Archive for June, 2009

Front page Cambridge Evening News: the Fitzwilliam Museum preferred to turn down a total £120,000 in grants rather than display The Art Fund’s pink heart logo next to a loaned 17th century Bassetti painting. Its director, Dr Timothy Potts, explained to the June edition of the Art Newspaper, “Logos are the currency of marketing and commerce, and this introduces a promotional element into the galleries which we regard as an unnecessary and unacceptable distraction.”

An unnecessary and unacceptable distraction, indeed, these users. These users who are indisputably fluent in today’s language of brands. These users who understand what the Art Fund logo represents; the democratic ‘people power’ of 80,000 supporters saying that this painting is a national treasure worth saving, and have gone to the effort of putting their money where their mouth is.

We may or may not disagree with the particular design or colour of logos, but without thinking or blinking, as modern cultural consumers, we understand the messages – the values, the heritage, the story – to which they provide a visual short-cut.

Both the 1903-founded Art Fund and the 1848-opened Fitzwilliam are institutions with great histories. The Art Fund, however, understands today’s power of the logo, and the power of commerce more generally.

‘Commerce’ is not a dirty word:

1. Commercial organisations understand their users. By definition, they thrive on understanding, pre-empting and responding to their users’ wants, needs and desires. They know how to respect their users, challenge them when necessary, and always understand how to connect with them. To equate commercial with ‘dumbed down’ is to do a real misjustice to the complexity of today’s public.

2. Commerce is unsurpassed in its potential to improve both the quality and the mass-availability of culture. It is the great catalyst for fostering interest in the arts, by way of seamlessly introducing extraordinary cultural content into our ordinary, everyday lifestyles.

3. Culture commerce, through steady introduction of quality art into the mainstream, permeates further into more of the unlikeliest, usually resistant areas of the public consciousness. This is often far more impactful than even the most evangelical arts education programmes. Individuals excel at receiving and then processing commercial messages – overtly ‘cultural’ messages don’t often even get as far as being received.

Commerce is a key tool to increase knowledge and appreciation of the arts – not to mention its growing importance as a direct funder of pioneering new art. It is feared, resisted or ignored by those who misunderstand its essential role as a tool for culture institutions in today’s post-consumer world.

Today’s world is a consumer society where brands rule and a logo often takes prominence over the actual product itself. Artist Sarah Kissel’s fascination with haute couture’s identity crisis and in particular this movement of diffusion labels is expressed in her latest ‘luxury brand degradation’ art project.

Pure Magenta is a progression from her brilliantly perceptive ‘Faux Real’ work, showcased online at www.puremagenta.com.

Another great body of work, and a further continuation of Kissell’s passion for the perverse public fascination with iconography is that of her ‘Still Remains’ exhibition, a celebration of Jackie Onassis’ birth as an icon through the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Oh we’ve found our Friday night frolic! The new Doodle Bar opens tonight and organisers are encouraging guests to doodle everywhere – the doors, the windows, the furniture and the staff! Nothing, dear reader, is off limits (or did we make that last bit up?). Illustrators from art collective Debut Art will kick-start the doodling.

A mural of the River Thames, created by Seidlitz and German illustrator Thomas Manig, will adorn the walls and customers will be encouraged to help create ‘a collage of Londoners’ hopes and fears’. The Intelligent Naivety team’s hopes and fears are rather too sensitive to be scrawled upon walls (or anywhere public) but we’ll be heading down nevertheless – voyeurs to the end.

More news about the venture is that Vivienne Westwood intends to hold monthly film screenings at the venue and our friends Onedotzero will help to run a programme of drawing and educational workshops.

Film and art collective Squint created the bar’s website, and is collaborating with Seidlitz on an interactive art installation for the café.

Visit the website here.

Here’s one for the diary…Marked as the ‘social media highlight of 2009’, on June 18th ABSOLUT® VODKA, the world’s most iconic spirits brand, brings us ‘Visions in an Absolut World’. The event showcases an exclusive selection of work by eleven of today’s most relevant international style bloggers, collaborating for the very first time. They present 121 art pieces in a temporary art gallery in Munich.

The ‘In an ABSOLUT World’ advertising campaign was launched last year and provides a rich framework for the ABSOLUT® brand. “Our consumers are intelligent, and we hope they have a gut reaction that sparks conversations and challenges them to think about their vision of an “ABSOLUT World,” says Tim Murphy, Senior Brand Director, The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc.

The preview takes place on June 18th with the exhibition running until 25th June.

Video art lovers hit the streets of Barcelona last week for this year’s LOOP festival. The seventh incarnation of the festival took over the whole city with videos screened in over 100 venues. Dozens of galleries from all over the world exhibited and a few of them were willing to stray away from the norm. The most notably voyeuristic of these was New York Gallery Virgil de Voldere who brought Brody Condon‘s self playing video games. Brody modified a first person shooter game and exchanged the violent animations with dreamy, otherworldly and surreal scenes. The scantly clad characters look out at the viewer waiting to be told what to do but no one ever helps them.

It seems that the culture fever due to hit Athens this summer with the 2nd Athens Biennale taking place in June, extends further than the boundaries of the bustling capital. Spilling into the downtown districts of Kerameikos and Metaxourgeio [KM] the cultural diversity of the area manifests itself in the form of ReMap2, an international platform of contemporary art.

