Heroes: Crabs, Batu Caves & Stefan.
November 3rd, 2009
Before meeting Stefan Sagmeister, I’ve always imagined him being somebody totally out of reach, would expect him to answer questions very rigidly and probably not very easy to start a conversation with him and keep it going. He was totally the opposite. And I sure am glad that I had the rare opportunity to spend an evening with him.
After a talk which he was giving in Kuala Lumpur sometime ago, my colleagues and I were asked to accompany Stefan for a little tour to somewhere which he might be interested to visit around Kuala Lumpur city. Before boarding our transport, we had in minds to take him to Central Market, where the art scene is probably most happening around the city. But while discussing with him where he wants to visit, he gave an answer which surprised me; Batu Caves.
I admit I have not yet been up the caves before that. And while being asked by him whether I have been up there or not, I could not help but feel a little bit embarrassed and answer with an honest ‘no’. Same goes with the rest of the gang. We were also accompanied by Stefan’s friend, Alexander, who was then an artist in Bangkok. He told me that they both meet when Stefan hitch-hiked from his hometown back in Vienna. And I asked him if he had that funny long extreme left-parting hairstyle back then, he said yes with a huge laugh.
Like Neville Brody, he was also interested in the cultural heritage which Malaysia has. He spoke of his wish to visit the Islamic Arts Museum and also other spots which have deep roots in forming the Malaysia we know of today.
Batu Caves was almost an hours ride from the talk venue so we had lots of time to chat. We talked on his new projects back then like the famous digitally woven spider web which gets ripped everytime a viewer’s reflection passes it and reconstructs itself time and time again. Also we talked about the capabilities of new media and upcoming technological gizmos which seems really fascinating to talk about especially with him. He seems so interested in the advantages these things can offer. We also talked about Neville Brody; on being politically correct in design conferences (I’ll keep this open to your imagination). And also photoshop drop shadow effects.
We arrived and climb the stairs up to the caves. Up there, we were analyzing shapes of rocks which look almost like hanging alligators. And also stood silently observing the monks doing their prayer routines. We had a some drinks after that and then talked a little a project where he was commissioned to design a packaging for a cigarette company which did not manage to hit the market.
On the way to the seafood restaurant, we spoke of the newly reunited David Lee Roth and Van Halen gig. And he spoke of him being a band which he played flute in. Also touched a little or two about religion and beliefs. Over dinner we had more conversations about our lifestyles. Things that we do in our weekends and off times.
It won’t be until a few weeks later when we would meet in Goa for a design conference. It felt really warm talking to him and do a little catch up on things. The airline company actually misplaced his bags into another flight on that trip! But he sure does seem like he is having a great time during the conference.
After all that being said, I learned two important things from him:
And also, being as honest as possible in life.
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Stefan Sagmeister is probably what every young designer in my era look up to for inspiration and want to be like. He has designed album covers for the Rolling Stones, the Talking Heads, Live, etc. He is very tall.
