Hasta La Ideas

To mark the launch of M to M of M/M (Paris), a 528-page monograph of the studio’s work, Gallery Libby Sellers in London is staging The Carpetalogue, a show of M/M work rendered in wool rugs

The four rugs were created by Abhisek Poddar in Varanasi in India and, according to the gallery, act as a ‘condensed catalogue’ of M/M’s 20 years producing work for art, fashion and music. They are arranged on specially built wooden structures to mimic the pages of a book, the ‘cover’ being the image shown top of M/M’s Agent character, the inside spread formed by the sketchbook and ‘Siren’ rugs below and the ‘back cover’ by the rug shown above, which features an image created originally for the Designers For Japan project to aid tsunami relief. The rugs are available for sale through the gallery at £15,000 each.

Photographs: Gideon Hart

One of the M/M carpets in the window of the gallery

Incidentally, this isn’t the first time we have seen a graphic design studio present its work using textiles. Dutch studio Thonik, for example, used the same technique in Graphic Tapestries at the Venice Architectural Biennale in 2008 and exhibited Graphic Carpets featuring their work at the Shanghai Art Museum in the same year. And Damien Hirst is currently selling rug versions of his spin paintings.

The book M to M of M/M (Paris) is published this month by Thames & Hudson. Written by Emily King and designed by Graphic Thought Facility, its 528 pages feature over 1,000 images of M/M’s work since Michaël Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak formed the studio in 1992 plus interviews with some of M/M’s key collaborators including Björk and photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.

Pre-publication, devoted M/M fans have been offered a special edition version of the book, A Hundred Bags Full of Surprises. A cloth bag, designed in conjunction with Japanese brand Toshiki and silkscreened with the M/M logo on both sides, contains a copy of the book together with a ‘mystery item’ from the M/M archives. These items, we are told, include Björk singles, catalogues and show invitations for various fashion houses including Yohji Yamamoto, Balenciaga and Givenchy, T-shirts, books and various other products of the studio. The items come vacuum-packed with a signed and numbered page of the book. And the price? A veritable snip (ahem) at €350. If you fancy one, they can be bought here.

The November issue of CR will feature a major piece on M/M and the M to M book.

M/M (Paris) Carpetalogue, 1992 – 2012 is at Gallery Libby Sellers, 41-42 Berners Street, London W1 until December 15.

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