297x210mm, 216 pages, Offset print, swiss brochure (open thread stitching)
ISBN 978-2-940524-53-2, MottoBooks Berlin/Lausanne, 2016
//Nico Jungel positions his book of 424 drawings in the larger history of the image – reaching
from scratched lines in caves to ink drawing and post-modern digital imagery – as a means
of expressing and examining life. While imagining source-code patterns of 1s and 0s, he
poses the central question: how do we deal with the massive influence of the binary code
in everyday life? Jungel's proposition is that, while our lives continue to be governed ever
more by this principle of clear distinction, we are in fact never more lost. We need to
categorize (in search–engines) and scale (in lists of cheapest or best products) to reach
conclusions by data-analysis and pattern recognition (e.g. security concerns – who will be
the next terrorist?). So how do we "get lost" in a positive way – and thus trust in ourselves
– when the perfectly outlined system in which we operate actually blinds us?
Jungel sets up a medial spectrum ranging from drawings by hand (both on paper and on
screen), computer and mechanically-controlled images, and 'found' and edited patterns,
only to blend them all together to deliberately obscure their means of production. A closer
look at most of these mixed and woven patterns testifies to their infinite variance because
their creation is the function of a time–consuming process of hands in motion. With holes
and gaps at unexpected turns, they flow and meander in ways that compete with the
dynamism of even the best computer-generated animations. Moreover, one will find in the
wide variety of images within the book that some drawings, despite being based on
mathematics, are imperfectly printed; others overstimulate our vision, resulting in flickering
hallucinations. Jungel strives for possibilities beyond perfection.
He invites us with his mass of drawings to take the time to enjoy losing oneself in
something – or, rather, ONE thing. Only at this point, according to his statement, can one
work on essential questions like: How, if possible, can we create unpredictable distortion?
What does a challenging artistic production have to look like (also being opposed to
machines and software)? On which structures does (social) life find more health and
attraction? Jungel himself uses the process of drawing to grapple with these kinds of
existential questions – but still manages to achieve visually attractive and challenging
images that mark the solemn beauty of dots, lines and spaces.
Dr. Gregory Bryda, Nico Jungel//