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Celebrating Patterns: Christie van der Haak - Position the patterns in contemporary contexts

The book Celebrating Patterns is intended for everyone with a broad and interdisciplinary mindset who like to dive further into cross-pollination between several different creative fields and shows the importance of craft for artists today.

Celebrating Patterns is a book that shows the importance of the pattern in contemporary visual art and design through the works of Christie van der Haak. Christie is a pattern artist who has mastered the art of designing a rich and layered pattern. During the development of the oeuvre book Sproken in collaboration with graphic design agency Studio Renate Boere, new insights have emerged about Christie's work. Since their previous award-winning collaboration, Christie has used her patterns to literally draw people into her world in a physical way, while also telling a story about the environment the viewer is currently in.

Again in collaboration with Studio Renate Boere, Christie wants to take on the challenge of taking a few more steps as a pattern artist. In Celebrating Patterns, the dividing line between the physical world and the real is fused together and Christie's patterns take center stage. Emphasising the interdisciplinary nature of Christie's work and career, this book is a poetic metaphor that highlights the infinite possibilities of thinking outside the common framework; similar to Christie who has never let the page limit her patterns. The book can be used to support new ways of 'thinking by doing' and has been loved by students and professionals to stimulate a never-ending creative mindset.

The creative idea behind the making of Celebrating Patterns was to melt together disciplines such as fine arts, applied arts, photography, graphic design, tactile thinking and storytelling in order to visualise the added value of an interdisciplinary working methodology. Coming up with the right way to visualise the relationship all of these fields hold together, will inevitably lead to a more layered and deeper sense of story: therefore adding to the experience of being transported from the physical location into Christie's world. The beauty of Celebrating Patterns and Christie's work in general, is that the excessiveness of repetition adds on to its value when she implement her patterns on different carriers. The reiteration is the work. This is highlighted by the design solutions presented by Studio Renate Boere. The more the eye gets lost in abundance, the deeper the experience.

This fusion is applied visually through various experiments and applications of Christie's patterns. In order to highlight the uniqueness of the experiments and patterns, a different type of paper is used for each signature. By using at least eight different types of paper, the book becomes a layered object with multiple tactile structures, thicknesses and finishes that together form a whole. The design of the book shows the more than 200 patterns, on seven different paper types to experience both visually and physically the richness of the designed patterns. Because of the binding method and the edges around the photos, every millimeter of the book seems covered with patterns. When you go through the center of the book, the photos of her installations appear. The dust jacket shows all her work in chronological order at a glance. This gives you a good idea of ​​how the artist has developed over the years from painter to pattern artist to installation artist of gigantic dimensions.

To quote Arthur Crucq, one of the writers in the book: 'In response to major technological changes debates emerge about the consequences these for art, architecture and design. Technological innovation forces makers to reconceptualize the essence of their craft. (...) By first returning to the drawing board and engaging in handicraft, especially in a time of technological abundance, the artist and designer learn how to connect to tradition, with the ultimate objective to transform it.' This book is an ode to the pattern. One of the oldest crafts we know, yet however one that has never lost its relevance. The beauty, method and applications of Christie van der Haak's work enter into a relationship with each other. Her work travels through an experimental world of patterns to eventually come to a rest again in the book.

Christie van der Haak is currently exhibiting in Roermond and that is just the most recent cherry on top to a large number of recent shows. The past couple of years Christie's work has been in high demand. Not only does this show what documentation, showcasing and writing about an artist's work can establish in the art world, it also shows the rise in popularity when it comes to crafts and skills that are usually associated with gone times. The book shows the need for timelessness and continuity, not for the sake of tradition but more so as an addition to the world of innovation. Aside to that there is a huge interest in seeing a traditional skill transform under modern rule. This book is used in art schools to teach the richness the diversity and complexity of patterns. By showing the patterns in applied form, the importance of pattern drawing today becomes immediately clear.

Many different craft techniques have been used in this book to celebrate the power of craft along with the craft of pattern drawing. Open back, which also makes the patterns visible in the back, was a new and daring experimet. The two foil stampings applied under the 4 color printing and above the 4 color printing was a totally new experience and miraculously packed beautifully. This has created a beautiful golden 'woven' glow.

For more information about the artist/designer: www.christievanderhaak.nl

Colophon
Celebrating Patterns
Design
Studio Renate Boere
Publisher
Eleonoor Jap Sam
Printer
Graphius Group
Texts
Arthur Crucq, Jeanine Hövelings, Yvonne Oordijk, Philip Peters
Translation
Marie Louise Schoondergang
Studio Renate Boere / Abraham van Beyerenstraat 4 / 2525 TG Den Haag / +31(0)70 2167612 / +31(0)6 24525557 / info@renateboere.nl