stories from central europe - tech will save us...“stories from central europe” was developed in...

StorieSfrom CentraleuropeBudapestDesign Week2011

Blood mountainfoundation

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Blood MountainFoundation

“Blood Mountain is in an extraordinary position to foster a series of explorations into ‘Stories from Central Europe’. The very villa itself is a reminder of an era when Budapest was one of the fastest growing cities in the world, a cosmopolitan hub of intellectual, literary and artistic discourse. The international experience and outlook of its curatorial team reflects and refracts that moment of concentrated culture and openness. Budapest, once an avant garde centre of design, art and architecture has lost its position of international prominence and this programme represents an attempt to analyse, to reinterpret and to revivify a segment of Hungarian culture through the study of the physical, formal, industrial and intellectual remains of a landscape of production.

‘Stories from Central Europe’ is a commendably ambitious exploration of the sketchy, messy and fascinating interstices between the history, present and future of a culture.”

Edwin HeathcoteBMF’s trustee; architecture and design critic of The Financial Times, London


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tuesday 4 to Sunday 9 october Blood Mountain (BM) is a creative collective comprising a non-profit arts organisation, Blood Mountain Foundation and a design and communications agency, Blood Mountain Productions. Based in Budapest and working at the intersection of art, architecture and design, BM’s broader mission is to encourage opportunities, exchange and support between the non-profit arts sector and the private creative industries. BM’s contribution the 2011 Budapest Design Week is the first collaboration between the two partnership organisations, which were founded in 2009 by Hungarian-born curator, Jade Niklai and Australian industrial designer, Tom Sloan.

As a partner organisation of the 2011 Budapest Design Week, BM presents “Stories from Central Europe”: a programme of talks, workshops, exhibitions and educational events related to Hungary’s design heritage, visual culture and its future creative potential. The theme of the eighth Budapest Design Week, Couleur Locale (‘Local Colour’) is inspired by the 19th Century French literary movement, Romanticism. Steeped in social reality and revised notions of nationhood, diversity and cultural identity, it encouraged writers to express dissatisfaction with contemporary issues and proposed new alternatives inspired by foreign cultures and earlier periods.

In this spirit BM has invited four international participants to explore Hungary’s ongoing negotiation between its cultural past and future potential, and to celebrate its unique position as a ‘Central’ bridge between the East and West of Europe. With a shared interest in resourcefulness, locality and process, our contributors have developed new content inspired by local issues and tailored for local audiences. They include Tom Sloan (AUS/HU), industrial designer; Fritz Haeg (US), artist-designer-actvist; and the London-based collective Techonlogy Will Save Us, comprising digital artist, Daniel Hirschmann (SA/UK) and designer and branding innovator, Bethany Koby (US/UK).

“Stories from Central Europe” was developed in association with 2011 Budapest Design Week and with support from Lánchíd 19 Hotel.

Given the venue’s limited capacity, reservations are requested for all events.Events take place at BM in English (Hungarian translation is available onsite). Doors opens 30 minutes before each event.

Address: Vérhalom utca 27/c | Budapest 1025 | Hungary

Public transport: Take bus 91, 191 or 291 to Vérhalom stop and walk 5 minutes, or walk up from tram 4/6 at Margaret Bridge (Buda side)

For reservations and more information, please contact: +36.1.326.1844 Ӏ +36.30.415.2123 Ӏ [email protected] Ӏ www.bloodmountain.org


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Work in progress by Tom Sloan, 2011 | © András Káré, 2011


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tuesday 4 october

Talk: Tom Sloan and Jade Niklai, Blood Mountain 6 to 7pm | doors open 5.30pmSuitable for all design enthusiastsLimited capacity | booking is recommended | free

Tom Sloan, Creative Director of Blood Mountain Productions and Jade Niklai, Director of Blood Mountain Foundation discuss the collective’s broader ambitions and why “Stories from Central Europe” is timely and crucial in defining Hungary’s contemporary design culture.

Tom Sloan is an Australian-born industrial designer with built-work ranging from furniture, products, interior and lighting to architecture. He began as a product designer at Lab Architecture Studio in Melbourne, where he developed the furniture and interactive components of several art institutions comprising Federation Square: Australia’s largest cultural and civic precinct comparable to Vienna’s Museum Quarter. Tom founded his first company in 2003 and has since worked independently and on behalf of various design practices. His recent position as Senior Designer at London’s Jason Bruges Studio (2006-2009) enabled him to design and deliver bespoke artworks and interactive design objects with clients including Veuve Cliquot, Established & Sons, BBC1, Nike, O2 and a number property developers and architecture firms. With a BA in Industrial Design from Melbourne’s RMIT University, a strong work ethic and genuine belief that good design improves lives, Tom is an ardent believer in practical knowledge and private entrepreneurship. His first built project in Budapest is the Origo bistro and café at Pasaréti Square - voted the best new interior by the 2011 Top Lista, the leading annual industry survey - with other local and international projects in progress.

