www.uebermaus.com

 This stunning conception began many years ago, as a consequence of the retrieval of a terrifying book titled "The Rats", discovered by the Count in the basement of an old ruinous school. The book, which clearly gave inspiration to the whole project, reveals to be nothing more than a propagandistic issue released by a certain de-ratting company, not only to show the excellence of its services, but also to give meticulous descriptions of these animals and of the dangers deriving from their presence, enriching each critique with many illustrations. The Count, struck by the incredible images contained in this book and astonished by their dazzling colours, became completely fascinated by this style and began dreaming of a private enterprise: creating imposing plastic wall stickers, depicting improbably huge coloured rats with an intent to devour, to destroy or simply to harm men in a clashing aesthetic delirium of nihilism and devastation, through incoherent pigments, abused perspectives and irrational colour combinations. These stickers, however, seemed destined to remain unprinted, with the realisation that such high quality images would incur heavy costs. As time passed by, however, the devoted Count, unable to relinquish his dreams decided to abandon this early idea and began to consider other related artistic opportunities, developing posters, paintings and stages. It is at this point that the Count began to cherish the idea of making (best-selling) t-shirts to portray these huge and evil fluorescent rodents. The outlet for this exclusive clothing was to be through the global Internet market, following an appropriate advertising campaign, assisted by a dedicated homepage, resulting in the birth of a new, amazing metropolitan trend and an exuberant underground culture based on shocking colors and agonizing images of decay, annihilation and iniquity.

Mocked by many but still untamed, the Count presented his outstanding invention to several urban movements representatives, unexplainably without any success. It was an ordinary evening when, in a tavern, the Count joined his old and dear college friend for a cheeky one, the Marquis Tito Timoteo Topa, who also shared with the Count the fatherhood of the gambling comic "Sorcius", realized during their university years of academic libertinism. Charmed by these ideas, so unusual and provoking, the Marquis instantly devoted himself to the cause.

First of all an image had to be chosen: a logo that would be representative of the whole project. The choice would fall to the image of an enormous and ominous rat, threatening from the darkness of an obscure cellar with an innocent, terrified girl, stunned by this horrible vision, standing frozen on a cellar staircase. The choice of the brand occurred by chance, following endless lists of names and ideas it was through casual leafing of a dusty German dictionary, the Count became enlightened by the name ‘ÜBER-MAUS’ (literally "Super Mouse") as a childish explanation of the disproportionate image of the huge rat, which seemed to contrast with the vulnerable girl: which in reality was only the fruit of a clumsy perspective effect. The girl, nicknamed Astrid, and the rat, nicknamed Nabuchadnezzar, would become, at any effect, the chosen symbol.

Inspired by the disturbing pictures contained in that nefarious book and untying his creativity, the Marquis Topa realized a study of infinite colour combinations, which would develop into the definitive chromatic choice that would be used for the realisation of the t-shirts and other products conceived in the subsequent months. According to the Counts suggestion (who enjoys painting photocopies with coloured markers) the chosen colours would have to be fluorescent, in particular; cirrhotic yellow, poison green, pompadour pink and acid cyan (which was, unfortunately, abandoned due to stylistic inconsistencies), subsequently joined by the timeless classic white/orange, for a more mature "pulp" version. However, despite such creative excursions, the background to all designs would always remain constant: the unmistakable black.

The two friends, which were now helpless obnubilated by rats, would meet peridiocally in the Count’s garage to exchange ideas and to try new colors, aiding the development of their concept-project. It is at this time that the original idea of producing stickers could now be used as a tool to promote their homepage, despite of its early embryonic phase. An appropriate version of the chosen image was promptly realized: delivered to a serigraphic printing house, with this image being used for the production of the first 1.000 stickers. Printed in record time, these stickers quickly began to appear in shops, clubs and pubs. At this time the two friends manufactured a 60 x 40 cm cardboard stencil that they would use to spray the Über-Maus image around the neighborhood: walls, junction boxes, manholes and any other surface would become a chance to test new colors and effects. With this, a new artistic movement was born, which they would later call "RatArt".

 Charmed by the ambition of this project and pleasantly disoriented by the creative fervor of its creators, new friends began to join the company. With Prince Nunzio Nevio Nutria swiftly becoming the agent for minor propaganda dispersal, it did not take long before informative material reached every school institute, insinuating among the youths new voices about the imminent arrival of an emerging secret tendency.

With the Count’s dear old friends, the Duke Manlio Maffeo Madronaa and the Viscount Publio Pinto Patega, fondly nicknamed "the city rats", proudly lined up for the Über-Maus cause, the objectives stipulated within the fundamental marketing vision and overall project aims could now be realized. With their vital assistance, they became deserving of their role as commercial managers: actively creating the multimedia diffusion of the project through MySpace.

 Satisfied by the entrance of new, reliable members to their organization, the founding associates established the Masonic Lodge "La Confraternita Dei Topi" (or L.C.D.T. – The Brotherhood of Rats), with the purpose to give more unity and rigour to the organization. The deserving Eight Fellows would have unique privileges, granted with special permission to every structure of the project, on condition that the essential dogma imposed by "The Rats’ Decalogue" - the collection of writs that regulate the Brotherhood’s moves and decisions and that which determine the development of the project - must be obeyed. The L.C.D.T.’s main goal would be to awaken questions, incognitos, mysteries; is to create dismay, perturbation, obfuscation and, of course, to profit.

