there’ll come a day when i will tell young adults about you and the world that you helped to build. i have been inspired by your irreverence, your dedication, your vision, and your healthy disregard for allegiances. not to say that you were disloyal: i know nothing of that.
i do know that those of my friends who have worked with you and worked for you, and some of them have worked very closely with you, their loyalty was forever.
the world that you helped create has shaped a large part of my creative life, providing me with the tools, the independence and impetus to express my creative self and support myself in ways that i could hardly have imagined when i first put my hands on an Apple IIe many years ago.
thank you for everything that you put your hands on.
may your days of suffering be over and may your family soon find closure and comfort.
from the september issue of DANISH CULTURAL EVENTS IN NEW YORK, published by the DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE, PRESS AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, CONSULATE GENERAL OF DENMARK IN NEW YORK.
We ask, they answer –every month we bring you a short interview with a current Danish artist or musician.
The Danish director of films and media objects Christian Svanes Kolding is currently exhibiting at The Museum of Modern Art as his film THE THINGS WE KEEP is part of their summer exhibition, Talk To Me: Design and the Communication Between People and Objects.
THE THINGS WE KEEP – a two-minute story features part of the song “Corporeal” from Broadcast, a lesser-known electronic band from Birmingham, England whose popularity might have peaked in the mid 2000s. Described as dream pop, minimalist neo-psychedelic, and “blissful electro-pop music,” they were fronted by vocalist Trish Keenan, who graces the film with her hypnotically confident voice that rises above a sea of distorted sounds. Both song and image work seamlessly together to portray a disjointed narrative about the relationship between friends in absentia and the souvenirs that become their proxies. Trish Keenan died very suddenly of pneumonia in January of 2011, leaving behind legions of heartbroken fans, including the director. Five months after her death, and sixteen months after THE THINGS WE KEEP made its online debut, the labour of love project was plucked out of obscurity by MoMA, who invited the Brooklyn-based Kolding to contribute the film to their widely anticipated summer exhibition, TALK TO ME.
What is the story behind “The Things We Keep”? The message or underlying thoughts?
We’ve all been through the experience of packing and unpacking our belongings and at some point, all of us have to decide what stays and what will be discarded. I made THE THINGS WE KEEP after moving to New York City two years ago. I realised that most of our keepsakes and souvenirs have meaningful stories and that each object, in essence, represents a relationship. Furthermore, I’ve always wondered what it would look like to walk into someone’s home and discover that their objects could on their own reveal the mystery of their origins, their reasons to be, as well as their journeys. This is a question of technology and design, so I decided to explore these ideas in a film, and that became THE THINGS WE KEEP.
You live in Brooklyn – what is your relationship to NYC?
I’ve had a very long relationship with New York. My father worked here (at the Consulate General of Denmark) and then I went to university here before moving back to Copenhagen. I never thought that I would return to New York but two years ago, I came back for love. My wife (who is American and speaks fluent Danish) was offered an opportunity in New York that neither of us could say no to. It was the right time to come back, and now, I absolutely love it.
Do you use NYC in your art?
Everywhere that I have lived has an impact on my art. Copenhagen is still very present in my work, as is Los Angeles, and certainly New York. New York has changed my work. The competition for an audience is very intense over here; therefore living in New York compels you to become a better communicator. You have to be very clear about what you want to express. Of course, I make art because I have to, for myself, but I also need that relationship with an audience. My work depends on that.
Are you currently working on any new projects?
Yes, all the time – when I’m not doing work for clients! I’m finishing a book right now. The book is more like an object rather than a traditional story of words and pictures. It is a bit like an interactive book of cards with fictitious characters; there are maps and short stories, and the book has digital and analog components. It’s called THE FRIENDS WE KEEP. I’m also working on a longer screenplay about growing up in a community of ex-patriate Scandinavians and Europeans, most of whom have some connection to the UN in New York. This is based, in part, on my own experiences, but also on the common experience many Scandinavians have over here through immigrating and integrating. I have a detached, comic view of my upbringing, and I realise that I need to explore this area. The story really comes down to questions of self-identity. All of the Scandinavians that I’ve known who live in or near New York are looking for something. They left Scandinavia for different reasons, myself included, and by nature, most of us are very outward looking (otherwise we wouldn’t be here), but many of us over here are looking for “home,” and what that means, and therefore, what it means to be Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, etc. So that’s an important part of the screenplay, which I am now writing and will one day direct. I also make films almost every day. I photograph and shoot short films and studies, documenting our time here in New York.
