liquid space book _ lqs book
including: liquid-space01 and liquid-space02

book design:
LAb[au]
Manuel Abendroth, Jérôme Decock, Els Vermang

dvd design:
LAb[au] and Gert van Berckelaer


about the book design

a hypertext book allowing through its 360° index and modular structure multiple reading modalities and sortings, according to the parameters of: time, space and information

The liquid space book presents audiovisual creations conceived with LAb[au]'s authoring software 'space navigable music' and which have been realized in collaboration with over 30 artists from all over the world during the similarly named workshops. The book design transcribes the spatial and conceptual characteristics of these audiovisual creations based on 360° multi-screen projection and surround sound.

The book contains 36 cards presenting a specific event, concept or creation. These cards are bound together at a single point which allows spinning each page around this point, which becomes the book's central axis. Here the reading of the book progressively forms a disk, a 360 degree space modeled after the similar audiovisual constructs.

Such book bindings don't impose a single reading direction since pages can be turned in clockwise and counterclockwise directions as they don't have a clear front or back side either. As we know from color sample books each page can be taken apart or juxtaposes with any other page giving the entire book a modular and dynamic character: a tool to index the artistic creations. In order to achieve these indexes, a graphical and semantic grid is applied.

The graphical index is based on the CMYK printing code used to identify the chapters of the book. In this manner each of the four primary colors displays one chapter and describes a quarter, 90 degrees, of the book, whereas their gradients replace standard page numbers. This principle attributes to each page a specific color according to its orientation, place, within the circle.

This color chart has also been used for the video index of the DVD situated in the center of the book. When considering the total length of the videos each of its 36 minutes correspond to 10 degrees of the circle. On this basis the length of each video can be represented in a graphic manner, a time index for each chapter printed on the DVD. This 10 degree graduation operates as a protractor for the manipulation of the pages giving the DVD, besides a symbolic place, a functional role linking the printed content to the video. Besides the color indexing each page contains a logo and a print-screen of the project at a defined place completing the graphical index. According to the direction in which the pages of the book are turned these indexes constitute an icon or photo gallery. The semantic indexing of the book is formed by keywords situated at the borders of the pages. Five index terms have been applied to qualify the content: the date and place of production, the type of artist and words capturing the essence of the artistic concept and its technical specificities. Each of these keywords has a defined place on the page forming a proper index of the book allowing for example the grouping together of all pages presenting productions which have been realized in the same country or at the same time, as pages can be sorted according to similar concepts and applied techniques.

Imagineering on the basis of semantic and visual indexes a hypertext book is built up offering multiple reading logics and interconnections throughout the theoretical, technological and artistic aspects of the presented works. In this manner the conception of the book follows the same design method, parameter design, as the audiovisual construct: the content it represents. The book is an information architecture founding a semiotic system out of its constituting data.

book content

1 dvd 36 CMYK pages
= 360° [ C=90°, M=90°, Y=90°, K=90°)
= 36min. of video

C= lqs02 _ deSIGNing by numbers spatial audiovisuals, Brussels , Belgium _ MediaRuimte Map

labau 14 artists / published artists:
Jerry Galle Kathleen de Bodt aka fuzzylogic / NAN , Xavier Gazon aka etschaberry / drumuter , Michiel Helbig aka zufunkt / ffTV , Haeyoung Kim aka Bubblyfish / particle lake, Marc Wathieu / nutshell, Ludovic Pré / track, Chris Burke aka Glomag / numbers rmx

M= lqs01 _ deSIGNforms, Seoul , South Korea _ Art Center Nabi

labau 10 korean artists / published artists:
Ryu Biho / falling flowers, Choi Byoungil / mnemotic spine, Byul / sense,lies and graphic files, Doug Lee / 3d paper, Lee Eun-taek aka futureyetronica / falling flowers, Ryu Han Kil aka daytripper / ryefield, Byungjun / crosswords, Min Sunggi aka transistorhead / metatarsus

Y= lqs _ cycle including: workshop, lectures, exhibition and performances
5pages about liquid space theory by: Lev Manovich, Marcos Novak, LAb[au]
and praxis: Stanza uk

K= space navigable music
labau: sonic space, labau: color space, labau: e.motion space, labau: rhythmic space, labau: cam space, labau: voice space, labau: particle synthesis

1 front cover
1 back cover
1 content table
1 90° _ parameter design

1 dvd 36 CMYK pages
= 360° [ C=90°, M=90°, Y=90°, K=90°)
= 36min. of video

Book Design

a book as architecture
a book as parameter design
a book designed out of data

keywords:project concepts, project logos, keywords:technology, project thumbnails, keywords:methods.

These different parameters structure the lay-out as they are displayed according to degrees and colors constituting the 'space' of the book in direct relation to the principles of the spatial audiovisual creations, which creates through programming a structured relationship in the use of visual sonic and spatial data dispalyed in real time in quadraphony and 360° multi-screens projection. The book thus constitutes a complementary work to the digital, it is based on the same principles _ parameter deSIGN.

DVD design

The dvd contains multiple video edits including an extract of each artist file created during the liquid space 01/ 02 workshops, as a liquid space trailer and an interview of LAb[au], which gives a general presentation of labau's authering tool _ space navigable music, the conceptual and technological basis of the works. In this manner the dvd proposes for each book page a dedicated video file illustrated in the book layout in form of the chapter and time code index.

The dvd deSIGN is based on a graphic interface similar to the 360° book to improve the inter-relationship in-between printed and digital media. Whereas the dvd in the center of the book is the articulation point of the book the dvd on its side operates as a protractor for the book. Both book and dvd uses 360° and color to index the chapters to give an overview of the time index on the one side and a visual code for the printed pages on the other.

dvd content:

36:00:00 of video
03:10:00 liquid space trailer
06:10:00 about space navigable music

11:53:00 about liquid space 01 including 7 artist files
14:06:00 about liquid space 02 including 7 artist fil