sagmeister inc.'s public intervention 'obsessions make my life worse and my work better' (2008)
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designboom is just back from experimentadesign 2008, a month long event dealing with the theme of
space and place. a biennale which first originated in lisbon, this year it's taken over the city
of amsterdam, exploring design for the urban landscape and looking at how it fulfills the needs of the
city's inhabitants. shaping a place is much about imagining as it is about building with participants in
the event looking to the city's public spaces for inspiration, interpreting the urban landscape as a
theater of conviviality. from informal interventions to happenings which are sometimes illegal,
experimentadesign 2008 proposes that the city's public space becomes a place in which architects
and designers develop the urban area into a playground which initiates social interaction amongst
city dwellers.

one of the major events is the droog event 2: urban play, the amsterdam route which brings
together international creatives to put together 13 newly designed interventions along the central
IJ-riverfront, organized by droog design and curator scott burnham.

sagmeister inc., was one of the urban play participants with 'obsessions make my life worse and
my work better', an installation of 300,000 euro cent coins which have been laid out on a 20 x 42
square meter area. drawing the phrase from one of his old diaries, a team of eight painstakingly
placed each of the coins down to create the visual aesthetic which stefan sagmeister is known for,
the use of calligrahy and modern typography with floral embellishments that give the feeling of
old script in a contemporary context. with coins representing a certain value, the beauty of the design
challenges the passer-by. will they leave the piece in tact because of its beauty? will they take the
coins and create their own design in response the the work? or will greed take over?


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image © designboom


image © designboom


some of the coins were arranged to look like old topography
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image © designboom


image © designboom


the back of each coin was painted blue to indicate whether or not someone has taken a coin from the installation
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image © designboom


image © designboom


image © designboom


image © designboom


five hours after the installation was revealed, the coins had been moved, turned over and taken by individuals
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someone has taken the work to the next level, creating their own commentary placing the coins elsewhere in the city
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people try to keep the coins in place
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more
experimentadesign amsterdam 2008: http://www.experimentadesign.nl
droog design: http://www.droog.com
sagmeister inc.: http://www.sagmeister.com