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Wertzeichen Europoa
Practice + Theory / A. Pohancenik
The sum of its parts

The (shortened) quotation from the Greek Philosopher Aristotle is a good starting point for discussing European values.

Learning from the past and from each other and looking at old things through new eyes and drawing the necessary conclusions appear to fit perfectly into the European Tradition. A certain emergence results when the interaction between the elements of a system leads to the spontaneous development of new characteristics and structures.

The implementation of this idea in a graphic stamp combines ?, the classic symbol for “sum” (the Greek letter Sigma - which is very similar to an E), symbolically representing the sum of positive characteristics in luminous yellow at the centre of the stamp, with the changeability of our modern times as represented by a QR code. When the code is scanned with a reader on a mobile device, a website is contacted on which an overall picture of a European whole is produced on the basis of Europe-related images and quotations from the World Wide Web.

thewholeisgreaterthanthesumofitsparts.net

Andreas Pohancenik (*1976) & Rebecca Lynch (*1979)

practiceandtheory.co.uk

“Practice + Theory” – the name of the studio run by the Austrian designer Andreas Pohancenik and the British curator Rebecca Lynch – also describes the studio’s programme in that it illustrates not only its design practice but also the discourse to which it is committed. Established in London in 2008, the team has also had a Vienna base since 2012 which is designed not only as an office but also as a project room and shop. The exhibition has proved to be a particularly productive medium for designers with this approach – as can be seen in Practice + Theory’s design work for the renowned Royal Society which has ranged from typography, stationary and catalogues to architecture. Under the title “So Far, the Future”, the duo organised exhibitions covering the interface between design, science and society with the active participation of numerous international design colleagues. Book design, interactive installations and the typographical appearance of cultural and scientific institutions and companies are further focuses of an oeuvre which is perfectly characterised by the title of an exhibition for the Wellcome Trust, “Mind over Matter”.