When designers DJ: Gelman at Minimal Tokyo

8 Nov 2006 Category: Features, Graphics, Music

Gelman is a New York based graphic designer known for running the design and branding office called Design Machine, writing various books on design philisophy, being on almost every possible board of designers, in all the magazines, had his retrospective exhibition a few months back at the Ginza Graphics Gallery - and just came back to Tokyo to be a judge for the TDC. PingMag met Gelman at Minimal Tokyo - a new undeground event focusing on electronica, minimal techno and techhouse music where he starred as the opening act with his favorite electronic tunes. Here is our short interview with Gelman - on and off the turntables. Enjoy!

Written by Uleshka

Gelman, to get straight to the point: your design work is characterzied by a strong and simple design philosophy called Subtraction. How would you explain your design philisophy?

No matter what discipline, the creative process is always a process of ’subtraction’. It’s all about editing, filtering and making choices. Removing the unnecessary reveals the essential of an idea, message or subject, etc. Addition and accumulation is more about educational process. Acquiring knowledge essentially is not a very creative endeavor, but without it there’s nothing to subtract from.

Your designs are very minimal - is that who you are? Into minimal electronic music, aiming at a minimal amount of possessions…?

I strive for having less possessions, but it’s not always working out the way I’d like to. I like simplicity, but my life is quite complicated. Perhaps, for me simplicity is just a tool for understanding and dealing with complexity.

What about playful-ness, then? Some fun, love, a human touch…?

Simplicity or especially minimalism by itself is not a very engaging or emotional form of communication. Subtraction is different. If you scan through my book you’ll find very few examples of minimalism in it. Subtraction is about engagement, balance and imbalance, actual and potential energy, tease, cultural references, etc. It deals with the issue of essential. Fun and humor are very important components. I hope you find a fair amount of it in my work.

I like this sentence on your website: “To become a Design Machine Client the company should fit one of the following four categories:…”. What kind of clients DO come to you, then? Which are the ones you are most interested in?

Clients always come. For different reasons with a variety of agendas. But I’m not interested in clients.

Oh! Overall, what is the favorite piece of work you have done so far? And why?

I was pleased with the way my show at GGG in Ginza, Tokyo turned out. It seemed to find a connection with viewers. That was very satisfying.

My books, Subtraction and Infiltrate are tapping into interesting territories. Aesthetically and conceptually they will continue being relevant for a long time.

Do you actually still contribute to the New York Times?

No, not anymore. I lost interest in politics and stopped reading it as well.

What are you currently interested in? And what is your most recently released work?

Most recent contributions to the Detroit-based magazine Clear and two London based publications: .cent magazine and Drawbridge. There are two books published in collaboration with PPP editions in New York: Gangs of Kabukicho with photographs by Watanabe Katsumi and Cyanide and Sin: Visualizing Crime in 50s America by Will Straw.

Also there are collaborations coming up with Tomy/Tackara versus Cartier and Swarovski Crystal. I’m also very enthusiastic about Minimal Tokyo, and there will be more exhibitions next year as well.

Minimal Tokyo was originally started by Ivan Poupyrev a little while ago. What do you find especially interesting about the event?

I love Ivan’s enthusiasm, his energy, the people he gathers and then of course: I love the name! Minimal Tokyo!

I think this event has a big future, because the music is a little bit different to what you normally hear, it is not an event for the money, but purely to enjoy this kind of sound. I’ve been to Minimal Tokyo before and thought that the beginning set should have been slightly different. I told Ivan, he asked me to do it - and so I tried.

How did you get to start DJing in the first place? And what does it mean to you? How serious do you take DJing for yourself?

I began playing records in the 80s. At the time I also did some projection graphics for laser and light shows and rock concerts. In the 90s I’ve been experimenting with electronic sounds and did some original scores for fashion shows. I played at Lime Light, Tunnel and other New York clubs, but I’m not a dance DJ. Sound, video, print, space, light are all part of the same expression. I don’t tend to separate those things. When I like the people involved and it feels right - I do it.