Jade Niklai is a curator interested in contemporary art, design and architecture. She has fulfilled curatorial positions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2000-01), the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest (2002), the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2003), the Sydney Biennale (2004) and at London’s Architecture Foundation (2005-07). She has also worked in the commercial sector as the founding director of a leading art dealership in Melbourne and as the first and only curator in Norman Foster’s 40-year architecture practice, Foster + Partners (2008-09). Jade holds a BA in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London with a dissertation in performance art and Central Eastern European politics; and an MA in Art Curatorship from the School of Creative Arts, University of Melbourne with a thesis examining the museology of design. Born in Hungary, raised in Australia, educated and trained in England and America; Jade’s international background and professional outlook make her a strong believer that the arts motivate cultural diversity, tolerance and social integration. In partnership,

Tom and Jade moved to Budapest in 2009 to establish Blood Mountain Productions; an agency committed to new thinking in design and communication; and Blood Mountain Foundation, an independent non-profit arts initiative dedicated to generating fresh discourse and dialogue between local and international arts communities.

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Work in progress by Tom Sloan, 2011 (detail) | © András Káré, 2011

Exhibition Opening7 to 9pm | follows on from public talk starting at 6pmAll welcome

The exhibition “Stories from Central Europe” presents a selection of used functional objects revived with subtle contemporary interventions by Tom Sloan, industrial designer and Blood Mountain Production’s Creative Director. It is a tribute to Hungary’s ageing artisan culture, specialist manufacturing skills and the inherent quality of old world materials.

Exhibited works include a former gym horse converted in to a bench and a customised leather briefcase, a revamped Soviet era dining table and several lighting solutions. As the first chapter of “Stories from Central Europe”, the exhibition is completed by objects produced during the workshops.

With special thanks to Ivan Moschlyak, antique and modern furniture dealer from Budapest’s Amata Gallery and his team of artisans.

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Work in progress by Tom Sloan, 2011 | © András Káré, 2011

Wednesday 5 october

Exhibition: Stories from Central EuropeOpen daily: midday to 6pm (5 to 9 October) or by appointment (10 to 30 October) Ӏ freeOn view: 5 to 30 October

The exhibition “Stories from Central Europe” presents a selection of used functional objects revived with subtle contemporary interventions by Tom Sloan, industrial designer and Blood Mountain Productions’ Creative Director. In the spirit of this year’s Design Week theme, Coleur Locale, it is a tribute to Hungary’s ageing artisan culture, specialist manufacturing skills and the inherent quality of old world materials.

Born, raised and trained in Australia in an era characterised by off-shore manufacturing and an exploding consumer culture, Tom’s relocation to Hungary in 2009 brought a world of new opportunities, texture and history to his practice. Exhibited works include a former gym horse converted in to a bench and a customised leather briefcase, a revamped Soviet era dining table and several lighting solutions. As the first chapter of “Stories from Central Europe”, the exhibition is completed by objects produced during the workshops.

With special thanks to Ivan Moschlyak, antique and modern furniture dealer from Budapest’s Amata Gallery and his team of artisans.


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thursday 6 october

Workshop: Lumiphone 2 to 5pm | doors open 10.30amFor design enthusiasts 16 years and older 2000 HUF (7 Euros) | free for tertiary education students (please bring valid student ID)

A DIY soldering experience: participants adapt a kit of disparate electronic components to create a musical device. Includes introduction to TWSU’s work and an informal Q&A. No prior experience is necessary.

BM has invited the London-based social enterprise, Technology Will Save Us (TWSU), as makers-in-residence for the duration of Design Week to develop a comprehensive education programme and to develop their own practice in line with BMF’s residency programme. With a mission to encourage the appreciation and production, not simply the consumption of technology; three hands-on workshops will explore, build and produce functional objects for day-to-day use. Where possible, participants will be asked to loan produced objects for display in the “Stories from Central Europe” exhibition (on view until 30 October).

