Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging edited by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog issue 23, ‘Articulated Models’, published in support of an exhibition by Ott Metusala at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design in Tallinn, September 2023.

Photographs by Mari Volens.

Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog issue 22, ‘Beard. Man. Jug. Rubble. Woman. Vessel’, it’s part of a sub-series on near invisibility.

Photographs by Anu Vahtra.

Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog issue 21, ‘Impressed’, it’s part of a sub-series on near invisibility. Published on the occasion of the exhibition ‘Dear Friend’ at EKA Gallery, Tallinn in September 2022. This issue of Catalog was produced during a residency period at Air Berlin Alexanderplatz, May-August 2022.

Presentation at Air Berlin Alexanderplatz, photographs by Stefanie De Bakker.

Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog issue 20, ‘Hard Sun’, it’s part of a sub-series on near invisibility. Images in this Catalog were produced by exposure: to the sunlight of Athens, Brussels and Tallinn, and to the heat inside a Berlin apartment, between September 2021 and May 2022. Published on the occasion of the exhibition ‘Penny in the Fountain’ at VBKÖ, Vienna in July 2022.

Photographs by Anu Vahtra.

Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog issue 19, Shimmer, Slice, Accretion; it’s part of a sub-series on near invisibility. Formally, each publication is an offset-printed A2 sheet folded into a signature. The series will be compiled into a book. This is done in the trust that the presentations, talks and conversations that stem from one issue's publication will influence the next issue. And the next. And the next.

Photographs by Anu Vahtra and Lieven Lahaye.

‘Catalog’ is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog issue 18, ‘A sense of where you are’, published in an edition of 250 annotated copies, 2021.

Photographs by Anu Vahtra.

Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog issue 17, ‘Introduction’, it’s part of a sub-series, researching the life, work and near invisibility of writer Duncan Smith (1954–1991).

‘Everybody wants exposure’ by Duncan Smith. Originally published in BOMB Magazine, Issue 10, Fall 1984. Republished in The Age of Oil (Slate Press, 1987). Reprinted here with permission.

‘Tracing Overexposure’ by Joke Robaard. Archive images selected and mapped in collaboration with Line Arngaard.

‘Impressed’ by Lieven Lahaye. Versions of this text were presented at IIIAA (Berlin, July 2019), Gerrit Rietveld Academie Library (Amsterdam, January 2020), Lugemik-Hulda Bookshop (Tallinn, July 2020), Hopscotch Reading Room (Berlin, August 2020).

Photographs by Anu Vahtra.

Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog #16, ‘Annotations’, it’s a collection of sources, notes, annotations, traces, paths and earworms related to ongoing research.

This research started when I first read Duncan Smith’s essay ‘Everybody wants exposure’ (originally published in ‘The age of oil’ and republished in ‘Larry Johnson : Commie pinko guy’), an essay on the speculative relationship between developing photographs and fading denim jeans. The research only really took off, however, after reading the first line of Raphael Rubinstein’s article on Duncan Smith: ‘The near invisibility, online as well as off, of writer Duncan Smith (1954-1991) is a stark reminder of how thoroughly information can go missing, or never emerge at all.’

This Catalog is published to coincide with a talk by Lieven Lahaye at the library of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie – Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam, February 25, 2020. Thanks to: Anita Burato, Pieter Verbeke, Fales Library and Special Collections, NYU. Published with the support of the Mondriaan Fund.

The first of a series of publications, detailing ongoing research, inspired by the work of writer Duncan Smith. Formally, each publication is an A2 offset printed sheet, folded into a signature. The series will be compiled into a book, tentatively titled 'Can't do hard sun whim'.

Photographs by Anu Vahtra

‘Catalog’ is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog #15, ‘The age of oil / Duncan Smith’, produced for a talk by Lieven Lahaye, as part of IIIAA, July 2019, Berlin.

Produced in support of a talk on the near invisibility, online as well as off, of writer Duncan Smith. The talk is structured around a reading of 'Everybody wants exposure' – an essay by Duncan Smith about the connection between the process of developing photographs and the fading of denim jeans.

IIIAA – or: The Intensive Independent International Amateur Academy, was organised by Kasia Fudakowski, Philipp Modersohn and Marietta Auras, July 22nd-28th, Salon am Moritzplatz, Berlin.

Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog #14, printed by Colorama on the occasion of ‘Books on Books’ — a week-long event on the topic of publishing and collecting, hosted by Anna Bergquist, Johanna Maierski and Kathrin Schömer. Berlin, August 2017.

