Mimesis explores creative authorship and the shifting role of technology in artistic processes. The project originated from a poetry night held on 30 June 2023 at Limestone Books in Maastricht, where seven poets shared their work alongside an “eighth poet”: Scott the Dot-Matrix Printer, operated by the DuctTape Collective, who generated live printed interpretations of each performed piece.

The book is a collective work by Florian Cramer, theo ploeg, LDH, María Voth Velasco, Jody Aikman, Jean-Shelia Messi, Britt van Baaren, Malu Ebenau, DuctTape Collective, Scott the Dot-Matrix Printer, editor Merle Findhammer and designer Doğa Gönüllü – with support from the Stimuleringfonds Creative Industries.

The phenomenon of the Kazakh new wave (Казахская Новая Волна) is a not yet unraveled phenomenon. It appeared on the border of the eras when the Soviet Union existed, and continued into the era of independence. Perhaps it was the films of the Kazakh “wave” that formed a sense of freedom in our minds. Novovolnovtsy came to the cinema and, as it is sung in the song of Viktor Tsoi, they said: “We will continue to act!”

This book is not only a story about how the “Kazakh new wave” was formed and strengthened, how it conquered the world, surprising the audience with its European style of writing and Asian temperament. Six interviews with directors, graduates of the workshop of Sergei Solovyov, are master classes in creating world-class cinema. Reviews from film critics from New York to Singapore are an indication that our “wave” has never been a local phenomenon, but had a global reach.

Gulnara Abikeeva (Гульнара Абикеева) is a film critic, professor at ALMAU, and the author of eleven books on cinema.

Tselinny Publishing. Almaty, 2021
ISBN 978–601–06–7425–7
200×260 mm, 400 p., 1,200 copies
Paper: Stora Enso 65 g/m²

A new website for the fictional publishing house Глущенкоиздат (Gluschenkoizdat) continues the storyline of creating an image of a large, existing organization with its roots dating back to the 80s. The site structure, visual language and tone of voice are following this task.

The texts are written on behalf of the publisher in a recognizable formal language. Exhibitions are described as if they're the publisher stands at an Expos. The reference sections inherent in large publishers have been compiled in detail: internships, information for authors, branches, information about the publisher.

Visual language slightly refers to the aesthetics of the late 1980s office. So, instead of lines, hyphens are used, and all texts are typed in mostly one size and using just Quant Antiqua (98% Literaturnaya look-alike with 50% discount at the Paratype store). The site feels as if printed on an electronic typewriter. The text and graphic elements are made in blue, referring to the color of carbon paper or blue ink for the typewriter tape. A select number pages use Journal Sans (for headlines). Journal was stretched and used for the Глущенкоиздат logo.

Gluschenkoizdat even starts its own residence: an element of organization, considered in Russia as the prerogative of large and wealthy institutions. The site announced the creation of a residence for writers and researchers Pioneer Resort, located on the Baltic Sea coast, with shifts of 3 months. The residence will actually exist, the first shift has already taken place and, based on its results, a 100 copies edition of the book will be published and an event will be held in Kaliningrad.

All pages of the site start with the order number and circulation: it is assumed that site is designed for a limited amount of visits, just like the printed matter.

Benign Duplicates is a limited edition publication, presenting twelve days from the diaries (1962) and photographs (1954–1993) from the archive of Nikolai Kozakov. Under the moniker of publishing House Gluschenkoizdat, Kozakov’s notes and images were processed in various productions including this English edition, an audio drama and a website with the same diary excerpts as used for this booklet.

(...) In writing down his every step, Kozakov remains unknowable, like outer space — the conquest of which he devotes so much attention to in his notes. Who is he? A man of the ‘60s? An intellectual wretch? Your father’s older brother? Anti-Semite? Loser? Poet? Extraterrestrial? The diary is clearly not intended for anyone else to read: Kozakov writes it for himself and remains hermitically sealed within its text, exposing the reader to the principal and tragic impenetrability of “the Other.” Kozakov’s peculiar relationship with reality has no parallel in today’s world. It is like a message in a bottle that he sent not 50, but 500 years ago. (...) — book cover text by Maria Kuvshinova

1962, Soviet Union. On the brink of inevitable coming of communism, Nikolai Kozakov, a truck driver from the Gorky region, steals from the collective farm property, goes to Kazakhstan to work on the gas pipeline construction and is treated for stuttering by hypnosis in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov. Behind the ostentatious masculinity — he hunts, rides a motorcycle and is constantly drunk — Kozakov hides a secret life of a man with developed taste, a subtle observer, a student of ancient mythology. He writes poetry, takes photographs, pities himself and falls in love, perhaps too often. — Grigor Atanesian, Gluschenkoizdat publishers

Text and headlines are set with Journal (Paratype), and Akzidenz Grotesk is used for the introduction paragraph on the book cover and for captions. A few numerals use Journal Sans.

Edited by K. Gluschenko
Translated from Russian, by B. McGarr and M. Shipley.
200×260 mm, 128 pages, first edition of 10 copies
Order № 184.