IN SITU – on The Hague’s underground scene
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Client:
Bertus Gerssen
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Type of work:
Book Design & Exhibition
IN SITU is a 180-page photo documentary on The Hague's underground music scene by photographer Bertus Gerssen. The book is riso-printed in black and white, and on black and white paper. It features photos from the Hague’s underground music scene from 2013 to 2015 and is an hommage to now mostly defunct DIY stages, squatted art spaces and tough-as-nails artists and crowds.
On September 31st 2018, the book made the student selection of the ‘Best Dutch Book Designs / Best Verzorgde Boeken 2017’ and was on display at the accompanying exhibition at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
A comment from the Panel Report: “This book is about the underground music scene of The Hague. You could think of a lot of shapes that such a book should have, but none would be the one that is chosen here. This makes it an interesting book. At first glance, it has an expensive appearance, but when you look closer the rawness seeps through. In contrast to the almost-velvet paper, the booklet is bound together in one fold and is left uncut. At first, it feels heavy and important but the ink and paper that are used leave your hands feeling a bit grimy at the end – a great metaphor for the photos that are shown in the book.”
The book features an in-depth prologue on the Hague’s once vibrant underground scene by one of it’s main protagonists, Guy Tavares, known from the illustrious Motorwolf Records.
The book is bound with a cahier stitch, folded and left uncut, as a reference to DIY risograph and photocopied punk and underground zines.
The risograph print gives the photos a very fine, grainy structure. And after some browsing the ink will make your hands feel a little bit smeared, as if you’ve been ‘underground’ as well.
The book was released – very appropriately in a cellar – during REWIRE Festival in The Hague, accompanied by some of the musical protagonists in the book and risograph posters on the walls.
