I rarely obsess about things in my private life. I fail to care about the right shade of green for the couch, the sexual secrets of an ex-lover or the correct temperature of the meeting room AC. I don’t think I miss much.
However, I do obsess over our work and think that a number of our better projects came out of such an obsession.
– Stefan Sagmeister
On September 13, 2008 Sagmeister Inc. began the installation of 250,000 Eurocents on Waagdragerhof Square in Amsterdam. Over the course of 8 days and with the help of more than 100 volunteers, the coins were sorted into 4 different shades, and carefully placed over a 300 square meter (3,229 sq. ft.) area, according to a master plan.
The coin mural spelled out the sentence “Obsessions make my life worse and my work better.” After completion the coins were left free and unguarded for the public to interact with. Less than 20 hours after the grand opening, local residents noticed a person bagging the coins and taking them away. Protective of the design piece they had watched being created, they call the police.
After stopping the ‘criminal’ the police–in an effort to ‘preserve the artwork’–swept up every remaining cent and carted them away.
Obsessions make my life worse and my work better
Art Direction: Stefan Sagmeister
Design: Richard The, Joe Shouldice
Photography for Timelapse: Jens Rehr
2008
Sagmeister.com
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