An overview and addendum to the previous 13 Catalogs: providing context, corrections and follow-up.

“Catalog“ is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog #13, produced for a toast, as part of “Signals from the Periphery“, curated by Elisabeth Klement and Laura Pappa at Tallinn Art Hall, July 2017.

Kitchen towel, used as crib notes for a toast — to cataloging! — as part of the public program of ‘Signals from the periphery’.

“Catalog“ is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog #13, produced for a toast, as part of “Signals from the Periphery“, curated by Elisabeth Klement and Laura Pappa at Tallinn Art Hall, July 2017. November 2019. Edition of 10.

“Catalog“ is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog #12: “Stone“, a follow-up to Catalog #10: “Rock“. It keeps track of a stone… a stone that Phil Baber collected from a dike in the Amsterdam harbor, in order to split it in half, as part of a performance. Afterwards, it stood next to his bed for five years. He eventually reprised it as a prop for a different performance, and then left it on the square in front of the gallery… which is where Ott and I picked it up. We drove it to the other side of the city and used it as a doorstop at another gallery that was hosting an exhibition which I was part of. Afterwards, we too rolled it in front of the gallery and left it there, hidden behind a bigger stone. If you ever need a stone in Amsterdam — they’re really hard to find here — you can use this one. This catalog was distributed during the Kunstverein Friday Walk of June 2nd, 2017. We walked from Kunstverein Amsterdam, at Hazenstraat 28 to the stone, at WG-Plein… and back.

Produced as part of ‘Hey, let’s hang out in parks etc.’, a week of events in and around Kunstverein Amsterdam, curated by Lieven Lahaye. ‘The week included an opening toast on Monday and an exhibition in my living room on Tuesday. I work at a library Wednesday–Friday so I invited my friend, artist Nolwenn Salaün to visit me there on Wednesday. Thursday was a day of taking breaks. Friday, this walk. Stole Kunstverein’s bottle opener on Saturday. On Sunday, there was a table read of a play about the time Gianmaria Andreetta and myself visited an exhibition by Lotte Schröder.

“Catalog“ is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog #11, “The Concept of Environmental Sculpture”, which, if instructions (1 2 3 4) are followed, will turn into a paper airplane. Published as part of Fanfare inc. Chaumont, on the occasion of the Graphic Design Biennial of Chaumont, 2017.

Second attempt at producing a publication that could be folded into an object (after Catalog #5 could be folded into a hat). A flaw, inherent to these publications, is that you need to follow instructions, printed on the very sheet you’re trying to fold. Content of this Catalog was assembled from the collection of the Rietveld-Sandberg library.

“Catalog” is a serial publication about cataloging, written and published by Lieven Lahaye, designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog #10, “Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock“, it catalogs functional rocks. Contributions by Randall Adams, Ronja Andersen, Line Arngaard, Phil Baber, Bram van den Berg, Koenraad Dedobbeleer, Naomi van Dijck, Andy Dufresne, Halla Einarsdóttir, Yana Foqué, Annie Goodner, Rudy Guedj, Karl Hedin, Albert Markovski, Lauritz Meier Andersen, Märt Metusala, Ott Metusala, Claudia Pagès Rabal, Laura Pappa, Will Pollard, The Ramones, Red, Julio Reyes Montesinos, and Bart Simpson. This catalog is published on the occasion of the exhibition “Failed to Sync“ at Punt WG, Amsterdam. October 30th – November 30th, 2016. Second edition, November 2019.

Installation view, as part of the exhibition ‘Failed to Sync’, at Punt WG, Amsterdam.

“Catalog” is a serial publication about cataloging, written and published by Lieven Lahaye, designed by Ott Metusala, this is Catalog no.9 “Stool, Bastien, Cat, Lamp” and is a provisional catalog of provisional furniture, published as part of the exhibition “Do It Yourself” at Bröhan-Museum, Berlin, September 30th, 2016 – January 29th, 2017. Take one.

Produced as part of an installation at Bröhan Museum. No documentation exists, as the installation and stack of Catalogs mysteriously disappeared before we had a chance to visit the exhibition.

This is catalog no. 8, Every copy of S,M,L,XL I’ve ever seen. Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging, written by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. Published in collaboration with Atoll K., imprint of San Serriffe – www.san-serriffe.com – www.atoll-k.com – Amsterdam, 2016 – ISBN: 978-90-825977-0-7 – This publication is supported by the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts.