Do you see a difference in how art is perceived and recognized in the US versus Denmark?
This question raises a lot of issues about who we recognize as artists and how we ultimately value works of art. Costs and education aside, it’s hard for me to generalize the difference between Americans and Danes in the way that they perceive art. It feels more appropriate to compare New York with Copenhagen. In this sense, the way that art is recognized in Copenhagen is definitely more festive and possibly more democratic than in New York. In most corners of Copenhagen, such as in Kongens Have and Rådhuspladsen but also smaller squares, there is public art, big and small, permanent and temporary, that asks you to engage with it. There is nothing holy about art in Copenhagen. On the other hand, in New York, while we have a fair amount of public art (such as what we might find in Madison Square Park), you can’t touch it. You can’t get close to it. I know there are many reasons for this, but I think this reflects a general feeling over here that art is beyond the reach of most Americans. It’s not meant for them and there’s a strange anxiety and distaste around that. Danes would never accept that, even if they don’t understand what the work of art is trying to communicate. In Copenhagen, art is accessible to everyone. That said, I made a short documentary in which I asked New Yorkers on the street, how do they feel about art, and I can promise you, New Yorkers are not shy! Many of them feel great passion for art, and that is one of the reasons that make New York an amazing place to be for art.
Do you compare yourself to any American artist? Where do you find your inspiration?
Inspiration comes from everywhere: not only design and film but also in music, literature, urban planning, and tribal culture. In all of these fields, we see evidence that we live in an extremely interconnected world that is undergoing incredible changes. Ironically, despite the fact that we are more connected than ever, we may feel increasingly isolated, both as a by-product of seeking solace from all of the noise (as we continue to define and redefine our experience) but also because we might feel left out because of the pace of change. I’m interested in how we function during these times of great change and how we embrace the change. My Danish grandmother from Skive and my Norwegian grandmother from Lillehammer would probably not understand this life that we lead today, they would think that it’s all nonsense and chaos, but I want my world, and my work, to be understood by them. The designer Nicolas Felton and filmmaker Sofia Coppola, both Americans, work with these same themes that I’m drawn to, but, again, this is New York, and there are so many domestic and international artists working here who influence what I do. At the same time, I’m also more likely to connect with Scandinavian filmmakers, such as Nils Malmros, Lukas Moodysson and Martin de Thurah, and Danish designers Henrik Vibskov, Sara Keir Wright and Louise Campbell; even Björk: we all draw our influences from everywhere but try to refine it into clear ideas that can be expressed in many ways. Ideas from the American-born writer, Nella Larsen, are also an important resource for me – in that her work very specifically explored identities that were both Danish and American.
Interview by Amalie Sophie Butze-Ruhnenstierne for the Consulate General of Denmark in New York.
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a number of people, including associates and friends of shepard fairey, have been writing about the assault on the artist that took place in copenhagen last week. boing boing also covered it.
shepard fairey claims that he was singled out for punishment because of a lie spread by danish media.
the facts seem dubious.
my hunch is that shepard fairey is attempting to spin what was most likely a mundane late night fracas into a media-friendly story of how a forward-thinking artist is being denied his right to free expression in a hostile culture while performing a charitable and unsolicited service for the greater good of the community.
but the facts just don’t add up.
both shepard fairey’s story on his site and the summaries on sean bonner’s blog as well as boing boing leave out a few important details.
to suggest that someone in the danish media is spreading misconceptions about shepard’s work in copenhagen is, in terms of facts, true, but the danish media can hardly be represented in its entirety by the actual source: an english-language only weekly newspaper marketed to the british/american ex-pat community that has a circulation of about 10,000 readers. at best, 10,000 readers, who, for the most part, are not danish. i’m talking about the copenhagen post, the “danish media” in question which ran an article critical of shepard’s work in relation to jagtvej 69 (the youth house that is more commonly known as ungdomshuset).
i used to write film reviews for that paper for a brief period during my ten years of living in copenhagen. the copenhagen post is not known as a serious newspaper. it routinely uses a sarcastic tone for its headlines and has an editorial style that borders on juvenile, intentionally so. it’s light reading. and it’s a weekly. comes out every wednesday. definitely not widely read nor frequently cited in other danish media. therefore, i conclude that regardless of what the paper wrote, very few people paid attention to it and the story did not gain any traction within the copenhagen youth populace. it had nothing to do with the assault on mr. fairey.
