Since our first collaboration, we have been inspired by A Lot of talented artists with different backgrounds and stories to share. Upcoming creatives from all over the world have nurtured A Lot Studio with unique narratives that have reinforced our main motto: support and champion young artists! Collabs are the core of our company and therefore we are so excited to announce our next collaboration with artist duo We Are Out of Office.
We Are Out of Office has A Lot to tell us, The artists duo, Winneke and Felix are both from Utrecht, Netherlands, their studio is located in an old cherry orchard just outside of the city of Utrecht where they produce most of their creative pieces. They don’t like to put labels to their work or careers, they are graphic designers but A Lot more than that as well the duo is characterized by bold prints and colors that make their pieces unique, modern and original.
Prints, paintings, sculptures, patterns, textiles are just a few of the creations that make We Are Out of Office stand out.
Interview:
How does your Inspiration revolve around concept, feelings, or statement?
Color is a really important thing in our work. We think the world around us is a bit pale and boring. We try to extract the things that bring us joy and/or surprise us. We don’t really have a strong concept in our work, it's probably more about some kind of feeling. A memory of a good meal or a house what is painted in a bold color, a sunny day in a park or a Japanese character which you can not read but what looks beautiful. We like lighten bright things and don't want to take everything too serious.
We are Out of Office major theme is color, just like A Lot Studio,There are no specific concepts in their work, but they do have in mind when creating the way they feel about any particular experience: a memory of a good meal or a house that is painted in a bold color.
How have you navigated the art world? Any favorite artwork so far?
Our favorite, Most of the time it's the last thing we created. We seem to lose our attention pretty fast, that's the reason we do so many different things. But our biggest achievement is a series of huge sculptures we made a year or two ago. We made some kind of sculptural garden for a residency. The project was such a steep learning curve, we never did anything like that before and it all worked out pretty well. We made all the sculptures by hand, painted them and placed them. Now it's some kind of park where people can hang out, sit on and
climb on.
How has your art started and has changed over time?
Well it all started with screen-print. We can't draw so we developed a style which works for us. I think this is also where color became very important. When we started Riso printing we also had to think about how to use and mix colors. From there we figured if we can make prints we can also make other things. We started to make small products because we liked to design their packaging. We shifted more and more from print to physical work like sculptures and the like. We are interested in so many things. Now we have a bit of a focus on textile and ceramics but we know that will also change over time. We hope to think our work gets more mature during the years. We like to work less illustrative and focus more on abstract and more mature work without
loosing the fun and the playfulness.
How did you begin with “We are out of office?” Was it easy being an emerging artist?
Winneke and Felix told us how they started screen printing as college students, Art students in dorms, during their period in art school. Their work was very different as individuals as when working together, there was something that led when working together, which they really liked and thus stuck together. Their first serious project was called 'We are out of office'. They wanted to live in New York for a while but they were not allowed to work there. They figured they could make designs and posters in exchange for food and goods. The concept of barter-based living was very appealing to them. So they stayed for a couple of months designing and screenprinting posters for Deli’s,/ Laundrettes, coffee bars, thrift stores, all of the big apple most magical places.
New York was also the moment they got their first commissioned job together, from there on they just got more known, they kept their first project name and quit freelance graphic design jobs, and started to focus on their own practice and studio.
“We never had a goal we needed to achieve”
We Are Out of Office did what they think was fun and they still do, business plans where never a must.
Since working in collaboration is a multilateral agreement and sometimes can be not that easy. How do you guys decide who is doing what? Is someone in charge of certain activities from conception to execution?
- Not Really we both do everything, sometimes we end up using Winnekes designs and sometimes Felix’s. But to be honest, most of the time work ends up being a mix of both.
Travel, collaboration, and community play a major role in your life. How have you guys embedded these experiences in the art place?
Travel plays a huge role in our work, we started selling prints to fund our travels, to get inspired, to make new prints, to sell to travel again. We love to see how different people have different views, different cultures, different habits. That's a huge inspiration for us. The same with collaborations, most of the time we just work on projects we want, it's refreshing to work with other people and hear their point of view and opinions.
To wrap up we were intrigued to know what their goals were with our winter collaboration, what are your goals with A LOT STUDIO COLLAB?
We hope that it is an awesome original collection, something different from most of our collections. For them it is great what A LOT STUDIO can do with textiles. It is a great complement to what their work means and stands for.
Here at A Lot, we are amazed by the great pieces, narratives, and projects brought to us by original and unique creatives like a such talented duo as We Are Out of Office.
For us, they bring us joy, inspiration, and color to the new wave of young emerging artists that sometimes are scared of using their own voice.
To end this note we want to share with you their following advice:
“Do what you want to do, what you think is fun to do. Don't focus too much on money or status, or likes or success. And be assertive, if you want something ask for it, make it happen. Don't be afraid of rejection, it's part of the deal and it's nothing personal.”
Stay tuned and catch more about We Are Out of Office x A LOT STUDIO on December 8th, 2020!