Documents 

The first book of visual identities, photographs, typefaces, books, films, posters, and installations by Akatre. The visual identities, installations, and Edited byial designs of French design agency Akatre are marked by bold swaths of color, elaborate photographic still lifes, and striking re-appropriations of everyday objects. Zero to Five is the first book to showcase Akartre’s distinctive and experimental visual creations, which cross fluidly between photography, graphic and web design, art, and typography. Founded in 2007 and comprising Julien Dhivert, Sébastien Riveron, and Valentin Abad, and now one of the most coveted studios in Paris, Akatre takes on projects that require an involved and all-encompassing design approach. Because Akatre does typography, layout, photography, and video themselves, their work requires strong personal and emotional involvement, thereby turning each project into a personal exploration and a part of the studio’s evolution. Much of Akatre’s designs are manifested as photographs of subject matter involving elaborate balancing acts, everyday objects exaggerated in multiplicity or left hovering in space, delicate bodily extensions, and the occasional wild animal. Color and geometry are tightly controlled, every detail is carefully considered. Zero to Five features both non-commissioned work and work designed for clients in art, culture, music, fashion, and luxury fields. Akatre’s past clients include Mains d‘OEuvres, a multidisciplinary contemporary art venue; TU-Nantes, a cutting-edge performance space at the University of Nantes; Foundation Cartier, Cartier’s contemporary art center in Paris; and Para One & Tacteel, a French electronic music duo.

A man falls to earth headfirst, cutting into the ground and resting there, feet up, like an unexploded bomb. A young woman humors a playful pet, an artist's head, as it bites the hem of her skirt. Li Wei, a young Beijing performance artist, has begun to pop up in the American media, and with images like these, it's no wonder. He received his earliest significant public exposure following an impromptu event at the 2000 Shanghai Biennial, in which he put his head through a hole in a mirror and attended (and was ejected from) a crowded reception. Recent pieces, including the public Green Gay Flag and the private It Would Not Die Away Like Such, have been both politically and sexually daring. This first monograph catalogues the artist's perceptive and often funny insights into China today and tomorrow. [editor summary]