Astrid Seme, Studio

graphic design

Contact

Große Neugasse 1/5
1040 Vienna
Austria

+43 677 620 440 05
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About

Astrid Seme, Studio is a graphic design studio based in Vienna. Seme holds both a MFA degree from the Werkplaats Typografie, in the Netherlands and a diploma from University for Applied Arts, Vienna. Rooted within the fields of graphic design and typography her studio works in scopes such as visual identities, websites, books and editorial projects. Next to her design practice she has an ongoing research in typography and its vocal dimensions; resulting in sound works such as Urbirds singing the Sonata or A Book for all Readers. In 2019 she published Baroness Elsa’s em dashes, an anthology dedicated to a single punctuation mark—the em dash.
She also co-runs Mark Pezinger Books, a publishing house for artists’ books.

Teaching

  • Lecturer at Institute of Design (Communication Design), University of Applied Arts Vienna
  • Énsad Nancy, workshop, MA Communication Visuelle
  • écal Lausanne, jury, diploma BA Graphic Design
  • ENSBA Lyon, workshop, BA Design Graphique
  • ENSBA Lyon, jury, Diplôme National d’Art, BA Design Graphique
  • Institute of Arts and Society (Cross-Disciplinary Strategies), workshop, University of Applied Arts Vienna
  • Institute of Design (Communication Design), workshop, University of Applied Arts Vienna
  • New Design University, supervision BA thesis, Graphic and Information Design
  • New Design University, guest lecturer, Graphic and Information Design

Talks

  • Hochschule für Gestaltung, Offenbach
  • École nationale supérieure d’art et de design de Nancy
  • Oslo School of Architecture and Design
  • Rhode Island School of Design
  • University Library, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
  • Camera Austria, Graz
  • Kunsthalle Basel
  • Typogaráž, Bratislava
  • Typografische Gesellschaft, Vienna
  • Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent
  • Typojanchi. Conference at International Typography Biennial, Seoul
  • designhøgskolen, Bergen
  • I never Read, Radio Podcasts. Basel
  • Kunstuniversität Linz
  • Fahrenheit39, Ravenna
  • Print Room, Rotterdam

Acknowledgements, Prizes, Juries, Features

  • Walter Tiemann Honorary Prize (2024)
  • Shortlist – Best Book Design from all over the World, Stiftung Buchkunst (2024)
  • Shortlist – Best German Book Design, Stiftung Buchkunst (2024)
  • Gold Medal – Best Book Design from all over the World, Stiftung Buchkunst (2023)
  • State Prize / Most Beautiful Books Austria (2023, 2022)
  • Most Beautiful Books Austria (2023)
  • Prize Nominee Work. Tokyo Type Directors Club (2021, 2018)
  • Jury. 100 beste Plakate Deutschland Österreich Schweiz
  • Jury. Schönste Bücher Österreich
  • Fikra Graphic Design Biennial, Sharjah, UAE
  • Winner. 100 beste Plakate Deutschland Österreich Schweiz
  • Weltformat 2021 exhibition “We, Ourselves, and Us”
  • 25th Design Biennial, Brno
  • Typojanchi. International Typography Biennial, Seoul (2013, 2023)
  • idea magazine No. 386 (2019) and 362 (2014), Tokyo
  • GRAPHIC magazine vol. 50 (2023), 30 (2014) and 9 (2009), Seoul
  • LetterSeed8, Korean Society of Typography
  • AIGA Eye on Design: Turns out Graphic Design Should Be Heard as Much as Seen (2019) One Dadaist’s Use of the Em Dash (2019)
  • it’s nice that: elevating an artist’s work by challenging it through the lens of design (2019)
  • Annulet Poetics Journal: How—dashing— (2021/22)

Exhibitions (selection)

  • Typojanchi, International Typography Biennale, Seoul
  • The Baroness, Mimosa House London
  • Figures for dashing (solo), Typogaráž, Bratislava
  • Ziiiiuu ennze ziiiiuu nnzkrrmüüüü?, Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven
  • Baroness Elsa’s em dashes (solo), BOEKS Ghent
  • She Is The Future, Kunstverein Langenhagen
  • Foresta Urbana, Museo Palazzo Belmonte Riso, Palermo
  • Exposed Exhibitions – Fotoarchiv der Kunsthalle Basel. icw Doris Lasch; Kunsthalle Basel
  • Hotel Charleroi. Charleroi
  • 9 to 5. Mark Pezinger at WIELS Contemporary Art Center
  • Mark Pezinger works both ways – From Performance to Publication. FRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Marseille
  • Mark Pezinger at Pioneer Works. NYC
  • I fail good. Beursschouwburg. Brussels
  • Museo del arte contemporaneo, Santiago de Chile
  • Mark Pezinger at Kunsthalle Sankt Gallen
  • Electric Eclectics. Festival of experimental music and sound art, Ontario
  • TONSPUR #41 (solo) Berlin

