Intro

This graphic project was started in spring of 1992 by Davide Bignami, as the creative mind, and Luigi Bagassi, in charge of technical and logistic aspects, both of them enthusiasts about the language and potential of visual communication through a printed tee-shirt.
Besides being a piece of clothing, therefore an index of social belonging, t-shirts present signs for people to wear and play within the flood of visual information in which our daily lives normally unfold. In the realm of art, a visual message can be at the same time an instrument of communication, used by the author to express something, as well as an object of communication, i.e. a starting point for an exchange of views between individuals. Ostix t-shirts are conceived with both aims, thus requiring a certain degree of intentionality when wearing them, and typically a rather short reading distance so as not to have the same visibility of billboard advertisements.

It all began with self financing the first two prints, with which we paid the third and fourth, and so on. We sold t-shirts from a small stand at concerts, music festivals and cultural events. Over a period of several years the distribution and the number of prints constantly grew, but the whole project almost came to a stop at the turn of the millennium due to personal matters and pressure from the market place. In 2006, having lost Mr.Bagassi’s precious contribution, the “train” picked up speed again and today, counting more than 50 original prints, the spirit hasn’t changed that much: series range from 12 to a maximum of 80 copies; we directly print all one-colour shirts, leaving skilled artisans to print the others. Most of the income from sales is still needed to produce new shirts, so that the entire venture is carried on more for personal interest and artistic research purposes than profit.

We wish you a pleasant vision.