After The New World: the bold futuristic Mart by Geebird & Bamby

The idea for Mart dates all the way back to 2009. "Around the same time The New World was conceived" notes Geebird & Bamby, the creative venture of Robert G. Achtel (b. 1980, Wiesbaden, Germany) and Jens Bambauer (b. 1981, Wetzlar, Germany) which was initiated in 2009 and by 2012 presented us with the highly acclaimed “The New World Series I“.

“While it was clear from the beginning that the pieces would present shelves full of merchandise, this early note provides a vague idea of the inspiration behind Mart: ‘An elderly lady looking a million dollars. She remembers her grand life through the haze of daily happy hours at the formal dining room. An empty chair next to her. Prosperity and destruction are served on gold-edged plates around here. As the sun sets, she’s taking her Cadillac to the supermarket.’ At the time, however, the realization of this vision seemed all but intimidating to us”.

Mart began in 2014 and after three years of inventing the brands, the packaging design and the composition of the final shelves -“innumerable iterations would be required for each of these steps, as they turned out to inform each other significantly” note the duo- this new project is available to all.

“The process we developed to bring ‘Mart’ to life allowed us to work on a somewhat excessive level of detail (these are 125 megapixel images), exploiting the native resolution of the Durst Lambda, the photomechanical printer utilized to expose the images. The shelf system we established will allow us to show products of any size within the same format, while always presenting them accurately in their original size. With three pieces released, we’re not done with ‘Mart’ yet. There is literally more in store, and there are already hints as to what the next ones may be scattered on our website. At this time, however, we focus on the production and exhibition of the first three pieces - the sheer size of them prevents exhibiting, handling and shipping them from being an afterthought”.

The series "Mart" by Geebird&Bamby™ explores aspects of consumer culture by staging an ostensibly lighthearted, material world inside the American supermarket of the late 20th century. The series’ juxtaposition of truth and invention as well as abundance and depletion echo the struggles of man with a life overexposed to advertising, torn between desire and disgust, sometimes blatantly so, at other times concealed.

Geebird & Bamby will be be part of the 2018 Palm Springs, CA Modernism Week, presenting "Mart" and "The New World" at the Modernism Show on February 16th thru 19th at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

The 18th Annual Palm Springs Modernism Show will feature 85 premier American and international dealers offering decorative and fine arts representing all design movements of the 20th century.