We are passionate printers. That's why Friedensreich Hundertwasser came to get involved in our art of printing. One day he set sail from New Zealand to come over here and have a green flag printed with us in Zwischenwasser. His vision of green so far had existed only in his imigination. Vibrating green. As animated and green as a leaf can be.
At that time, however, we didn't know just how much this master of painting had already turned all printers crazy. With his vibrant greens. We felt enthusiastic about this idea. So we started right off printing the first green flag for New Zealand and called Hundertwasser Mr. Flagmann. Then he ordered another 9.999 flags, which is enough for New Zealand.
Instead of settling the bill for the printing he came up with a question: "Why are you printing such beautiful prints in such an ugly factory?" Since everybody knows that the answer is hidden in the question we asked him: "Why not help us with that?" That's how we started our art factory. It is located right beside a brook whose name would sound vulgar if you left out only a single letter. In a village called Zwischenwasser - "in between waters"- altough it's one body of water only. So we have borrowed the neighbouring village's name, Muntlix. Which sounds more like Asterix. The building itself, made of concrete, was dressed up creatively: with tears made of tiles, pearls of stone, drops of glazed bricks, folds of enamel glass, and fabrics with the look of trees, growing everywhere. From window sills, out of cracks in the walls, on all the roofs and around us. Simply everywhere. We also planted about 200 trees inside the factory and another one hundret outside, all around the building.
Ever since that they have appeared in the most beautiful green, maybe even greener than the Emerald Isle of Ireland. We put goldleaf onion towers on the flat roof, six by two metres high. They symbolize joy and enthusiasm. The highlight of our dreams is to keep our customers satisfied.
We print everything as long as it isn't too provincial: underwear and dessous, poloshirts and megashirts, men's shirts and overshirts, undergarments and dresses, anoracs and pointed caps, bed linen and scalves, bodies, pants and boxers. Each and every yard ist a work of art. Each employee is an artist. Thats what our customers say. They are our best advisers. Simply because they ask for impossible creations. This is a challenge for us, and meeting customers' expectations also turns us on.
Our newborn child is Art-Rueff. He is the offspring of a little infidality and developing nicely. In museums, in boutiques, in duty-free shops: Art-Rueff. It's art you can touch wherever you place it. Ready-mades are for everyone, we create originals: ties, cloths, neckties, men's shirts for single sleepers and doubles, raincoats, bags with and without money, scarves and braces. The latter in bud-breasted widths. Only to be admired, not for touching. Lust itself is joyjul inspiration.
We employ 66 people. They come from all over the world. And everyone is given a tree, to tage care of. Responsibility for life starts with the environment. Our technology is ecology oriented. Our fashion is applied art. Nature and art define our culture. This makes us a little different. Artists are unpredictable and you can't always count on them. But they can count on us. Creative originality is our deep desire. We suffer if we can't print passionately.
A-6832 Muntlix, An der Frutz 1, Tel. +43/5522/4923-0 Fax +43/5522/4923-46, rueff@rueff.at