What kind of music inspires you? What do you listen to when you design?

I’ve got vinyl, CDs, MPs and radio. I listen to everything, but electronic music seems to have a larger presence in my collection.

I read one of your quotes where you say: “creativity is imprecise”. What does that mean? Is precision a positive attribute in your opinion?

Can’t imagine myself saying that. Probably a misquote…

Oh, really… I must say that I am impressed by the precision of your work, but actually your whole appearance is… like a perfect branding! The way you clearly express yourself when you talk, how you construct your sentences, your recognizable clear “minimal” outfit, your straight opinion and even your name suits your substraction-philosophy and got reduced to GLMN… I heard that even your wife calls you Gelman and not Alexander!

Since your work is everywhere from magazine covers to galleries and the MoMA in New York listed you among the “world’s most influential modern and contemporary artists in all media”… Where do you personally draw the line between art and design?

It’s all the same to me. Only the economies of art and design are different. Business likes to separate creativity into genres and categories, but I’ve been always opposed to that.

Thanks a lot for the interview and your refreshing DJ set and also nice bumping into you almost every night during Tokyo Design Week! I am still impressed about how you told your 6 year old kid at Design Tide that she moved the sign on the floor and she immediately understood what you meant and aligned it perfectly…

12 Comments

1. glmn,cl gy

   Posted by: gxgxg on November 9th, 2006 at 12:19 am

2. GLMN is good enough to eat.

   Posted by: Steven Mark Kleing on November 9th, 2006 at 9:27 am

3. gelman reminds me of lex luthor

   Posted by: ecchi on November 9th, 2006 at 9:35 am

4. I feeling hard to understand Gelman’s design. or its too simple with no means but feeling.

   People are lazier and lazier, designer hate complexity coz him is too lazy.

   I like simplicity coz I am lazybones forsure.

   Posted by: x-noise on November 9th, 2006 at 2:32 pm

5. Gelman is a true genius and legendary designer who’s work is a calm in the storm of bullshit Photoshop contrived work and try-hard Flash designers.

   Every graphic designer should aspire to subtract so effectively.

   Posted by: Owen Ingarfield. on November 10th, 2006 at 12:03 am

6. Wonderful innovations

   Posted by: ヤーッコ on November 10th, 2006 at 1:04 am

7. [...] Banksy, Bath Tub, Design, DJ Gelman, Green Tea, KitKat, Marc Emery, SEMA tFS Index Permalink | Email This |Comments [...]

   Posted by: theFreshScent » Blog Archive » tFS Debris - 11.10.06 on November 10th, 2006 at 8:17 pm

8. “Gelman is a true genius… Every graphic designer should aspire to subtract so effectively.”
   Gelman’s work is over-reductive crap. It is so ‘essential’ that it loses all ambiguity and interest. It is the equivalent of a one-liner. I am consistently amazed that people in Japan care about his stuff- it’s a throwback to Vignelli-esque zombie modernism. There are so many folks doing great work in Japan (Adapter, WK, Igarashi, et al), why the FUCK do people even give a shit about this guy’s work? It’s just so boring.

   Posted by: Jens on December 22nd, 2006 at 6:00 am

9. nice nice nice…!!

   Posted by: PEPE on January 10th, 2007 at 1:25 am

10. what would jesus do?

    Posted by: alvin on April 26th, 2007 at 2:08 pm

11. a stale, bambastic, lazy, tired, one-liner, self-involved, self promoting, fame seeking, over hyped bit of stuff like fast food wrappers? is that a good thing? a master of the illusion of hype…who’s a better client than yourself?

    Posted by: neo on July 27th, 2007 at 6:11 pm

12. гельман - полный мудак - ненавидит всех кроме себя - эгоист и лентяй - минимализм доведенный до маразма - все остальное маркетинг и реклама самого себя. Здась действительно у него талант !

    Posted by: Me-Me on June 22nd, 2009 at 4:16 pm

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