{"id":429722,"date":"2026-02-17T03:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T03:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/429722\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T03:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T03:21:11","slug":"absurd-unsettling-or-erotic-carl-anders-archive-of-instructional-imagery-forms-an-obscure-new-photobook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/429722\/","title":{"rendered":"Absurd, unsettling or erotic? Carl Ander\u2019s archive of instructional imagery forms an obscure new photobook"},"content":{"rendered":"

This visual investigation led Carl to collate a selection of images from the collection into a photobook: Static Motion<\/a>. Published by LL\u2019Editions<\/a> and designed by Lundgren+Lindqvist<\/a>, the publication re-contextualises this found imagery, encouraging viewers to look at it anew. Detached from their utilitarian beginnings, the photographs \u201cinvite new readings; at times absurd or humorous, at others unsettlingly violent or erotic\u201d, shares Carl. \u201cHere, they can be viewed in an alternative way and di\ufb00erent meanings can arise.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just the absence of instructions that changes the way we look at these images. The book\u2019s strategic pairings across spreads create a dialogue between unrelated photographs: an image illustrating the correct way to hold a table tennis paddle is paired with a pressure technique that looks like it\u2019s designed to tackle a migraine. Absurd and conspicuous combinations, that create new meanings when paired, these were something that quite naturally \u201cemerged through the book\u2019s sequencing process itself, where certain images naturally found their place and others were set aside, to serve the narrative and overall flow\u201d, share designers Andreas Friberg Lundgren and M\u00f3nica Tom\u00e1s of studio Lundgren+Lindqvist.<\/p>\n

For the designers, the book\u2019s layout was an intuitive process: \u201cmemory played a central role, as particular images resurfaced in our minds along the way as ideal pairings or counterpoints\u201d, Andreas says. Despite its loose, flexible structure, one thing the pair did aim to preserve in the book was as much variety as possible. It was important that the book\u2019s contents span across \u201csubjects, gestures, body parts, genders, colours and layout\u201d, says M\u00f3nica, \u201cso that the book would be dynamic and reflect the diverse nature of the source material.\u201d<\/p>\n

Far from a rational framework to acquaint these images in, Carl\u2019s aim was to highlight the sense of ambiguity and contradiction he found within many of the photographs. Essentially, the weirder the better: \u201cWhen confronted with an image I wanted to find myself asking: What\u2019s going on here?\u201d. What once served as infographics might now function \u201cas an index of the body\u2019s gestures\u201d, Carl concludes. \u201cOr act as testimonials for limitations of the photographic medium. It\u2019s up to each person to ponder on alternative logics and meanings.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This visual investigation led Carl to collate a selection of images from the collection into a photobook: Static…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-429722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}