Clients and collaborations (selection)

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Artistic Research Center / mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Belvedere Museum, De Gruyter, dpr-barcelona, Expanded Design, Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Goethe Institut, HDA Graz, Kerber Verlag, Kontakt Collection / Erste Foundation, Kulturakademie Tarabya, Kunsthaus Baselland, mumok Wien, Sperling Galerie, Stephanie Hirschvogel Architekten, TONSPUR Kunstverein Wien, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Verbund Collection, Vienna Insurance Group Art Collection

Publications

“Work? It’s just serious play.” —Saul Bass
© Astrid Seme, 2024; Development: Ezekiel Aquino

As a graphic designer, the themes that have evolved out of my practice are also integral to my ongoing personal explorations into sound based works. These projects are focussed on dissecting discrepancies in form and content between the written and spoken word.

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Figures for dashing / Baroness Elsa’s em dashes

Figures for dashing

The purpose of the em (or en) dash is wide-ranging —as an appropriation of silence, as acting dissonance, as interruption, as occupying space. In the poems by Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, they seem to function more like performers between the words, creating movement and voice within the text. The exhibition shows these dashes in a real space, turning BOEKS into a performative venue.
The sound piece “Figures for dashing” draws upon my book “Baroness Elsa’s em dashes” and is used as a live-score by performers inviting us to dash around too.

Related to the book Baroness Elsa’s em dashes. In connection with the exhibition “BOEKS 05: Astrid Seme”, BOEKS Ghent
Speaker: Brian Day
Performers: Stine Sampers, Naomi Schatteman and Mathilde Strijdonk
Photos exhibition: Cato Vanrijckeghem
Photos performance: Zoë De Bock
Thanks to Liene Aerts

Figures for dashing / Baroness Elsa’s em dashes
Figures for dashing / Baroness Elsa’s em dashes
Figures for dashing / Baroness Elsa’s em dashes
Figures for dashing / Baroness Elsa’s em dashes
Figures for dashing / Baroness Elsa’s em dashes
Figures for dashing / Baroness Elsa’s em dashes
Figures for dashing / Baroness Elsa’s em dashes
Figures for dashing / Baroness Elsa’s em dashes
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Anthology of dashing in print, poetry & performance

About the drag-queen of dashing and her transvestic handwriting: Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven.

The purpose of the em dash is wide-ranging —as an appropriation of silence, as acting dissonance, as interruption, as occupying space.
This anthology zooms into the pointed use of em dashes in the poems of pioneering Dadaist artist, Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (1874 – 1927). Her poems; performances; costumes and life-style all made a point of challenging extremely bourgeois artistic and moral conventions with an unapologetically feminist, proto-punk aesthetic. The reader will find Elsa’s works in conversation with the likes of well-known dashers such as Gertrude Stein, Laurence Sterne, Heinrich von Kleist or the queen of dashing herself Emily Dickinson.
Juxtaposed to Elsa’s expressive handwritten dashes the book connects her biography with the history and the stylistic usage of em dashes within the realms of bibliography, book history, literature, sociology and typography.

Astrid Seme (ed.)
2nd— extended— edition, perfect-bound, 10 × 14.5 cm, 96 pp
Published by Mark Pezinger Books
1st edition published in connection with the exhibition “She Is The Future” at Kunstverein Langenhagen, 2019.
ISBN: 978-3-903353-10-7

Anthology of dashing in print, poetry & performance
Anthology of dashing in print, poetry & performance
Anthology of dashing in print, poetry & performance
Anthology of dashing in print, poetry & performance
Anthology of dashing in print, poetry & performance
Anthology of dashing in print, poetry & performance
Anthology of dashing in print, poetry & performance
Anthology of dashing in print, poetry & performance
Anthology of dashing in print, poetry & performance
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Em dash scarf, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven

A scarf oscillating between writing and performance.

Drape this em-dash over your shoulders. Wear it as a swirling proposition, as a ‘joy mark’. Dash around just like Elsa did, for you are now wearing typography.

—(take a breath)

This em-dash is a homage to Dadaist artist and poet Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (1874 – 1927). Her poems; performances; costumes and lifestyle all made a point of challenging established bourgeois artistic and moral conventions with an unapologetically feminist, proto-punk aesthetic. Elsa’s ‘signature’ in writing was her manic use of em dashes within her poems. In a quick and simple dash, Elsa had found the perfect material for an expansive range of meaning. The em dash is flexible, working as  an appropriation of silence, as acting dissonance, as interruption, as occupying space. The em dash is forceful, able to stamp silence loudly into a page; and when spoken, these punctuation marks seem to function more like performers between words, creating movement and voice within text.

