We have a beautiful mixtape for you guys, put together by our dear friend of Glue Kids with some of his favourite records and pedals. Actually, it’s not really a mixtape, but a deep journey of sorts in all of its lo-fi glory. So… Bon Voyage! Glue Kids at Galleta Records
The Mixtape was hosted by RQM and the cover Artwork is handdrawn by 44flavours.

Our friend Georg Barber (aka ATAK) invited us up to Burg, in Halle, to give a workshop to his illustration class. This was our second time there, and as always we prepared something in line with George’s annual curriculum. This year he came up with »Krieg & Frieden«  – a very sensitive and relevant topic. So instead of building a large scale installation, which is what we did last time, we decided to make very delicate, small sculptures out of found objects. We started the workshop off with a debate on the different type of creative processes and then asked the students to explore the variety of possible material combinations. It was an intense 2-day long affair, with very inspiring results regarding the idea of the preset notions of aesthetics, various creative processes and research into working materials.

As a part of UFAM (Urban Fine Art Meeting Ruhr 2016), we were invited to Hamm Westfalen, to paint a mural with our friend and artist in arms, Johannes Mundinger. We stared out with a simple sketch and a basic composition and let the actual process lead us to the final result. The work is a visual dialogue between us and Johannes, a back and forth – and we only stopped when we all thought that the piece was complete. The color scheme and all the shapes featured in the painting were taken from the actual surrounding. We decided to utilize a mixture of an architectural approach, a play on perspective, the use of playful overlays and to strongly emphasize the color scheme and the contrast.

We are very psyched to announce that we are now officially a part of the amazing Un Sedicesimo publication series, put out by the prestigious Italian publishing house Corraini Edizioni. Back in October, to celebrate the release of the publication, we were invited to exhibit in the beautiful RAUM Italic (SPAZIO Corsivo). The edition was carefully designed by our talented friends Tim+Tim . The exhibit featured a small selection of original works on paper.

We were invited to take part in a week-long series of workshops called ten to six, that took place at the Unsiversity of Applied Sciences Bielefeld.

 We held a workshop entitled »NOTABLE, NO TABLE, NOT ABLE«.
The goal was to conduct a group experiment and to come up with an idea for an installation together, which would then be built in the “sculpture garden” located on campus.
 We wanted to use this approach to find answers to questions such as: how would you approach a group effort and collaborative work, if there was no final and functional purpose for the end result?
 A very important part of this research was exploring other artistic positions and being confronted by them. It was important to us to show that there are countless possibilities of dealing with the idea of personal work and numerous ways of intuitively harnessing the artistic process. It is, however, necessary to engage with the group dynamics, and to utilize team work ethics and to complement one another to, ultimately, arrive at a common destination. 


As a part of our annual ritual, Fabien and I painted this wall, once again. This was our third session together, and this is the third year since Fabien moved into his new house. I’m pretty sure that we’ll continue with this project and that eventually we’ll have concluded a beautiful series of paintings. I’m curious how many layers of paint we can still actually lay down on this wall? And btw., this year’s painting is by far my favorite to date! You can check how it all started here.

The kind people at the Summer At The Top Festival 2016 and the Faqra Club had asked us to hold a kid’s workshop. The event was organized by Matisse Events Beirut, and it took place in the mountains of Lebanon.

To this day, we have fond memories of the 2015 edition of the Sacred Ground Festival, so naturally, it was great to be able to participate again.
We thought that our paintings at the last edition were somehow lost in the mix of things, so this time we decided to go for large scale canvases. The final pieces were formed into pyramids and installed at different locations at the festival. Here is a documentation of the fruits of an intense studio session and our experiments with abstract forms. For some reason, these forms make us think of an imaginary form of sacred iconography.

In close collaboration with the London based creative agency Amplify we created and produced an interactive exhibition, which was the centerpiece of the Airbnb #LiveThere Haus project, here in Berlin.

We came up with the concept and also handled most of the production. The result was a very dense, claustrophobic, cardboard city-scape maze emulating Berlin landmarks, which led to a cozy, modern apartment, equipped with interactive furniture that, not only recorded stories, but could also play them back.

44flavours and Jan Brokof present: a “jungle” installation entitled TOPIC TROPIC in collaboration with:

Ana Lessing Menjibar
Andrea Sunder-Plassmann
Andreas Hildebrandt
Anne Neukamp
ATAK (Georg Barber)
Lenia Hauser
Martin Assig
Max Frisinger
Peter K. Koch
Rory Laycock

Sound: DE KJ

Music:
Shania Twins live
DJ Obstsalat
Pira Lemu

We wanted to thank our friends: Antonio Milanese at Klssx and the guys at FPS Films. They invited us to take part in their series of artist portraits entitled Impuls.
We had two sessions together: one in Bielefeld and one in Berlin. The final result is a beautiful movie about us and our work.
We also wanted to thank our friend Robot Koch for allowing us to use one of our favourite tracks for this short film, which now called ”Hard to find”.
Finally, big thanks go out to Montana Cans , for all of their great support over the last few years!

