and new zines!

Book Proposal for Novartis Campus a few years ago while working at 2×4

This is a small catalogue I designed for CHERT Berlin and Bonner Kunstverein in Berlin for the exhibition of Petrit Halilaj — Kostërrc (CH) at Art Basel.

I’m currently finishing up a project with photographer Blerim Racaj that involved photographing a sports building. This is the same exact building in all seven cities of Kosovo. A couple of months ago, we traveled to each city and photographed the building. What started as a postcard project, is now turning into a newspaperish format. The concept for this building was very nice – it would serve as a center for sports, but also function as a place for cultural activities. Its structure is made of very strong and thick concrete, a sort of brutalist approach, similar to some other buildings around Kosovo built in the 70s and 80s. Throughout the years, these buildings were very untaken care of, which resulted in each building developing their own identity. For example, when the interior of the building in Prishtina was burned, they ended up replacing its roof, so now it has a completely different roof compared to the rest of them in other cities. Although due to the changes that were made in them and the location they were built in makes them look slightly different from each other, when looking at them as a series, you can still tell they are the same structure. Pictured above, the building in Ferizaj and Gjakova.

Here’s a poster I did earlier this year for the Surfing the Black project taking place at the Jan van Eyeck Academie. The poster is for the film Tri by Aleksandar Petrovic. Here is a picture at the exhibition in Blegrade.

http://www.kosovotwopointzero.com

About a week ago, we had a group of dutch architects, artists, photographers, curators etc come to Prishtina for a short visit. They were interested to find out more about the developments of the Kosovo art scene – specifically of the initiatives and groups in the last 10 years. Dren Maliqi had a really nice presentation on Kosovo art in the last ten years. Kaltrina Krasniqi talked about film, and I talked a bit about graphic design.

Here are some pictures from this summer. Good times.

I’m currently working on a Thurston Moore fanzine which will be available next month.

for more click here

Mehmet Behluli
O Vendi Im

june 23  — july 2, 2010
tetris hapësira manipuluese
opening june 23, 2010
20:00h
curator:erzen shkololli

Uncorporate Identity is about emblems, networks, conflicts, social relations, fantasy, fiction, spies, comics, political theory, geography, voids, memory, history, monuments, search engines, globalization, the East, public diplomacy, black metal, unrecognized states, princes, princesses, solar panels, brands, speculation, flexible labor, crisis, cities, democracy, the Emirates, iconoclasm, heraldy, stealth, banlieues, hackers, money, the west, boarders, poems, communism, libertarianism, shadows, research, architecture, and design (in no particular order).

Designed by Metahaven (Daniel van der Velden and Vinca Kruk)

Edited by Metahaven & Marina Vishmit

Published by Lars Muller Publishers and Jan van Eyck Academie

A gift from my friend Mirsad in Ulm

Here is a video I made with photo booth to announce the names of people who sent me movies they made for my birthday.
Click here to see it.

And here are the movies that my friends made.

“For all that the average designer these days is at the behest of his or her clients most of the time, that doesn’t mean they have to become cipher, in the opinion of Kosovo-born Bardhi Haliti. He believes that we should hold views–and not be afraid to express them. “Designing without having an opinion equals not being able to think, and work where there is no opinion and thinking turns out very artificial and uninteresting,” he says. After finishing his studies in graphic design at Brigham Young University, Haliti moved to New York last year. Life in the Big Apple is full of inspiration and it has given him the chance to work with the likes of 2×4, Modern Identity, MTWTF, Andrew Sloat and M.A.C. Cosmetics. But his most meaningful project so far has undoubtedly been creating a visual identity for his homeland, the newly created Republic of Kosovo. In an everyday sense, the work that brings him most satisfaction is designing books, which he finds both a challenge and a means of learning new things. For more of this thoughtful designer’s work, check out: www.bardhihaliti.com”

Thanks for noticing!

Please go see the work of Blerim Racaj, a Kosovo photographer, currently on display at Oda Theatre in Prishtina.

See project here

I also ran across a sweet catalogue that I will scan tomorrow and post here. It has a list of over 400 titles published by Rilindja.

I just came across an issue of architecture magazine Domus from 1973 on my brother’s bookshelf and it’s really beautiful.

I saw this inside the maternity ward building at the Prishtina hospital.

I took a train from New York to Montréal this morning. This eleven hour long train trip has been one of the best train trips I have taken so far. I tried to read a book, but I kept being distracted by the beautiful scenery on the way. I put the book down, put headphones on and looked out the window for eleven hours straight. I especially enjoyed the countless number of frozen ponds.

I will post more pictures later.

This live version of Kino by the Knife has every possible element that makes something good.

text by Annelys de Vet from the book The world must Change: Graphic Design and Idealism by Leonie ten Duis and Annelies Haase.