—(take a breath)

Now, with an uncharacteristic flop, the em dash has fallen from the page to become a wearable embodiment of Baroness Elsa’s creative spirit—its fluffy surface brought into being from paper fibers and strands of ink. Having suddenly transformed into a scarf, the em dash oscillates between writing and performance; as it moves through the streets, its intimations are aroused by intention of the wearer.

—(take a breath)

Should you happen to be seen from atop, you will have become a moving line that punctuates space with your lengthy bulge. A figure for dashing, you leave no space on either side. No space between life or art.

Photos: Erli Grünzweil
Edition of 30, Teddy fur, 220 × 32 cm
140 € (plus shipping)
order

icw the book Baroness Elsa’s em dashes

Em dash scarf, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
Em dash scarf, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
Em dash scarf, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
Em dash scarf, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
Em dash scarf, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
Em dash scarf, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
Em dash scarf, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
Em dash scarf, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
Em dash scarf, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
Em dash scarf, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
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A Book for all Readers

A Book for all Readers

“A Book for All Readers” was originally published in an anthology of the same title during the late 19th century. The book itself was conceived as a guide to the formation of libraries and the collection, use, and preservation of books. The poem appears in the chapter entitled ‘humors of the library’ (p. 442).
Rap, itself a deeply historically loaded musical style derived from poetic traditions, was applied to the poem’s printed words through a collaborative process. Thus, the outcome is transformed words; newly made into a ‘Song for All Readers’. The act of rhyming the oration of the sacred librarian line by line echoed the protest songs and slogans being sung at the time: demanding #FreeEducationForAll and open access to knowledge for future generations.

FREE DOWNLOAD

In collaboration with Sizwe Mthethwa and Thapelo Kotlai. ‘abfar’ was created during a stay in Johannesburg where increasingly violent student protests over the rising cost of education also led to a positive downstream outcome in the form of a free online university being made available at major local libraries.

A Book for all Readers
A Book for all Readers
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Urbirds singing the Sonata

Urbirds singing the Sonata

There has never been complete consensus on what the key influences on Kurt Schwitters were when he was preparing his sound poem “Ursonate” (1922–1932). One myth claims he was inspired by bird sounds.
I strongly believe this to be true and wanted to bring the birds back their primordial song—their Ursonate. “Urbirds singing the Sonata” narrates and describes what Kurt Schwitters might have heard when he wrote his poem.

6.0 sound, 32' 39". Thanks to Thomas Grill


Images
1) Installation view, Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven, DE; Photo: Ricardo Nunes
2) Schwitters, K. (1974). “Das literarische Werk”. Cologne: DuMont.
3) Notation, Astrid Seme
4) Installation view, Sonar Park/Institute of Media Archeology, AT; Photo: Maximilian Pramatarov


Texts

Urbirds singing the Sonata
Urbirds singing the Sonata
Urbirds singing the Sonata
Urbirds singing the Sonata
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Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)

Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Founrdy)

Kerning pairs are something profoundly technical in a typeface, yet this is where each one draws its breath from. Initially invisible, in «Kerning to Speech» they become their very own literary script. And it is only with Houdini, Triptych, Compagnie, Polymer, Vulture and Vulgaire that this piece of text evolves to a notation which is meant to be performed and meant to be heard. In a medieval manner the speaker uses her eyes to hear, modelling her perception of the written word upon the experience of the spoken one. Instead of mumbling, the kerning pairs get loudly pronounced as the reader goes along. Moreover, in the tradition of the voces paginarum [voices of the page] they become a persona and tune into the chorus of the Pyte’s type catalogue.

Icw The Pyte Foundry
Speaker: Doris Meixner

Compagnie I (0:00)
Compagnie II (0:43)
Compagnie III (1:36)
Houdini (2:48)
Polymer (4:31)
Triptych Grotesque (5:21)
Triptych Italick (6:46)
Triptych Regular (7:59)
Vulgaire (8:51)
Vulture (9:49)
Mega Ultra (11:04)

Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)
Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)
Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)
Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)
Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)
Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)
Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)
Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)
Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)
Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)
Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)
Kerning to Speech (The Pyte Foundry)
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Het Liedeken

Het Liedeken

“Het Liedeken” is a forgotten song restaged. It finds its origins in a ceremonial song that was sung by printers from the famous Plantin-Moretus Press—located in Antwerp, Belgium. Founded by Christophe Plantin, the press played a profound role in Europe’s book printing trade from the 16th to 17th centuries. Upon acceptance into the printing guild, new journeymen would celebrate together with their Godfathers and reaffirm their commitment to their work by singing this very song. One of the requests made in the lyrics is for good treatment and fair pay to ensure their work’s proper quality.