Our friends at It’s Nice That invited us to be part of the annual symposium Here London.

Quoted from It’s Nice That:
»Throughout our annual creative conference, Here London, 44flavours was hard at work creating ten new works relating to each of the presentations. Created in partnership with our event partner WeTransfer, Berlin-based Sebastian Bagge and Julio Rölle toiled throughout the day to create a bespoke poster that depicted the best quotes from our speakers. “We tried to prepare forms for the background first, and once the quotes came in, we tried to find a good combination of composition, colours and type-drawing that would fit well to the words,” say the designers. “The longer the quote was, the more complicated it was to find an eye-catching composition.”
Each of the posters was given away to a lucky delegate who snapped their favourite on the stand and posted it on Instagram. The typographic creations are full of character and colour, and were scanned on the day. “We are more than happy with the outcome,” say Sebastian and Julio. “We loved the beauty in the meaningful words of the speakers and we really appreciated being allowed to play with them. Our favourite is Give sculpture a hug by Bob and Roberta Smith because we also build installations and sculptures and really think the image of hugging them like a tree is hilarious.”«
Words by It’s Nice That, Tuesday 14 June 2016

The 44flavours stand at Here London was produced in partnership with WeTransfer.

The first Atelier Session took place in our old studio at Ritterstaße, in Kreuzberg, in May 2016. We invited Graciela María and Clemens Behr to present their work. They prepared a presentation entitled »BROKEN IN THE FUTURE, PAST & PRESENT«. The session was moderated by Atilano González, who supported the idea of the Atelier Sessions from the very beginning.
 After this “test run session” we moved to our new studio. A part of our new working space was designed to accommodate events and exhibitions. The new space is called Raum Vollreinigung, and we will hold the next edition of our Atelier Sessions here, sometime in 2017.

»TRADE – OFF« was the official title of our exhibition at Haus Wellensiek in Bielefeld. The exhibit started in May 2016 and ran until November. We were showing selected works from two different series of canvas paintings, as well as airbrushed wood prints (on paper), which we created last year. The works represent the »trade-off« i.e. the exchange of ideas as a process, which is something typical for our work.


In may 2016, as the first batch of sunlight descended on Berlin, we got offered to paint Levin’s Mini Cooper. Levin is a product designer and developer of “smart solutions.”
We’ve been working closely together in the past on a couple of different projects for different clients (Redbull was one of them). Levin also supported a few of our exhibitions, like our first museum show in Stade, where we exhibited our work alongside ATAK.

 For his costumized car design, we sat down together and worked on a nice color combination. Then, on one sunny afternoon, we painted the piece together with Levin and our friend Alex.

The idea for the design came from a spontaneous sketch made at Levin’s place. We painted the car with Montana Acrylic paint paint, and the final piece got a nice, clean, glossy varnish from a professional “varnisher.” The photos seen here were taken in the backyard of our studio, when Levin swung by for a quick visit. Apparently, he’s getting some serious props for the design, every time he stops at a traffic light.

We have been teaching for the Multi Media Art Department, at the University of Applied Sciences in Salzubrg, for 6 years now. Every year challenge our students, and ourselves as well, to come up with novel solutions and arrive at innovative results.
In may 2016, we came up with the idea of creating “chain reactions” with sculptures and installations, and to emphasize sustainability.
Here are some examples of a really productive week with our students.

We teamed up with our Scottish friends – artists: Rory Laycock, Amy Whiten and Ali Wyllie of Glasgow’s Recoat Urban Arts Agency – and together we created a large-scale mural around the idea of “flags for a world without any borders.” The painting is located on the side of a five-story building, right next to our new studio  (Kurfürstenstraβe 15/16). It can be accessed from the backyard. It was a great week filled with so many beautiful moments, nurturing discussions, intense exchanges of ideas, plus a wonderful bbq, a thick party and of course lots of painting.
The exchange was supported by the Spring Fling Rural Mural (SFRM)) project, which was organized by the Upland Arts Agency, located in the Scottish region of Dumfries and Galloway. The project was a part of Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design. The central theme in 2016 was the idea exchange. Artists from different cities and countries were brought together for all types of collaborations.
We decided to dedicate this painting to Mathias Kühnel, the house owner, who was not only kind enough to let us use the wall, but even organized the scaffolding for us. He passed away a couple of months after we finished the wall. Rest in Peace Mathias.

