When you made the cover design for Shift this month, what did you imagine and how did you work on it?

YM: We wanted to take a different approach to how Shift covers have traditionally functioned. Around the same time Shift invited us, Joshua and I had been planning to give an online context to a performance we did together.

JT: A really fun performance we did at Stockholm’s cultural center: Ynglingagatan-1. We built a giant cardboard computer and participants fed their autographed cards into this absurd interface. We were inside with a boombox, responding with exaggerated vibrations and old-school beeps and grunts. Each “transaction” was complete when the computer spit out a bitmapped personality assessment, in the tradition of graphology and fortune-telling. Although no two profiles were identical, all ended with the suggestion “Consider a career in Art.”

We would like to ask you about the web and multimedia scene in San Francisco. What’s hot now?

JT: hand-held devices, portable MP3 players, and pink hair (so ’95).

YM: WML, Wireless Markup Language.

What do you think about being based in San Francisco?

YM: That’s a good question…it’s simultaneously a privilege and a problem…

JT: On the one hand we’re spoiled by our “insider” status, receiving information and beta versions of tech-anything before anyone else, thanks to our proximity to Silicon Valley. On the other hand, local resistance to technology has coined a new species called “dotcommers,” which is more or less a synonym for yuppie. I believe there should be a political reaction to dot com funded office development, especially from those who are ruthlessly evicted from their homes as a result, but many protesters have adopted a lame “Us vs. Them” mentality that confuses the issues of city planning with technological affiliation. This makes anyone “The Enemy” by virtue of carrying a mobile phone or working for a dot com.

What do you think about Japan?

YM: Call me a geek, but the closest I’ve come to Japan is playing all the SquareSoft games.

JT: Can’t speak from experience either, but I respect the exquisite care taken in Japanese presentation. I’m not a fan of crowds, so Tokyo probably wouldn’t agree with me.

What are you interested in now?

JT: ubiquitous computing and Iceland’s obsession with Genealogy.

YM: Dune, I’m re-reading the series in English.

Who are your favorite visual/graphic designers or sites?

Favorite designers:
Champion Graphics, Los Angeles: Geoff McFetridge is a champion with his hands.
Natural Born, New York: If anything’s intrinsic, it’s Kevin Lyons’ charm.
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis: See, Art and Design can get along!
Tree-Axis, San Francisco: Sure, they’re our pals, but deserve the props.

The last question. Do you have any plans for the near future?

YM: Sure do. We’re about to move to a new studio space at the end of the month.

JT: Luckily, it’s only a block away!

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