karl would have bought this shirt (+video)

To expand our field of abilities, we did experiment with some fabric printing techniques in the past months. The result is a limited number of hand-printed t-shirts, bearing the face of "Communist Manifesto" author Karl Marx on the back. The intention we had while sketching, printing and working in the darkroom was - put simply - to get out some selfmade goods we would also appreciate. Also there is now a way to support our activities so we can continue with taking analog photos, shoot tons of footy and travel to connect with other minds around the globe. All of this is not for free - unfortunately.

This leads to our decision to put the iconic Marx on our first shirts. Countless times, he has been made responsible for the horrors that went along with the Soviet regime. But anyone who has read his works and studied Marx's philosophy realizes that the politics of the Soviet regime were the opposite of the world he imagined. A world in which not capital is the driving force behind everything - but creative and fulfilling work. Where one is not governed by another but power over people is only executed by all people. This was also the promise of modern-day-democracies. You can judge by yourself how far this promise has been fulfilled. 

Not all of his thoughts can be applied to our modern societies, but when Marx's texts began to be released in the 19th century, they gave instant voice to countless oppressed workers. Today we have the same situation. The workers are not in Europe or America, they work in massive factories overseas, producing goods they will never be able to afford. What Karl Marx showed in his analysis are the fundamental mechanisms of capitalism and which social problems arise from it, having their source in alienation from the product and the isolated individual - something that can be easily observed in our everyday world.

Hence the DIY approach we wanted to apply to our own stuff.  While it might'd been easier to just get the shirts printed, we've made the extra effort. Using the linocut technique, you can sort of feel the printing process from the product itself.



 Every shirt comes with a photoprint on high quality Ilford paper, giving a lookout on the next video project that is going to be finished soon - the all night time video "Na guade nocht".

For motion pictures and the Karl T Promo, head over here.

text and flicks: Juraj Klas & David Tiefenthaler

The atomic character of scootering

    Just a brief, late night analogy. Imagine some crystal structure, each atom oscillating on it's own, whitin the molecules,  all tightly hold together by bonds. Now break it all down to a single atom, though there's no doubt it's the key element, when isolated, there's not much use of it. Also if there are some dents in the structure, lets say just few atoms are missing, the effect might be detrimental for the structure as a whole.
    Right, that was put pretty straight-forward-scootering is not about shameless self-presentation, it's just as much of a social activity, as it might be sport for you or art for me. Thus, if you want to support the community as a whole, you'll have to approach its broader structures, not just individuals.
   Would there be no crews, no locals, no homies, no squads etc. , there would be no scootering.


 

text by Juraj Klas

Photos by Juraj Klas, Tobias Mayer & David Tiefenthaler

35mm-end-of-year-wrap-up

The year is kinda bending towards its end, so we thought it would be worth it to start searching the archives for unpublished analog shots from the past months. And there are quite some. From Slavin, Bratislava, where we conquered a four block. From small places in Vienna, that still beholds so many undiscovered spots. And from a new DIY heaven that arose from the passion of a group of skaters in the wastelands of the city. We couldnt be more thankful. 

By now, Alchemyst is alive for two years now exactly. We dont really know the direction we are heading for. There will be no transformation into some kind of "brand", no distribution of our products. There is no goal we have apart from mobbing in the streets, film, depict and get our thoughts on scootering across by different means. As long as this connects us to people around the globe, our project will be there. Various ideas are cooking in our minds and will come to life soon, but we are also always on the lookout for new input, from wherever it may come from.

sessions in december have their sunsets early

this is even sketchier than it looks

constructive anarchy

in the last light of day

beautiful wastelands tend to be the victim of our house-building-craze,
 also this paradise will end up like this, the cranes on the horizon promise it

soviet monument=good spot

firing hot 5-0

twobeers getting ready

maybe a flash would have been a good idea

afterseshsmoke

aha!

inside 50-50 maybe?

photos & words: David Tiefenthaler

bratislover

It feels like ages since we released some flicks here on the blog. We spent the time filming in the dark and shooting midformats during daytime. Also we updated our camera gear with some new but old stuff, more precisely: An old Russian machine, that outlived the USSR and is still in good working condition. The setup is still in the experimenting stage, but if you wanna find out more, you can check this camera encyclopaedia and educate yourself. All of the following photos - except the last three - are taken with this camera.

No big descriptions, just a depiction of the good times we have had in Bratislava with guys like Tobias Mayer and Max Kernmayer.

photos & text: juraj klas & david tiefenthaler

BCN in three filmrolls

The time we spent in BCN with the amigos enlarged our vision. Especially on what the essence of scootering is, I learnt something in Barcelona for sure, something got clearer. The endless streets, the cruising, doing nighttime hillbombs, floating through the traffic, seeing terrain differently and approach it with more respect - and dignity. Fear the spot, but don't let yourself get disturbed by narrowminded people complaining about your presence and your understanding of "public space".

We shot flicks on three different films, that show different visions: varios sides and emotions towards people and architecture we had during our stay. But see for yourself!

photos & text: Juraj Klas/David Tiefenthaler