorted, or paradoxical, perception of our world.
The physical publication “Look 5, the bag” is available for sale via the webshop of Underbelly
“Look 5, the bag” is a limited series of unique handbags. Visitors of the website which holds Rosalie’s thesis were asked to read and contribute to the project by manipulating and changing the ‘looks’ that articulate her argument. The archived images were used to produce “Look 5, the handbag”. This design process connects to the fluid relationship between digital imagery and our physical world.
Wells of Knowledge: Poetry, Music and Resistance in Turkey by Merve Kılıçer, 2021
Wells of Knowledge by Merve Kiliçer focuses on the transfer of knowledge through cultural production in the oral folkloric traditions of Anatolia. It consists of a poster-zine and online platform. The research was initiated to reflect on the Gezi Park Occupation (Istanbul, 2013) and tries to find the connecting points in history of politics through cultural production. By narrating the history of a specific geography, it invites the reader to question the influence of cultural heritage in the formation of one’s perception towards the world and ‘other’ people they share it with.
The physical publication is available for sale via the webshop of Underbelly
The printed publication is a large A2 poster which folds back into a booklet. It hosts both the text of the essay 'Wells of Knowledge' as well as a selection of images and illustrations that provide a strong visual impact to accompany it. The publishing form refers to the self-made brochures in small formats with few pages and posters that are often time used in demonstrations and other gatherings. It represents the personal point of view of Kılıçer and is a manifestation of one of the narratives and interpretations that the rich material that is housed on the accompanying website can have.
author by Amy Pickles, 2020
author is an online library with an inserted essay. It contains references and documentation from roughly one year of experiments in art and education. Our library's collection of digital matter is classified as debris resulting from moments of choreographed, collective working. The library was introduced through a radio broadcast that thinks through what a learning environment is, a consideration that has grown from a failed part of *author*, to make a physical studio space inside the building of the Willem de Kooning Academy.
GHAR by Nienke Galjaard, 2019
In GHAR a bar of Aleppo soap is turned into a medium by pressing a quote into it from memories by Syrian refugees. The soap connects to centuries of craft and was widely used throughout Syria. Its smell vividly evokes memories in many Syrians forced to flee their country. Through the quote - which will slowly disappear through usage, and a link to the web-app, where you can hear more about the memories of three refugees - GHAR embodies their cultural history and introduces you to their stories.
The physical publication is available for sale via the webshop of Underbelly
She Knows How She Might Behave by Tracy Hanna, 2018
The effect cars have on our subconscious can't be measured easily. It can be suggested through poetry in ways. We weave together a society that fails, constantly. Our awareness and disassociation. This association has led us to lead more complicated mesh in our time. In bold, old and gold ways we learn how to be a bit better. We live with each other. Sometimes we don't like each other. Sometimes we do. And cars have a lasting effect on our economy so we respect them.
She Knows How She Might Behave is an expanded work of poetry based on personal and imagined experience that merges painting, sound, music and words written, spoken and sung. The work is published as a vinyl + insert and can be experienced on an accompanying website which hosts the drawings, songs and poems.
The vinyl + insert is available for sale via the webshop of Underbelly
Supertoys Supertoys, Objects of the Imaginary by Merle Flügge, 2018
"This is an experiment between a website and a book. Please take part. The book wanted to be a website but didn’t succeed yet. Somehow it’s caught in the middle. It’s still learning. Squeeze the book and see how the website reacts. When we showed the book to the website we discovered three emotions so far: happiness, calmness and sadness."
This is a book that is not a book.
It is just an object trying to escape a world full of objects,
maybe becoming alive in a world full of life.
It is a learning book.
Not an educational one,
not for you to learn anything from it,
but to learn itself.
Nobody knows why it wants to learn,
but why should we?
It didn’t ask us to be published either.
We put my name on it and you can squeeze it,
not functional at all.
Actually, it wanted to be a website,
it didn’t succeed
…yet.
The physical publication is available for sale via the webshop of Underbelly
Blindly Organised by Sophie Dirven, 2018
How can the knowledge developed by blind and visually impaired people be applied to a broader public?
As a social (open) lifestyler, I make extensive use of the users as designers method. This means that my focus is always on the users of a product. Involving users in the design process allows for an optimally functioning final result that perfectly addresses the needs of the target group.
Blind people can help other people find structure and focus in the chaos of contemporary society. We can all learn something from Julia, a visually impaired 80-year old woman who has developed her own system of organisation? Julia organises the contents of her handbag using various smaller bags of different colours, shapes and textures.
With this research, I hope to encourage and inspire other designers to apply the knowledge and the systems developed by blind and visually impaired people and to make these available to others.
The physical publication is available for sale via the webshop of Underbelly
The publication is a poster that is folded into a paper folder which contains booklets in various sizes. It holds the detailed documentation of Dirven’s very thoughtful and elaborate research project. It can also be regarded as a prototype for the JULIA bag, named after Julia, one of Sophie’s co-designers. The accompanying website is specifically designed with people with impaired eyesight in mind and offers them the opportunity to listen to Dirven's story.
Recrafting Craft, An Exploration of Speculative Scenarios for Tomorrow’s Fashion Education by Mascha van Zijverden, 2018
This publication is the sequel to the research Recrafting Craft, a Synergy of Crafts within Fashion Design Education at Art Schools in the Netherlands (2016), which analysed the gap between the current fashion industry and higher education in the field of fashion. In addition to that study, a series of speculative scenarios for tomorrow’s fashion education were developed, which are an invitation to reflect upon the implementation of new digital crafts in fashion workshops and in the related curricula. These rudimentary scenarios provide a foundation for developing alternatives outside of art schools in order to bring about real sustainable innovation within today’s fashion education.