i think that the reason why shepard was jumped had more to do with the popular perception that an american “hipster” has nothing of value to offer on what is primarily a copenhagen issue (and not necessarily a danish issue). why should an american use a copenhagen wall to express his opinions? and why him? and why that wall in particular? that just seems arrogant. granted, shepard claims that he’s a global citizen and therefore deserves a voice in the global community, but again, i beg to differ. he’s about as global as mcdonalds or starbucks but that doesn’t mean that he understands local politics. he’s an american who is known around the world, but that hardly makes him a global citizen.
that shephard conducted his business with the help of the copenhagen city government, which is true, probably did more damage to his credibility because it illustrated that both he and his partners at Galleri V1 failed to appreciate the anger that the residents of nørrebro have towards the local government for its involvement in the destruction of jagtvej 69. that’s the real sentiment behind why he got jumped, and not the rantings of the copenhagen post, which so few people read – and is certainly not read by the vast majority of danes living in copenhagen.
the story of jagtvej 69 is the story of an unpopular betrayal – that the local government went back on a promise made to the city’s rambunctious disenfranchised youth. that’s why there was rioting when the building was raided by the police, then sold, then torn down. protesters were beat-up during the confrontations, there were acts of police brutality, and charges of racism were brought against the police, among other things. the case is not yet over – so it’s still fresh on the minds of many copenhageners.
finally, i’m not even sure that shepard was beaten up because of the mural. he was hanging out in the early morning hours outside of a popular hipster club in the meatpacking district, which is located far away from jagtvej 69 (kødbyen is now a hipster part of town that once was a working class neighborhood with an actual meat market). i suspect that there’s a chance that he was beaten up for other reasons. acting like an obnoxious douchebag, with an entourage in tow, possibly making disparaging comments about local yokels?
i’m not justifying the fact that he received a black eye. i think that’s terrible and an embarrassment to people in copenhagen. nobody should get beat up… but my gut feeling is that shepard is pointing the blame at a relatively obscure newspaper, then using his american friends such as sean bonner and xeni jardin to rally around his cause, rather than accepting his role in stirring up strong emotions in copenhagen. that’s the real embarrassment. so be it.
it’s cool. keep trying, shepard. i still love your hope poster.
The Museum of Modern Art has invited Christian Svanes Kolding to contribute his work, THE THINGS WE KEEP, to their summer exhibition, TALK TO ME: DESIGN AND THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE AND OBJECTS.
THE THINGS WE KEEP is a two-minute exploration of the meaning of keepsakes and household objects, featuring aspects of augmented reality and tagging. The stop motion film that was hand-made with a point and shoot camera will take its place in MoMA‘s venerated spaces alongside the works of artists and designers from all over the world.
Organized by Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, Architecture & Design at MoMA, TALK TO ME explores the communication between people and things and is based on the assumption that contemporary objects contain information that goes well beyond their immediate use or appearance. The exhibition focuses on objects that establish an emotional, sensual, or intellectual connection with their users.
Christian Svanes Kolding is a director of films and media objects. His work focuses on the beauty and simplicity in the fleeting moments of everyday life. He is from Copenhagen and currently lives in Brooklyn.
The show opens on July 24 and runs through November, 2011.
Press enquiries regarding the show can be made to Daniela Stigh, Assistant Director, Department of Communications, Museum of Modern Art.
today i deliver my film to MOMA – the museum of modern art in new york. hold on. i can’t truly say that i have a film in MOMA until the show actually opens in mid-july.
it never occurred to me that this is how it would happen – that i’d be up at three-thirty in the morning hovered over my laptop in a last minute frenzy of finicky details and unruly file renders; that, after all of this work, at the absolute last phase of the project, that the capricious mundanity of rote execution could jeopardize what would be my first experience with having my work in a museum; that it would be a short documentary about a game that would provide the ticket for this invitation into such esteemed surroundings; that it would be a friend‘s idea (his vision, his project) that would provide the means for this admission. one could say that i’m getting into MOMA via the back door. i’ll take it.
. . . . .
beyond the window, a yellow cab dashes through the puddles on union street. it’s raining at five-thirty in the morning, the sky is overcast and our backyard nightingale keeps his own counsel. a breeze carries the scent of rose hips into our apartment.
. . . . .
i’m on the F train. i deliver the film in fifty-five minutes. the entire project is loaded onto a data dvd that’s now in my pocket. who delivers projects on data dvds anymore? there’s a sunburned man seated next to me who smells of sour grass stains and booze-infused sweat. he picks his teeth and carries a rectangular box wrapped in a white plastic garbage bag. maybe he too is delivering a project to MOMA? probably not. maybe.
there’s always a disorienting melancholia that immediately follows the completion of a project. it’s horrible but thankfully brief. the cause for which one rallies resources around no longer exists. the team that answers that call will never be completely reassembled again. it’s the little death that no one talks about.