The Scandinavian company Feathr commissioned us to design a wallpaper for their special collection series.
We created a very bold, contemporary, hand-drawn design – strongly influenced by the art of cartography. We settled on a rough pastel and a vintage wallpaper look. We emphasized a “hand-made style” and settled on a repeat pattern which made the whole thing look mildly psychedelic.
You can order it here!

In March of 2016, we were invited to Scotland for a really inspiring “artists in residency” project. We were assigned to work with a young and upcoming local artist ,Rory Laycock. Needless to say, in a matter of days, we became friends! Together with Rory, we painted the back wall of an animal farm. After some research on “form”, we combined our favorite colors to create a well rounded scale, which were going to use. The painting consists of abstract shapes that create a beautiful contrast to the very rural area that surrounds the farmhouse.
During our stay, we also managed to build an installation on a field next to the farm. The piece was inspired by the “dookits” (pigeon lofts), which we saw back in Glasgow. The installation, quite literally, stands in the middle of nowhere, which really makes it stand out like our wall. From one particular angle you can see both the wall and the installation simultaneously, and the connection between them becomes apparent.  

Here are is the info about the project in its entirety, as compiled by the organizers:

Spring Fling Rural Mural created large-scale works of public art in the heart of the Dumfries and Galloway countryside – but that was just phase 1.
The project brought together national and international artists, teaming them up with artists based in the region and property owners who were happy to have their buildings used as a blank canvas for bright, bold new works.
It was organised by Upland the Dumfries and Galloway arts agency that runs Spring Fling, and it was project managed by our friends at Recoat. The project was supported by EventScotland, a team within VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, and by Creative Scotland.
The murals were a centerpiece for Spring Fling, Scotland’s premier contemporary visual art and craft open studios event, which brought thousands of visitors to the region in May 2016. SFRM was also part of the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design.

About the Dumfries and Galloway artists:

Morag Paterson is a renowned photographer (currently preparing for an exhibition in Australia) with an increasing interest in other forms of visual art. Her background is primarily in abstract photography but she also works with mixed media including painting. Much of her work involves engaging with and responding to place.
Morag Macpherson is a textiles expert with an international reputation. Her style of illustration is bold, colourful, bright and
 her motifs are bordered by thick black outline – ideal for working on murals.
Rory Laycock is an emerging Dumfries and Galloway artist and a previous winner of a Spring Fling Young Artists’ Bursary award. Colour is a critical component within his works and he has a love of the blues and greens that are so much a part of the Dumfries and Galloway landscape. Rory also has experience of creating installations, and enjoys collaborating with other artists – both of which was invaluable for SFRM.

Recoat has previously worked with 44flavours and admire not only the quality of their work, but also the fact that they include an architectural element – creating structures as part of their art. Tellas was selected because his art has lots of organic shapes and patterns that will be ideal for the rural environment.

We were invited to participate at the Cyan/Anthracite exhibition – an international group show centered around skating and surfing culture. The show was presented by the Affenfaust Galerie and Cyan Projects , and took place in Hamburg.

We decided to show a series of 6 works on paper that taken from our Airbrush/WoodPrint series.

Vernissage: FRI 04.03.2016 – 20:00
Runtime: 04.03.2016–13.03.2016
Opening Hours: WED, THU, SAT & SUN 14–18:0

With:

44flavours
Ben Cook
Benjamin Jean Jean
Ben Thé
Brettspiel
Broken Fingaz
Brokovich
César Ancelle Hansen
Dave the Chimp
David Claußen
Fabian Wolf
H.Y.T. Studio
Jérôme Romain
Kottie Paloma
Lukas Gansterer
Lycien-David Cséry
Malarko
Marcus Schild
Michele Buss
Monica Garza
Oscar Delmar
Pablo Cots
Polly Bosworth
Primoz Zorko
Sergej Vutuc
Simon Frank
Tomek Niewiadomski
Velwet

The Pfannebecker winery commissioned us to design their image brochure. We are happy that we were given the freedom and the opportunity to push the boundaries of classic editorial design.
Together with Till Ehrlich, Sebastian came up with a great concept that emphasized the experience of the winery, through the very form of the presentation.  He decided to avoid the slick, corporate look, and to bring forth a certain amount of roughness, to create something good to the touch – perfect in its imperfection like wine. He also included a lot of handmade details; things that took time to execute, but were driven by a deep connection and inspiration. This project is a great example of how a long term relationship with a client leads to amazing results. Good things mature like ….
The brochure was printed at the Druck Zuck printers in Berlin. We chose a rough, 120 gram warm white and a 350 gram white, macro embossed Metapaper.