An essay on the Rem Koolhaas book ‘Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large’, printed on the back of 5 bumper stickers, each depicting the spine of a different edition. Documentation of book launch, at San Serriffe, Amsterdam. Car, courtesy of Bart de Baets.

Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging; written and published by Lieven Lahaye, designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog no. 7, “It could barely be taller while being safe“, it catalogs forms of vertical organisation and takes a position, strongly in favor of the stack and against the pile. It is being published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name at Plan B, Amsterdam (September 17th – October 1st, 2016).

Catalogs — again — (as in Catalog #2) forms of vertical organization and — again — takes a position, strongly in favor of ‘the stack’, against ‘the pile’. It was made as part of an exhibition and seen here, displayed as a stack (of posters). Visitor on the right sports a Brancusi sticker on their shirt, also produced as part of the exhibition.

Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging, written and published by Lieven Lahaye and – usually – designed by Ott Metusala but is – in this case – designed by Lieven Lahaye and typeset by Bram van den Berg. This is Catalog no.6, Lamps, it collects notes for a talk about lamps made, when needed, with materials at hand. Occasion for the talk was the presentation of Ott Metusala’s book Nobody Expected There Would Be So Much Discussion About It at San Serriffe, Amsterdam, July 7th 2016. The book, published by Lugemik in 2016, discusses Kirsti Metusala’s work as a lamp designer at Experimental Plant Estoplast , the leading producer of light fixtures and switches in the Soviet Union. Much of Kirsti Metusala’s design decisions were motivated by working in the factory system, designing lamps on the basis of available materials, brought into the factory by bureaucrats.

Produced in support of a talk on provisional design, contrived design and the problem of coming up with your own nickname.

“Catalog” is a serial publication about cataloging, written & published by Lieven Lahaye and designed by Ott Metusala. This is catalog no.5, “Yes, No & Maybe” and provides a catalog of reference material, related to “B.Y.U #47 : HAT NIGHT AT B.Y.U.”, a theme night about always, sometimes and never wearing hats

Produced in support of ‘Hat Night’, a theme night and toast by Lieven Lahaye, in the context of Kunstverein Amsterdam’s ‘Bob’s Your Uncle’ programme, taking place in a bar, designed by Robert Wilhite.

Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging, written & published by Lieven Lahaye, designed by Ott Metusala. This is Catalog no.4 “How much is too much?“, it aims to catalog desperate measures, by way of the metric system. It is a series of 8 measurement tapes, produced on the occasion of the 27th International Biennial of Graphic Design Brno.

Produced as a contribution to a book, presented at the 27th International Biennial of Graphic Design Brno, in an IKEA-style living room setup.

Catalog is a serial publication about cataloging, written and published by Lieven Lahaye, designed by Ott Metusala. This is catalog no.3, This is Pepe, and accompanies the public reading of Lieven Lahaye’s essay “Xeroxing” about copy machines, sloppy ethics and sloppy esthetics, performed as part of Stephan Blumenschein’s exhibition at The Bookstore, Amsterdam, May 28th 2016.

Produced in support of the public reading of an essay about my worn down copy machine. Inspired by thanks lists from hardcore/punk fanzines and records, this Catalog is filled with inside jokes. As a benchmark, jokes were only included if they could be understood by Jonas Kinet — editor of Breakaway fanzine (one issue published) and ‘I don’t wanna see’ newsletter (two issues published).

“Catalog“ is a serial publication about cataloging, written and published by Lieven Lahaye, designed by Ott Metusala. This issue, “Stacks“ (Cat. no.2) aims to 1: Catalog forms of vertical stacking and 2. Come out strongly against the pile, in favor of the stack. This issue is published to coincide with the presentation of Lieven Lahaye’s “It could barely be taller while being safe“ during the “Offcourse“ fair, April 21-24th at Le Dynastie, Brussels.

Produced in an edition of 10.000 copies and used as pedestals for tiny sculptures.

This is Catalog n°1, “Altoids Tins”, published on the occasion of the group exhibition “Good Ways” (with Bastien Gachet and Johan Jensen Kjeldsen at Tetterode, Amsterdam, March 9-13th, 2016). “Catalog” is a serial publication about cataloging. Written and published by Lieven Lahaye, designed by Ott Metusala. Text sources: Ernesto Oroza — “Cuba’s DIY Inventions from 30 Years of Isolation”, Jerry Seinfeld and Kathleen Madigan — “Comedians in cars getting coffee”.

Produced in support of an exhibition of repurposed Altoids Tins. The nicest one housed a miniature sound system that played the intro of Link Wray’s ‘Rumble’ on repeat.