vita

1968

(Hamburg) born. In the same year Marcel Duchamp and John Heartfield died, John Steinbeck, Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy were assassinated, the Prague Spring was crushed in the ČSSR, student and civil rights movements found their peak in the »protests of 1968«, the Ulmer School of Design was closed down, the Club of Rome was founded, the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin was opened, the film »Yellow Submarine«, the typeface »Syntax«, the beanbag chair »Sacco« and the computer mouse came into the world.

1968 to 1987

(Hamburg, Miami, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Her­decke, Schwieberdingen, Bergisch Gladbach) early education and high school diploma

1987 to 1990

(Cologne) apprenticeship and employment as a bookseller at the art book publisher Wie­nand

1990 to 1996

studied visual communication at the Fach­hoch­schule Düsseldorf, diploma

since 1992

Co-organisation and participation at the interdisciplinary »Pfingsttagung« (Whitsun Conferences) in Bibersbach, Reichenow, Rappach and Bretzfeld / Gauselfingen / Oberau

1994

(London) scholarship of the Carl Duisberg Society, work at Omnific Studios, Alan Kitching, Phaidon Press and Penta­gram

since 1996

independent as an artist, author and collector

1996 to 2000

(Cologne) collaborative studio together with two communication designers, an illustrator, a product designer, and two art historians

1997 to 1998

lectureship at the Fach­hoch­schule Düsseldorf

since 2000

based in Berlin

1997 to 2010

continuous work for the art collection of the German Bundestag

2001 to 2010

working on my »Lesikon der visuellen Kommunikation«

since 2006

workshops and seminars

2007 to 2008

visiting professor for integrated design and methodology at the Bauhaus University in Dessau on their International Masters Program

2011

organisation of the world’s biggest book reading from my »Lesikon der visuellen Kommunikation« at the Museum der Dinge Berlin: 112 co-authors, 12 hours non-stop

2012

foundation of the Ehrenpreis für Gestaltung

2016

visiting professor again at the Bauhaus University in Dessau

2017 to 2018

lectureship at the Universität der Künste in Berlin

2018

solo exhibition »im wahrs­ten Sin­ne des Zei­chens« (»in the true sense of the sign«), Muse­um für Druck­kunst (Museum of the Printing Arts), Leipzig

2019 to 2020

solo exhibition »Am Anfang war das Zeichen!« (»In The Beginning was the … Sign!«), Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich

2020

start of a series of films on YouTube as a personally guided tour through my toilet paper archive – one aspect at a time

2023

solo exhibition »the nature of the things«, Flower Festival Munich / Botanical Garden Nymphenburg, Munich

solo exhibition »Klopapier – Gestaltung für den Arsch. Einblicke in die wunderbare Sammlung der Juli Gudehus« (»toilet Paper — design for the ass. insights into the wonderful collection of Juli Gudehus«), Museum im Adler, Benningen