German artists Haubitz + Zoche were pioneers in weaving the climate crisis into their creative works. Their book, Blind Date with the Future, highlights their projects centered on environmental challenges such as rising sea levels and resource depletion from 2006 to 2022. As climate discussions become increasingly urgent, their art is gaining even more relevance.
Blind Date With The Future Sets Focus On The Climate Crisis
The book, published by Jap Sam Books in the Netherlands, includes an art history essay by Ann-Katrin Günzel and an interview with Stefanie Zoche by Franziska Kunze, providing insights into the art. It also features two scientific essays: one by climate expert Stefan Rahmstorf on sea-level rise and another by Jens Soentgen, who reflects on the movement of materials in the Anthropocene. Graphic Design of the book was skillfully realized by Christian Lange (COCCU Studio).
Stefanie Zoche (born 1965) and Sabine Haubitz (1959-2014) collaborated for sixteen years. After Haubitz’s passing in 2014, Zoche continued their work. Together, they used photography, video, sculpture, and installations to explore themes of urban space, architecture, and water. In their later years, they focused on the climate crisis and other environmental issues. Zoche now focuses on sand as a diminishing resource and explores alternative building materials to cement. Haubitz + Zoche participated in the 2012 Havana Biennial and received awards for their photography books in 2007 and 2016.
The book also features contributions from Dr. Ann-Katrin Günzel, Dr. Franziska Kunze, Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf, and Dr. Jens Soentgen, each providing their unique perspectives on the artworks and climate science.
High Tide Installation – the Symbol behind IBO semi-transparent paper choice
Released in Spring 2023, Blind Date with the Future was introduced at Frankfurt Book Fair 2023. The basis for the paper choice was the High-Tide installation, a single-channel video projection dam arunning a simulation over huge coastal human-developments such as New York or Mumbai. lt is predicted that as a result of global warming, large swathes of both cities will be impacted by storm surges and flooding by 2050, and already signs have been observed at both locations.
In this 2014/15 piece, Haubitz + Zoche quickly highlighted the looming threat to coastal cities. As they filmed the shoreline, their cameras, positioned at sea level, were often engulfed by waves. They also added a tinted glass pane, which transformed the projection into a captivating three-dimensional experience in the exhibition.
Blind Date With The Future has been shortlisted for the DAM ARCHITECTURAL BOOK AWARD 2023 and for the Most Beautiful German Books of the year 2024 Stiftung Buchkunst.
When choosing the paper for the book, IBO 60 g/m2 semi-transparent paper was the intuitive choice. The effect of the multi-layered nature of this installation and water reflections could be carried over into the book using IBO.
IBO, which we previously covered here, was originally developed by Reflex Paper for the Dutch graphic designer Irma Boom, often described as “Queen of the Books”. The artist was looking for a semi-transparent paper with which she could work on several layers in a book. This experiment resulted in the cookbook for Rijksmuseum and gave birth to many other wonderful book projects, including a catalog that accompanied an exhibition by Irma Boom in the Vatican.
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Reflex – Ibo. The diaphanous, light creative paper
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Curious about how you can implement IBO in your publishing project? Get in touch with your local Europapier specialist today.
Images “Blind Date With The Future”© The Book Photographer / Jap Sam Books
Images & video “High Tide”© 2016, Stefanie Zoche