MLEM-UHHA

From September 20, an artwork by the Boris Tellegen on view at NDSM. Tellegen's work, known in the graffiti world as DELTA, consists of three large letter blocks. The artwork can be seen as a crossover between architecture and street art where typography and fonts are played in a spatial way. The work has the enigmatic title: Mlem-Uhha.

Through his studies in industrial design, Tellegen was previously inspired to turn his graffiti work into sculptures in three dimensions. With Mlem-Uhha, he goes one step further and turns the sculptures into an immense spatial installation. By stacking and cutting smartly and tightly, he transforms three oblong blocks into cartoonish cries. The words or cries come from a sample library of so-called onomatopoeia: words that phonetically mimic the sound they describe.

The use of public space

With its art programming, the NDSM-werf Foundation focuses on the use of public space. In more and more places, there are great similarities in how the public space is arranged, which is why they are becoming more similar and losing their individuality, but especially their connections with the visitors and users of that space. At NDSM, we show that things can also be done differently. In fact, this work by Tellegen contributes to a playful public space where different voices can be featured. Like all of Tellegen's works, it relates to themes such as urbanization, ownership and public space. Boris Tellegen's work Mlem-Uhha was commissioned by Lowlands and in collaboration with Roskilde.

About Boris Tellegen aka DELTA

Internationally recognized graffiti artist Boris Tellegen is based in Amsterdam and works around the world. For more than forty years, he has been conquering streets, trains and galleries with his works that blend geometric precision and street art into a unique urban aesthetic.

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