Technology Will Save Us is a new haberdashery for technology and alternative education. Based in London, TWSU addresses design problems of distinct urban communities; and through a programme of DIY kits, hands-on workshops and support services, empowers participants to find their own creative solutions. Founded in 2010 by South African digital artist, Daniel Hirschmann and Bethany Koby, an American designer and branding consultant, TWSU has delivered adult learning programmes for London’s School of Life and for younger audiences at TEdxKids Brussels. TWSU contributes to this year’s London Design Festival as part of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Digital Design Weekend programme. TWSU takes up residence at BM during Design Week to develop a unique education programme for Hungarian audiences and to develop its own creatice prctice in line with BMF’s ongoing residency programme.

www.technologywillsaveus.org

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Lumiphone workshop, London | © TWSU, 2011

Lumiphone workshop, London | © TWSU, 2011


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friday 7 october

Talk: Fritz Haeg_Edible Estates6 to 7pm | doors open 5.30pmSuitable for all design enthusiastsLimited capacity | booking is recommended | free

In anticipation of speaker’s May 2012 artist-in-residence at Blood Mountain.

Haeg presents his seminal Edible Estates: an ongoing project helping avid gardeners to build and benefit from organically grown urban estates. In light of increasing environmental and health concerns associated with the industrialisation of food production and consumption worldwide, the project is especially relevant to Hungary’s former position as an agricultural leader of the Soviet satellite states. Edible Estates is the theme of Haeg’s artist-in-residence at BM in May 2012. Started in 2005 in Kansas - the geographic centre of America - Budapest will be its 12th site and following London, Rome and Istanbul, its first in Central Europe.

Fritz Haeg is an American artist-designer-activist. He studied architecture at the University of Venice and the Carnegie Mellon University. He is a 2010-2011 research fellow at the American Academy in Rome, a reoccuring MacDowell Colony Fellow and on occasion, nominated for National Design Awards in America. He is a regular lecturer at American institutions (Princeton University, California Institute of the Arts, Art Center College of Design, Parsons School of Design, South California) and contributor to art periodicals (Art in America, Art Forum, Frieze). He has produced and exhibited projects at Tate Modern (2007); Whitney Museum (2007, 2008, 2010); Guggenheim Museum (2010); Istabul’s SALT Beyolu (2011); Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (2010); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2008); Mass MoCA (2007); Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2007); Wattis Institute (2006); the Netherlands Architecture Institute (2007); Indianapolis Museum of Art; MAK Center, Los Angeles (2004); and the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT (2008). His recent publications include “The Sundown Salon Unfolding Archive”, Evil Twin Publications, 2009; “Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn”, Metropolis Books (2nd ed.), 2010; and “Roma Mangia Roma”, Nero Publications, 2011. Fritz’s projects range from urban ecology (Edible Estates, Gardenlab), to social projects (Sundown Salon and Schoolhouse) and commercial design (Fritz Haeg Studio). Between his travel, work and public commitments, Fritz’s home base since 2001 is a part-subterranean, part-geodesic dome in the hills of Los Angeles. His project, Edible Estate Budapest is commissioned by BMF and will comprise his artist-in-residence at the insitution in May 2012. Fritz’s talk at the 2012 Budapest Design Week is his first appearance in Central Europe.

www.fritzhaeg.com


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Edible Estate #4, London UK, 2007 (in process) | commissioned by Tate Modern | © Fritz Haeg, 2007

Edible Estate #6, Baltimore USA, 2008 (completed) | commissioned by Contemporary Museum Balitmore | © Fritz Haeg, 2008


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Saturday 8 october

Workshop: Electro-dough For six to 12 year-olds11am to 1pm | doors open 10.30am4000 HUF (15 Euros), includes refreshments

Working with electrically conductive play-dough and basic electronics, participants learn about basic electronics and create playful functional objects. In line with BM’s ongoing educational programme and facilitated by our education officer, this is a bilingual event. For more information about BM’s long-standing commitment to education, visit our website.





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Sunday 9 october

Workshop: Thirsty Plant 2 to 5pm | doors open 1.30pmFor all design enthusiasts 13 years and older6000 HUF (20 Euros), includes refreshments

To understand when plants are thirsty is one of the great challenges of domestic horticulture. During this workshop, participants learn to create a solar powered thirst detector. A new kit is produced in partnership with BM and produced in Budapest during TWSU’s Design Week residency. Includes introduction to TWSU’s work and an informal Q&A. No prior experience is necessary.




For reservations and more information, please contact: +36.1.326.1844 Ӏ +36.30.415.2123 Ӏ [email protected] Ӏ www.bloodmountain.org

stories from central europe - tech will save us...“stories from central europe” was developed in...

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