. . . . .
the sun is out by one in the afternoon, moments before i deliver the project. i’m waiting for them at the rendezvous, the discs in my hand.
. . . . .
this entry also appeared as part of the 3six5 project, on the same date. thank you, 3six5 team!
on the high velocity nature of social media and modern relationships, baldwin writes:
“we tell ourselves that these devices help us communicate more effectively. what they actually do is allow us to bypass the person lying right next to us, across the room from us or at an airport heading home to us, in order to meet our immediate, even inconvenient, needs. to bypass their moods, their current view of us and their own desires, or lack thereof.”
baldwin was actually writing about the circumstances surrounding anthony weiner, but i think his eloquent sentiments apply to more than just the scandal-plagued.
yesterday morning, lars von trier stepped into a steaming pile of shit at the cannes film festival.
by now, most of the headlines for cannes are going to read “lars von trier says he is a nazi.”
american journalists are having a go at it, the blogosphere is alight with indignation, and i’m sure this will preoccupy a few pages on bona fide news media sites for about five minutes – while the huffington post will blabber about it – and all of this is too bad.
lars von trier is not an anti-semite and it’s an overreaction to ban him from cannes.
americans have generally misunderstood lars von trier because they tend to think that he’s talking about them, or talking to them. he’s not. and, as far as his feelings about being jewish are concerned, there’s a long back-story to that.
let me first recap what happened yesterday, then put it in context.
during the press conference for his film melancholia, von trier alluded to once being a jew, then found out that he wasn’t a jew, then made a crack about a fellow danish director who happens to be jewish, then mused about understanding hitler, then scratched his head, threw up his hands and mumbled, “ok, i’m a nazi.” during the same press conference, he also admitted that melancholia might “very well be a piece of crap. i don’t know if you should bother seeing it.”
as one can see above, his schizoid provocations don’t translate well into english, but should be seen in light of that he grew up jewish, which in denmark is a not an easy thing to do.
just like von trier’s films, it’s unfair to place his comments in an american context, because they have nothing to do with americans, or american jews for that matter.
von trier’s comments have to be seen as reaction to several conditions: his very relevant personal history combined with a resolutely danish disregard for the usual public protocol of avoiding controversy combined with a schizoid, danish sense of humor that doesn’t translate well into english.
in denmark, it is commonly known that von trier grew up believing he was jewish, through his father’s side, but then learned that that was not jewish enough (because it only counts on the mother’s side).
denmark is not a jewish-friendly society. quite the contrary. i’m danish and i once had a production manager ask me not to hire a jewish sound editor because of his jewish identity. i stopped working with that production manager.
years later, von trier found out from his mother that his jewish father was actually his stepfather, and subsequently, von trier discovered the true identity of his biological father. his father was, in fact, a german christian. hence his darkly sardonic humor about this.
furthermore, danes are deeply ambivalent about their connection to germany’s nazi past, which he vaguely alludes to. it’s complicated and not easily digested via american-style sound bites. germany borders denmark and occupied it during the war and killed and executed many danes, including people in my family, while at the same time, over the course of the entire war, more danes fought for germany than against germany.
he grew up in the shadow of this war in a tiny country that was overshadowed by its powerful southern neighbor. you develop a dark sense of humor about these things, as well as a morbid fascination with the mechanisms of power, and, on a personal level, it would be a gross understatement to suggest that von trier has complex feelings about the subject of jewish/german identity.
the whole susanne bier joke is because (1) she evidently rejected his jewishness and (2) though she’s an oscar winner, she’s a somewhat reviled figure in the danish film industry because of her reputation for the way she treats the industry people around her. that’s what he was jokingly alluding to. once von trier found out that he shared something in common with susanne bier (being jewish – or so he thought) then he no longer wanted to have that thing in common with her.
i believe his comments were never meant to be taken seriously – they were framed by jokes about his own film and other less controversial matters – but if placed in a different context, these same comments could easily be seen as extremely hateful or, at the very least, disrespectful, but i don’t believe he is that.
lars von trier is not an anti-semite. at worst, he is careless and clumsy. so be it.
i’ve crossed paths with him several times and, for about two years, i had my office near his, on the former military base outside of copenhagen. he’s an odd bird who comes across as occasionally petty and paranoid. he is socially awkward, and a provocateur when he wants to be, with a penchant for snark and self-absorption, but that doesn’t make him a nazi.
he’s an outsider in his own country who, like many other danes, is trying to make sense of what’s happening in denmark over the last fifties years and translating that through his work. take a look at his film zentropa and you’ll see that in action.
as for his body of work, though much of it is set in america, it sincerely has very little to do with america per se. it’s more a reworking and subversion of hollywood conventions and danish mores.
finally, here are some more things that he said yesterday.
