Masterclass / Tatjana Quax (Studio Aandacht): Visual Identity Review / Masterclass

To properly introduce herself, ms Quax held an impressive lecture on the diversity of her past projects and jobs, all with the focus on presentation. She studied pattern design in the Netherlands, at the The Hague Royal Academy of Art, after which she worked for ELLE decoration Holland. Ten years ago she started ‘Studio Aandacht’ (Studio Attention in Dutch) with her life partner, Ben Lambers.

Now that the students knew what professional presentation by Tatjana Quax was all about, they could get started on their own work. The first assignment was, to choose a well-known person (could be fictional), which appealed to them in a certain way. A custom-made one-hour tour of Antwerp had to be tailored and presented for this celebrity. Careful but quick consideration on who to choose and where to go was needed, as the assignment had to be executed in one day. There were no restrictions in media; all kinds of imagery could be used.

The students went on their way, checking in with Tatjana Quax every now and again. It resulted in some amazing, professional looking digital presentations. All participants had chosen a different celebrity. Someone decided to take fashion designer Dries Van Noten on a walk, and had mapped out the route in stitching. There was also a presentation that openly invited Quentin Tarantino, to come and shoot his next film in Antwerp.

Right in the middle of this masterclass-week, it was time for Tatjana Quax to make her appearance in the ‘Confrontations’ lecture. This was an opportunity for the participants of the workshop to get to know more about what inspires Tatjana Quax and more importantly: why.

It set the tone for the next assignment; a show-box used to present one piece of the students’ own work. The piece could be chosen freely in terms of form, 3D, digital or print, and age. It could be old, recent or even in progress. The idea of a show-box was to be taken in the broadest sense of the word. What’s important is the experience; the visitor has to be led into the world of the participant. (for example by looking through the peep-hole of the show-box.)

All the participants set to work straight away as time was again precious. Tatjana Quax spoke with each of them, to outline their individual presentation. It became clear that every individual presentation, had also taken a very individual shape. By keeping the color scheme to a minimum (black, white and cardboard) and by the simple and effective directions of Tatjana Quax, the individual presentations merged into one exhibition. Lots of hard work was done, one student had decided to collect and alter several person-sized boxes in one day (hooray for social media).

Others had less time consuming presentations and went to help their fellows. Exhibition-announcements were put up all over the school and all over the web to attract a crowd at the opening. After more individual guiding talks, a last group meeting was held. Then the big moment came: the exhibition opened! Tatjana Quax started with a short introduction of the workshop. A special ‘cinema-corner’ was created to show the videos and digital presentations of the celebrity- Antwerp assignment. The audience was swept away by that, afterwards they could disperse into the room to take a good look at the exhibition of the students’ interpretation of the show-boxes.

- Broes van Iterson -
www.broesvi.com
broesvitrine.blogspot.nl/