And There Will Be Light

Humour, subversion and ink

Both graduates of the School for Design in Biel, Bastien Aubry (1971) and Dimitri Broquard (1969), founded their graphic design company, Flag, in 2002 in Zurich. Although they offer typographic design services through Flag, they have published works of art as well; Dimitri Broquard produced the book “Beatles, Mordillo and Vasarely” and Bastien Aubry created a postcard series entitled “Woodcuts.” They were also members of the group “Silex,” whose diverse and unorthodox drawings and illustrations were published widely throughout various magazines during 1995 to 2004. Finally, the publication “There Will Be Light” comprises Flag’s “secret manifesto” after years of undercover work.

The overarching concept of the book—each page is printed using less and less black ink, until the last page, which is empty—may sound unusually strict in its description. On the contrary, not only are the individual drawings, cartoons, depictions of installation works, shadow plays, photographs, and montages amusing, the concept itself is full of humor. Take the title, for example: if you compare it to the relevant passage of the bible, you will find all the pages (except for the last) show the situation prior to Creation. The end of the book signifies the beginning of Earth: a blank page.

Each piece, and the book itself, stand as individual works, describing stories, events, or jokes. The beautiful and ugly, good designs and the deformed, are equal in this original whirlwind of gold, cardboard, polystyrene and—black ink.

Only available by les presses du réel. Limited stock.