ReMap 2 offers a rich web of more than 40 cultural events and art happenings, including exhibitions, open-air and site-specific installations by Greek and international galleries, independent curators, art groups, architects and KM residents. All cultural events take place in empty, functional or abandoned spaces, including vacant buildings, parking lots, and plots of land.

These derelict spaces are set to display a variety of dynamic works over the course of the event. An empty plot has been taken over by ‘16 Workshop’, a group of you architects and designers; inviting visitors to discover an ephemeral urban playground entitled “Guerilla Playground (tapedscape #01)”. The event will also host talks and seminars in order to bring together local residents, architects, urbanists and other scientists in order to explore innovative concepts that might shape the future urban identity of KM and other similar areas.

ReMap responds to the unique urban energy, cultural particularities and dynamic artistry of the ?? neighborhood. It is organized by the non-profit cultural organization ReMapKM with the aim to introduce KM as an international hub for contemporary art.

ReMap2 opens on June 16th running until 4th October 2009.
For more information visit their website at http://www.remapkm.org

David Baldacci, the best-selling thriller author, learned what some of his fans think when “First Family,” his latest novel, went on sale last month. Amazon initially charged a little over $15 for a version for its Kindle reading device, and readers revolted.

Several posted reviews objecting that the electronic edition of the book wasn’t selling for $9.99, the price Amazon has promoted as its target for the majority of e-books in the Kindle store. Hundreds more have joined an informal boycott of digital books priced at more than $9.99.

“I love Baldacci’s writing,” wrote one reader, who decided not to buy. “Sorry Mr. B — price comes down or you lose a lot or readers. I’ll skip your books and move on!”

It was a chilling sentiment for authors and publishers, who have grown used to an average cover price of $26 for a new hardcover. Now, in the evolving Kindle world, $9.99 is becoming the familiar price. But is that justified just because paper has been removed from the equation?

For many readers, this may sound like sufficient reason. Buying music, after all, is so much cheaper now that there aren’t discs and plastic cases. Shouldn’t the same logic apply to books? And if not, won’t the temptation to steal electronic copies online simply increase?

Publishers and authors say it is much more complicated than the cost of paper and shipping. The lower e-book price “is not sustainable,” said Mr. Baldacci, whose novels regularly rise to the top of hardcover best seller lists. If readers insist on cut-rate electronic books, he said, “unfortunately there won’t be anyone selling it anymore because you just can’t make any money.”

Read the full article here.

You know those fleeting moments when all feels right with the world? Dusky summer evenings after work, outside shooting the breeze? Well thank you Somerset House for providing us with the perfect summer venue – The Bombay Sapphire Dusk Bar. Designed by Tom Dixon, this place is sure to be a big feature in our summer calendar.

Visit the website here.

Last time we brought you news of a pop up shop, we promised it would be the last time. But this post doesn’t count because the interesting part of this story is the idea that pop-up shops are becoming a blueprint for regenerating towns and cities across the UK.

The first KiosKiosK designed by the Hemingways will be open for business for two months this summer from mid-July to mid-September.

It will offer rent-free space for people with creative products to sell such as ceramics, artworks, creative gifts and fashion, helping new businesses with great ideas to get a step-up on the ladder to success.
It is hoped that low cost ‘pop-up’ shops of this kind will provide a template for London and towns and cities across the UK by offering a helping hand for businesses that may be priced out of high cost, high street and prime retail locations. This will also help to support smaller, independent shops increasing consumer choices.

‘It was our formative experience and the opportunities provided by places such as Kensington Market that led us to the KiosKiosK idea,” says Wayne Hemingway.
“In addition, from an urban design perspective many of our towns’ and cities’ streetscapes would benefit from well-designed kiosks that provide beacons of creativity.
“I am calling on people with creative products to wow the world to come forward to take advantage of KiosKiosK this summer.”

The project is supported by the London Sustainable Development Commission which has appointed Wayne as one of its 16 ‘London Leaders’.

Get involved here.

Marmite is producing a limited-edition spread to celebrate the forthcoming Ashes series against Australia – in a jar that looks like a cricket ball.

The distinctive spread is being flavoured with Marston’s Pedigree, the official beer of the England cricket team, and will be sold in dark red jars, complete with a seam down the side.

The 500,000 jars of Marmite go on sale from next week at supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Morrisons.

This is the third year in a row that Marmite, the salty spread, has produced a limited edition version following last year’s Champagne flavoured version, and a Guinness version sold in 2007.

It may be a time of general doom and gloom on the British high street, but not all retailers are suffering. Earlier this month the Co-operative Group posted record results: gross sales are up 15 per cent and breaking through the £10bn barrier, and operating profit is up 11 per cent.

Co-op chief executive Peter Marks attributed the success to a business model geared around local communities and social responsibility. ‘Our focus on social responsibility is more attractive [to consumers] than ever before and we believe 2009 is going to be another successful year,’ says Marks.

It seems that as globalisation loses its gloss, retailers which can convince consumers that they are staying true to their local roots and identity are prospering.

It’s a theme that trend analyst Trendwatching.com is calling (Still) Made Here. ‘(Still) Made Here encompasses both new and existing purveyors of the local. In a world that is seemingly ruled by globalisation, mass production and “cheapest of the cheapest”, a growing number of consumers are seeking out the local and authentic,’ it says in its briefing.

According to Trendwatching, the trend encompasses not just local provenance but also what it calls ‘the authentic, the storied and the ecofriendly’ – retailers with stories that ring true, with a provenance that can be proven and with solid social and ecological credentials.

Read full article here.