The production of ULYSSIA, by the music group JeanJeanne took place at the theater Pôle Sud at Chartre de Bretagne, next to the city of Rennes.
It was the result of two very intense residencies, the first one took place in Douarnenez in October 2015.
The result is Julio’s first stage design in a theater, he worked with multi media installation, a combination of different video-collages, shown in loops and graphic forms projected and mapped on an architecture of different elements on stage.

Here is the french press-release:

JeanJeanne donne la première de son spectacle “Ulyssia” le vendredi 29 janvier 2016 à 21h00 au Pôle Sud de Chartres de Bretagne, en sortie de deux semaines de résidence de création.

Aux confins du Krautrock psychédélique, de l’Inde-pop et de la chanson française, avec ses deux harpes électriques et son univers décalé en VF JeanJeanne est inédit, unique en son genre, nouveau.

Cristine Merienne: voix
Nikolaz Cadoret: harpe électrique, électronique
Alice Soria-Cadoret: harpe électrique
Yvon Molard: batterie

ULYSSIA est la première création du groupe Jeanjeanne, composé de musiciens au parcours solide. C’est l’Odyssée barrée, de Brest à Berlin, d’une femme prise entre deux identités. Le voyage est périlleux et les épreuves se succèdent.

Nikolaz Cadoret et Alice Soria-Cadoret sont des fers de lance de la harpe électrique. Avec cet instrument ils peu- vent jouer tous les rôles: guitare lead, basse, clavier… et ils imposent un jeu et un son radicalement neufs. Deux harpistes virtuoses sous haute tension.

Cristine Merienne c’est une plume, une voix, toujours en recherche, jamais statiques. C’est aussi, tiens, une harpe, et quelle harpe, et puis un sens aigu de la mélodie, quoi d’autre… de la tendresse et des tripes.

Yvon Molard batteur et percussionniste issu d’une famille de musiciens de renom, impose une personnalité surprenante et attachante, un jeu rock puissant doublé d’une frappe d’orfèvre. Derrière ses fûts, il pose, impassible, les fondations du son de JeanJeanne.

Le plasticien Julio Rölle signe une scénographie inspirée du Groupe Zero, des formes graphiques, des jeux de lumières d’air et de matières.

Mise en scène: Olivier Prou
Son: Thomas Bloyet
Scénographie: Julio Rölle
Création lumière: Philippe Arbert

We designed the Dimension and the XBreed Boards for the 2016/17 Völkl Snowboards line.

The Dimension is based on a chopped up DADA type collage, of the double-V-Völkl-Logo. The graphics are made visible through the black on black matt/glossy varnish vs the neon green high-lights on the top design. There are some seriously nerdy printing techniques being utilized here –  to a very slick effect.

 As usual, we are very happy that we were also able to smuggle some smart details into the finished products. One of these details is the “hot-stamp” on the XBreed board, which features a little Batman character.


Back in December 2015, we flew out for the Porlwi Festival to take part in a very interesting exhibition. The event took place at the La Vieille Prison – an 18th century women’s prison – located in the center of Port Louis. Each artist was asked to create an installation at a 2×2 meter prison cell.  For our piece we teamed up with our friend Jurgen from Bark in the Yard. We came up with the idea to illustrate »cheap truth« phrases and to make signs on different pieces of wood and finally, to install them inside the space. The final piece was a mixture of quotes and phrases that we picked up during our stay on Mauritius. Picar, thank you for letting us be a part of your “artists in residency” program, and for letting us use your little studio so conveniently located next door to paradise.

In December of 2015, we were given the opportunity to escape the clutches of a gruesome Berlin winter, by being invited to Mauritius for the first edition of the Porlwi by Light Festival of Contemporary Culture.
 We painted a huge mural there, took part in an amazing exhibition in an abandoned prison, and, of course,  left a few marks on the streets of Port Louis (here and there).

We felt really welcome on the Island. We got to link up with some old friends, and also made some new ones, as well.
 A big thanks goes out to Jurgen Eric for the invitation!
 The time we spent on Mauritius was amazing. We are still speechless!

In October 2015 Julio was invited to work on a stage design in a one week residency in Douarnenez in Brittany.
Invited by the group Jeanjeanne he spent a week experinemting with different materials, combined with video-loop projections in a quite analog setup.
The goal was to come up with a concept and to generate visual elements, that would be used for a stage design for the premiere of the production Ulyssia, which took place a couple of month later at the theatre Pôle Sud at Chartre de Bretagne.
The experimentation let to plenty of great ideas and set ups, during the week there were plenty of beautiful in-between results, that were presented in a preview at the MJC in Douarnenez.

We created this series of sculptures in 2014. In November of 2015, they were shown at the Halma Exhibition at Kunstverein Montez, in Frankfurt. Currently, two sculptures from this series are available at The Artist as Curator’s Art Vol.6 Schau Fenster exhibit, here in Berlin.