Karl Grandin & And Beyond

Much more than visual signifiers and historic identities, the humble flag is a symbol for so much more, and in many cases, a triumph of minimalist graphic design. What we may not have considered though, is how the meaning of these familiar objects distorts when unravelled over several metres, and placed in a gallery environment. Wonder no more, step up Karl Grandin & And Beyond.

Below is a snippet of their interview from the If You Could Collaborate catalogue

Hello, can you tell us what you’ve produced for the show?

By collecting familiar elements from flags, detaching them from their sources and putting them back together in new combinations, we have created a new world in the form of a long flag…

What were the biggest challenges you faced?

Most of our contact was by e-mail or internet chat. Every time we exchanged thoughts we all got enthusiastic but in the chaos of our daily work lives, the project kept being pushed to the back. We had to freshen up a few times and rediscover what we were doing.

What’s your favourite collaboration of all time?

KG. Cheech & Chong.
AB. John & Paul & Ringo & George!

To see the complete If You Could Collaborate feature, click here