DECADE.

30th october to 1st november Trine and me celebrated our 10th anniversary as colleagues and partners with the DECADE exhibition. I haven't had the time to post anything about it until now, so I'm starting with the press letter.

"DECADE": TEN YEARS OF DARKLY RADIANT CHAOS

"Black metal album covers. Ballet, circus and ladies' fashion. Golden diamonds shimmer when Oslo designers Trine and Kim celebrate their first decade.

If it is dark and elegant, you may safely assume that Trine and Kime designed it: record covers, posters and flyers for clients so diverse as Ulver, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Pain Solution and the Norwegian Opera. For ten years Trine and Kim have provided the art world with darkly radiant layouts from their design studio in Oslo East.

One can sum up the work of Trine and Kim in one word: craftsmanship. Be it logos, illustration or photography, the master hand is just as steady. With Norwegian Black Metal as their aesthetic point of departure, Trine and Kim have drawn, etched, painted and engraved their way across multiple genres and art forms. The golden diamond adorning the front page of the literary review Vagant is emblematic in this respect: its simple lines spark the desire of the eye.

After ten years in the business the designers are still hungry: "Decade" is celebrated with the release of two records and a book! There will be a retrospective featuring album covers from Trine and Kim's career, with limited edition prints available for purchase. Works from Trine and Kim's art projects "Psykosedyr"("psychothic plush animals", roughly) and "Unreality" will also be screened.

"Decade" takes place from October 30th to November 1st 2009 at the Podium cultural centre in Oslo (local address: Hausmans gate 34, ten minutes' walking distance from the Oslo S train station). The vernissage on Friday 30th is a closed event and thus requires preregistration."

Cornelius Jakhelln

"Enkelt og greit: Trine og Kim er de flinkeste designerene jeg kjenner. Jeg har jobbet med dem i noe sånt som ti år, siden de snubla nyforelsket ut fra et eller annet grafisk institutt, og jeg tipper det blir et decade til. Jeg liker Trine og Kim som mennesker, de er bra folk, og de har en særlig god intuisjon når det gjelder å gi form (gjerne vektorisert) til mine høytflyvende innskytelser. Out of the blue. In the red. Det er bærre lækkert."

Kristoffer Rygg, ULVER and Jester Records

"It was great to collaborate with Trine and Kim. We gave them a pretty challenging task for the last Mayhem record called "Ordo Ad Chao". When we met the first time to talk about the record I could not tell them really how to manifest "Order to the Chaos" in the artwork. But they just come out with a great idea of symbolism which worked very well; the whole band was very happy and impressed how they managed to combine minimalism and complexity, rustiness and purity, anti-masonic order and alienation... The Great Oppositions. It become a success and we could use some elements of the artwork even for the live performances later. Thank you guys and hails from Mayhem!"

Attila Csihar, Mayhem

"We met Trine and Kim quite late in our motley career - our first cooperation was Trinacria's debut release "Travel Now Journey Infinitely". On my journey towards this designer duo I had an epiphany when I realised how many of their album designs had impressed me without really noticing who stood behind them.
It is herein their unabashed strenght lies: they dive into the material they work with and form something new together with, and beyond the music. This talent is oddly enough unique - as many designers these days seem to work with the purpose of branding their own style on various different artists. It is obvious which design school of thought I lean towards. The work they did for Trinacria was a solid confirmation, and shortly after we teamed up again to collaborate on Enslaved's "Vertebrae". If we get to have it our way this is only the beginning..."

Ivar S. Peersen, Enslaved and Trinacria