To check out the electronic companion of this publication please visit: recraftingcraft.wdka.nl
This physical component of this project consists of two reflective texts, six scenario drawings with explanation and a preface. Mascha’s introductory text is placed on the wrapper which folds around 7 loose sheets of newsprint paper. The design is an evolved reaction to the first part of Recrafting Craft with a hint of activism and mapping. The transparency of the paper encourages you to unfold and discover all the different cartographies. The accompanying website allows the reader to navigate the texts based on key-words and zoom into the images and experience its detailes up close.
Crangon Crangon by Jade Ruijzenaars, 2017
Most of the shrimp consumed in the Netherlands is caught in the North Sea, transported to Morocco for peeling, and then shipped back again to Europe. A shrimp consists for 60% to 70% of its shell, which is not suitable for consumption. The opening of a large mechanised peeling centre in the Netherlands has led to increased visibility of the problem of waste. This production system and resulting waste are invisible to consumers. Jade Ruijzenaars explored this issue, and experimented with a new application for shrimp shells in ceramic glazing in order to tell the story of this industry.
The physical publication is available for sale via the webshop of Underbelly
The publication is divided in two parts, the text is accompanied by photographs of Jade’s ceramic research. The second part consists of illustrations and schematics. The clean, typographic approach gives space for the aesthetic qualities of her practical research. The different covers emphasize the uniqueness of each ceramic experiment.
Living Light by Ermi van Oers, 2017
Climate change and the increasing scarcity of raw materials have led to an urgent need for finding alternative systems that redefine our relationship with nature. Biodesign is an emergent field that may offer innovative solutions in this regard. Living Energy is an initiative that envisions a world in which plants take part in our energy system. One of its first projects, Living Light, is a lamp that harvests energy through photosynthesis. It is a cross-pollination of nature, science and design. Living Light shows the beautiful and poetic side of ‘living energy’ and forges new connections between humans, nature and technology.
The physical publication is available for sale via the webshop of Underbelly
The idea of the printed version was to give it a warm and natural appearance. The story of the Living Light is told trough Ermi’s text and many photographs. The quotes in the booklet give an insight in Ermi’s thoughts and motivation. The included schematics make this publication also interesting for readers curious of the technical aspects of the project.
Meat Market by Daisy Thijssen, 2017
Meat Market aims to raise awareness of meat that was not obtained from conventionally slaughtered animals. By turning animals into unrecognisable products, we strip away the layer of cultured nostalgia we project on them. At the same time, we go on wasting meat from healthy and consumable animals because we deem it socially unacceptable. Meat Market addresses the following questions: ‘Why does an average Dutch dinner have to contain meat?’, ‘Where does this desire for meat and its overconsumption come from?’, and ‘Why do we eagerly consume pigs and cows, but balk at the idea of consuming veal or horse?’
The physical publication is available for sale via the webshop of Underbelly
Designed as a commercial leaflet, the publication presents all the numbers and facts of Daisy’s research alongside stock images, thus mimicking the way meat is presented to us. Just as the research, this publication is meant to be read in no particular order.
Retour Afzender (Return to Sender) by Lou Muuse, 2016
We all know about asylum seekers but where do they stay?
Lou Muuse began Retour Afzender as a photojournalist project. After registering as a volunteer worker for Dutch asylum centers, she was able to enter a parallel universe that is normally hidden to the public, even to news media. She ended up not simply taking pictures, but researching the system of Dutch asylum procedures, documenting its single steps through images and text on a website. The conclusion was simple: that these procedures serve the purpose of getting refugees out of the country again. With the escalation of the so-called "refugee crisis" in 2015/16, with mostly Syrian war refugees fleeing to European Union countries, Lou Muuse's research gained an urgency that she herself might not have anticipated. It is a form of research where visuals are neither simply illustrations nor visualizations of textual data, but where photographic images are the medium of critical investigation.
Since asylum and refugee politics are changing every day, keeping an investigative website up-to-date is difficult enough. One could argue that a book publication of the project is even paradoxical for such a mutable subject. But this is even one more reason for the hybrid publication of Lou Muuse's visual research, online and in print. The stable medium of print serves as a long-term archive where the medium of the website will be unstable and impermanent by its technical nature.
View Lou's graduation project on this site. [URL aanpassen naar: http://www.retourafzender.eu/]
The physical publication is available for sale via the webshop of Underbelly
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‘Form Follows Organism: The biological computer’ by Emma van der Leest, 2016
A book about biodesign and the shifting role of the (product) designer.
Biodesign is based on the principles of bio fabrication, an emerging field of regenerative medicine technologies. Biodesign incorporates living organisms (e.g. bacteria, fungi, algae or cells) in the design process. By discovering materials and processes that nature has designed but hasn’t patented, we can search for new grown materials that are completely compostable and that minimise the usage of hazardous resources which can cause damage to our ecosystem.
‘Form Follows Organism’ is about the application of design knowledge to consumer products and design methodologies. The research questions investigated are: ‘how can we control the process of growing materials or products?’ and: ‘how can we design new tools and algorithms that unlock the power of living cells?’
For an even more profound experience, you can read a digital version of this publication next to the printed version. It enables a whole new way of navigating by selecting words that occur in both the 'research' and ‘lab journal’ part of the publication. It becomes a non-linear publication with no specific ending. By reading them both you will make new associations and discoveries about the publications you would not have made by choosing one.
Download the ePub here. Please note it is ePub3. In case your device cannot render ePub3 you can convert it to ePub2 using the Open Source program Calibre.
The physical publication is available for sale via the webshop of Underbelly
