Art, Fashion and Work for Hire ― Thomas Demand, Peter Saville, Hedi Slimane, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Cristina Bechtler in Conversation

Thomas Demand is known for his large-format photographic work. As the head designer of Dior Homme, Hedi Slimane revolutionized men's fashion. He is also known for his work as an artist. Peter Saville wrote design history with his album covers for British bands such as Joy Division, New Order and Pulp, and with his work for fashion designers. Demand, Slimane, and Saville have all gone beyond the limitations of a single type of media to realize their ideas and visions. They discuss their work and motivation in a conversation in Berlin with the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and the editor Cristina Bechtler, and also share their views on new forms of creativity, cross-border endeavors, fashion, architecture, photography, political art and many more subjects.

Hedi Slimane was born in 1968 in Paris. He studied political science and art history. He was the artistic director of the Yves Saint Laurent men's fashion line from 1997 to 1999, and the head designer and creative director of Dior Homme from 2001 to 2007. He also works as an artist, curator and furniture designer. Exhibitions have been dedicated to his work at the Ellipse Foundation, Lisbon and the FOAM photography museum in Amsterdam, 2007. Hedi Slimane lives and works in Paris. Thomas Demand was born in 1964 in Munich. He attended the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, the Dusseldorf Art Academy, Goldsmiths College, London, and the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam. Exhibitions have been dedicated to his work at the Kunsthaus Bregenz, in 2003, the Serpentine Gallery in 2006, London and at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini/Fondazione Prada in Venice in 2007 statt. Thomas Demand lives and works in Berlin. Peter Saville was born in 1955 in Manchester. He attended Manchester Polytechnic from 1974 to 1978. He co-founded Factory Records 1979, and also worked as the label's artistic director, before becoming the artistic director of Din Dic and Pentagram. He started Peter Saville Associates in 1983. He designed album covers and also created campaigns for fashion houses such as Dior and Yamamoto. Exhibitions were dedicated to his at the London Design Museum in 2003 and at the Migros Museum, Zurich in 2005. Peter Saville lives and works in London. Cristina Bechtler, is the founder and editor of Ink Tree Editions, which publishes art books, portfolios and publications on contemporary art. She conceived and edited the "Art and Architecture in Discussion" series. Conversations with Frank O. Gehry/Kurt W. Forster, Remy Zaugg/Herzog & de Meuron, Mario Merz/Mario Botta, Jacques Herzog/Jeff Wall/Philip Ursprung, Vito Acconci/Kenny Schachter/Lilian Pfaff and John Baldessari/Liam Gillick/Lawrence Weiner/Beatrix Ruf have already been published in this series. Hans Ulrich Obrist was born in 1968 in Zurich. He worked as a curator at the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and has curated a number of exhibitions worldwide. He has worked as the Co-Director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects at the Serpentine Gallery, London since 2006. He is the editor of the "The Conversation Series", "Do it", "dontstopdontstopdontstopdontstop," and a number of other publications.