 With this clarified, organisational hierarchy, the project would eventually reach its fulfillment. Currently, Sir Regolo Rodolfo Ratta is engaged with the realisation of the homepage: www.uebermaus.com, while the Nabab Caio Cupido Cavia created in a very short time, the completion of the Über-Maus-Space in which, beyond a great collection of images, some of the impressing pictures of the notorious book. This multimedia showcase allows also the presentation of the t-shirts, the Ü-Shirts, which immediately generated great amazement and interest. The presence of a thematic videogame, RatMaze II, and of other entertainment and recreation devices further enriched this virtual primordial Über-Space. Accordingly to the ideas pursued by the founders, the principal intent of http://www.myspace.com/uebermaus"
www.myspace.com/uebermaus is: disturbance.

During a long period of homepage manufacturing, the Über-Space would become used as the only propagandistic platform for the dissemination of project ideas through perpetual supervision, updates and embellishment. Launched online on the 20th August 2007, after only two months the Über-Maus-Space, already had established more than 700 friends. Today, this has almost reached 1.800, with an aim to reach the 2.000 in the near future. Most of these friends appreciate this strange media relationship and reply to its taunts, participating to the activities suggested by the authors as, for example, the invitation to send rats retracting images and pictures.

To enhance the projection of the project, other stickers were also created during this period. Besides the black rubberized products: these new items, dubbed "toilet stickers" were made of a simple white adhesive paper, with simple black text. Using a common office printer many different paper flyers were now produced to be disseminated, together with the toilet-stickers, aiming at targets such as pubs, bars, discos, theaters, schools, universities, malls, shopping centers and all the parked cars: providing great joy to their owners.

In the meantime, the Ü-Shirt product began to undergo production. After many estimates and numerous bargainings (with a total of eight prototypes) the shirts were finally – but tragically - given to a clumsy serigraphic printing house to be printed. What resulted from their work was disgusting and ghastly: of the 120 produced pieces more than a half could not be proposed, the rest were barely acceptable. Some of them were bought by merciful friends, but soon they were retired, to a willing founder, as they could not accept the idea that such disgraceful and shameful succedaneums of their project were circulating without fulfilling their intent. Therefore, the money invested was retrieved and another printing company was engaged for a brand new production run. Currently, the original picture is being redesigned: as soon as the new version is agreed by the Founders, it will be used for the imminent new production of the Über-Shirts, now available : www.flickr.com/uebermaus

Along with their homepage and Myspace, the Brotherhood also gathered the opportunity to diffuse some short videos, which were published on YouTube. Inspired by notable and famous movies, these films were realized with great craftsmanship by the Nabab Cavia, with the utilization of the most modern cinematographic techniques, of complex production instruments and use of excellent and eloquent human and animal actors. In reality these clips are nothing but lark mirrors, whose unique purpose is to allure and to persuade the spectator to investigate and, consequently, to visit the homepage, leaving him astonished and inquisitive, creating a desire to know what hides beyond the curtains of this ambitious project.

 The difficult realization of the homepage, in the meantime, has been long and industrious. Nevertheless, thanks to the Sir Ratta - who is practically the fundamental creator- endless nights of programming spent in the Count’s car box, resulted in the homepage finally coming to fruition on the 25th December 2007, an eclectic but significant date, since it marks the advent of the Über-Maus global era. The Über-Maus is intended as a new, modern mythological creature, whose legend loses itself in a smoky mix of historical presumptions, science-fiction elements, artistic fancies and simple creative fantasy. Initially conceived as a virtual shop, the homepage reveals to be the perfect case for the publication of many artistic, visual and graphic varieties and disciplines, such as images, pictures and comics, beside literature, movies, games and music. Every section is conceived to store various genders, apparently with no logical connection: their only nexus is an extreme and compelling personal aesthetic taste.

Finally, to explain the origins and creative source of the Über-Maus concept, the Count Sorga – from who, since time immemorial has been a great and passionate history scholar – decided to write and film the Über-Story, only entrusting to his personal imagination. The main idea was to gradually publish the tale, which constantly is currently under construction and so not yet completed, leaving the readers free to interact with it and to progressively understand its development. This video-novel, displaying distinctive moral messages, aims to explain the real provenance of this Super-Rat, associating it within an authentic historical context: considered to be the result of the fortuity and wickedness of men. It is seen as the melting pot of every human fear an apprehension, which are in this case overstated and transformed into something dreadful: the little mouse becomes a tremendous and huge war machine, accidentally created by the Nazis during some evil experiments imposed on rodents during the Second World War, in a desperate attempt to oppose the inexorable advance of the Allies, with a crazed effort to dominate the forces of natures which, in the end, inevitably elude any control. This fable, whose psychedelic colors and patterns refer to the Ü-Shirts, to the stickers and to all the other aspects of this project, will be divided into many episodes and sections, with the clear intent to create suspicion and suspense, to lead its readers to the discovery of truth.