Today, only the lyrics of this song remain and as such, its performative value has been rendered somewhat uncertain by the loss of its melody. I invited a group of employees from the Plantin-Archives that are located in the original site of the press—now a world heritage site—to join me in speculating on what its sound, or melody, might have been. Each person was asked to sing the song with a melody and tone they imagined would have been sung by their ancestral co-workers, thus creating on record an implausible continuation of oral history.

4.0 sound, 1' 29''
in order of appearance and many thanks to: Werner Van Hoof (curator historic house), Kris Geysen (cataloger of rare books), Pierre Meulepas (assistant) and Elke Van Herck (conservator-restorer of paper and books)
print: Museum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerp, UNESCO World Heritage

Het Liedeken
Het Liedeken
Het Liedeken
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Silo Music (text composition)

Silo Music

Silo Music is refers to an acoustic phenomenon which can occur during the emptying of a metal or concrete silo. Although its name might connote a pleasant melody, Silo Music in fact refers to an extremely loud noise from within the silo’s structure as its contents are discharged. These frequencies and vibrations can result in serious structural damage to silos and their surroundings, and have been the subject scientific research worldwide. This could explain why there are hardly any recordings of it, as it is more likely for people to want to solve ‘a noise problem’, rather than listen to it for its sonic qualities. My work, “Silo Music” is a score of these unforeseeable sounds composed with reference to acoustic descriptions of the sound made by scientists. For this particular recording, the score acted as a starting point for an improvised re-interpretation by Swiss musicians Daniel Steffen and Beat Unternährer.

concert by Beat Unternährer (trombone) and Daniel Steffen (electric piano), 28' 28''

Silo Music (text composition)
Silo Music (text composition)

Silo Music

A generous, non-delicate uttering, even audible in the great distance of the urban environment; present and very centered with very little echo disturbances from the vacant site.

From high up the volume drags to the ground and fades into the soil; unpleasantly rude like a ship’s horn right above your head.

Suddenly a curious rattling sound is emitted which changes to a distinct musical note, reminding of a honking truck; followed by a flogging, like after a hard strike, rapidly fading tune with a metallic character. It comes over and over again. Very similar to the swing of a church bell with strikes that appear in very quick but irregular successions; so a new one begins while the preceding one still fades away.

The tension of the sound is broken by seconds or even minutes of relative quiet. Almost silence—but only almost, never entirely: still the sound keeps thundering in fragmented intervals, breaking the quiet in two.

Vibrations accompanied by a booming low frequency during the discharge. Again short, sharp bursts of motion occur: shrill, particularly obnoxious. The silo cries, it’s screeching and quaking, it’s dynamic. Now, it’s so loud that it could ruin itself due to the vibrations, even causing its collapse.

Silo Music (text composition)
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88 Sleeping Disorders

88 Sleeping Disorders

Sleeping disorders are internationally classified into 88 categories that range from “Long Sleep” to “Psychophysiologic Insomnia”. In this sound piece, a calm male voice recites one disorder after another, in a recital reminiscent of the long fabled method of ‘counting sheep’ to get to sleep. At last, the 88 categories of sleep disorders have been remodelled into a sleep inducing list as opposed to one focussed entirely on sleep deprivation.

2.0, speaker: Matthias Lühn, 10' 17"

88 Sleeping Disorders
88 Sleeping Disorders
88 Sleeping Disorders
88 Sleeping Disorders
88 Sleeping Disorders
88 Sleeping Disorders
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Wien Mitte

Wien Mitte

“Astrid Seme has found a space for resonance within the gaps inherent in spoken language. In typography, a blank space is typically understood to be static—defined by formal conventions which if threatened, could be seen to threaten the entire structural integrity of a text. Space between spoken words, on the other hand, is ephemeral; less defined, less subject to formal evidential scrutiny and thereby fertile ground for new explorations. In her piece, Wien Mitte [Vienna Center], Astrid has located resonance between the two words “Wien” and “Mitte”. Performed by a male voice, this piece slowly zooms into the point at the center of the two words, between “n” and “M”, paying special attention to the short break that is necessary to link the words together. What sounds at first like linguistic analysis becomes increasingly abstract, until it eventually evolves into a musical tune—a cello playing at the center of Vienna Center.” —Mark Pezinger

2.0, speaker: Bruno Pisek, 5' 29"

Wien Mitte
Wien Mitte
Wien Mitte
Wien Mitte
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