Zeitguised is a studio for contemporary art. Founded in 2001 by American sculpture and fashion designer Jamie Raap and German architect Henrik Mauler, their collective crafts unique, cryptic and texture-juxtaposing digital creations that are both organic and mechanical in nature. They feed from each of their experiences in fashion photography, sculpture, installation and architecture. Whether through film, photography or design, Zeitguised pushes the limits of digital surrealism.

Their ambiguously poetic work draws from the infinite recombination capacity of the internet’s crazed mash-up culture, paired with the manipulation potential of digital imaging tools. Using seductive 3D animation, Zeitguised creates post-narrative modes of structural transformations, evoking mental states of manic order and complex instability. The studio’s unique vocabulary of abstract geometric forms defies laws of physics and redefines the aesthetic language of both fine art and commercial industry in a digital world. Objects rather than characters become the focal point of the unfolding narrative; surface phenomena is content and unstable structures of colour, shape and spatial motion become storyline and protagonist simultaneously: the dichotomy between cognitive imagination and rational observation is exposed as one and the same mental figment.

Zeitguised have worked on collaborations with photographers Nick&Chloé for the AreWeHardYet series, and with Ben Sandler for the Badlands project. They have been commissioned by brands like Absolut, Adobe, Becks, Mercedes Benz, MTV, Peugeot, Toyota and Vodafone. Their works have been presented at numerous international digital art and design festivals including Onedotzero, Dotmov and Nemo. Zeitguised received the award for Best Music Video at the International Film Festival Oberhausen, 2005; and the Best Design Award at Resfest, 2005. In 2009, they received the award for Best Experimental work at Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Zeitguised’s work has been exhibited internationally, including Target Lights Public Art Space, Minneapolis, 2012; Hyper Trophies, Stink Temporary Gallery, Berlin, 2012; Bing Bang, After Squat, Paris, 2012; Eureka, Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona, 2011; Rojo Nova, Museu da Imagem e do Som, Sao Paulo, 2010; and Dreaming With Open Eyes, Art Center Nabi, Seoul, 2009.

Zeitguised is based in Berlin, Germany.

Exhibitions

2014 Synthetic Aesthetics V&A Museum, London, UK
2014 Stop.Look.Listen La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris, FR
2014 Penetrating Surfaces Filmmuseum Wien, Vienna, AT
2012 ASIFA SF State University, San Francisco, US
2012 Big Bang After Squat, Paris, FR
2012 Target Lights Target Lights Public Art Space, Minneapolis, US
2012 Hyper Trophies Stink Temporary Gallery, Berlin, DE
2012 3DBurns! Fe+ Gallery, Pittsburgh, US
2011 Real Fake California State University, Sacramento, US
2011 Eureka Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona, ES
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