– csk
UPDATE: this topic has given rise to a lot of debate, and i wanted to follow up with a few additional comments.
the purpose of my blog post is to place his press conference in a context that offers more light on the situation than what’s being reported in the media over here in the united states.
everything he has awkwardly said has been taken out of context to serve other agendas. von trier inadvertently gave the american tabloid press a golden egg.
journalists who rush to call him an anti-semite without understanding the context, or even bothering to do a simple fact-check, dilute the meaning and power of the term and do a disservice to the genuine struggle of righting the wrongs of anti-semitism, but those same journalists will strengthen their own profiles and no doubt profit from their calls for action and that’s too easy an opportunity to turn down.
stated bluntly, accusing someone of vile behavior creates a scandal and scandals sell the news as well as ad spaces.
he said what he said and it was careless, pathetically short-sighted and should have raised eyebrows but once a statement is stripped of its context, whether in print or as an edited sound-clip, then anything that anyone says can, and often will, be used against them in the court of public opinion. he is now being referred to as “the nazi director” which therefore justifies the punishment, in what appears to be a victory for moral righteousness and the tabloid journalists who demanded action.
whose interests were being served by this development?
i feel bad for jodie foster for stepping into the same pile of shit but so it goes…
again, a few details on von trier’s background: when von trier was 35 years old, he found out that his jewish father was actually his stepfather and that his biological father was actually a german christian.
so, why did he call himself a nazi? i believe that it was a statement of embarrassed resignation – that he thought he was a danish jew but it turns out that his father was an arch-german: the worst thing that he could possibly be… his father might as well have been hitler. that’s what he was saying. it most certainly was not an identification with nazi values or history… or an endorsement thereof.
additional thoughts on the perception that von trier’s films are about america:
there are precedents for setting films in countries that are terra incognita to directors and producers.
of all of the films starring gene kelly that were set in europe but filmed on a hollywood back lot, where the director and producers have never set foot on the european continent, it would be very difficult to say that they are about europe or europeans. if so, then that would certainly present an interesting point of view about france or england or italy. those hollywood stories are just american fairytales that happen to be set somewhere exotic, in these constructed environments that offer no reflection of reality. hollywood filmmakers never expressed the need to rationalize their choice of setting. they just did it. i doubt many of them would have professed to have put forth a picture of the “real” europe.
i see von trier’s films as an examination of hollywood techniques and conventions – they rework and subvert hollywood archetypes and themes but their dramatic point of origin is always centered on danish values and mores (and possibly about pan-european culture, post world war two).
they are set in “america” as a comment on america’s cultural imperialism – such as the aforementioned gene kelly films – where von trier gives himself the same right to determine where and when he places his stories, just as any hollywood producer would do.
furthermore, von trier makes it painstakingly obvious that his films are set in a fantasy version of america – a tormented hollywood version of an obviously fabricated america – how else does one explain DANCER IN THE DARK? other than that it’s really really long and kinda boring and keeps punishing viewers for remaining in their seats, and it might have been the fulfillment of a personal vendetta against björk (or his mother) but i digress.
his films are set in the english language so that they can be seen by a wider audience: his films need to make money and there are not enough viewers in denmark to keep his films afloat. hell, most of his films don’t even break into the annual top ten for domestic ticket sales in denmark.
regarding his comments about albert speer – which i really wish he hadn’t made – but he was referring to speer’s talent as propagandist and storyteller. even george lucas and steven spielberg have admitted to the fundamental influences on cinema by leni riefenstahl and albert speer… it’s funny how scenes in STAR WARS echo scenes in TRIUMPH OF THE WILL…. in some cases, shot for shot… but that doesn’t mean that lucas’ blockbuster is an endorsement of riefenstahl’s client, right?
finally, it should be stated that at no time are any of these thoughts to be construed as an endorsement of anti-semitic behavior or an encouragement for anyone to defend behavior that is truly anti-semitic. i understand that people are provoked by von trier’s comments. my grievance is with the journalists who have failed us by not doing their homework, by not reporting the whole story, by selling out for the sake of an easy victory. von trier might have dug his own grave, but we don’t need to throw dirt on top of it; and if we do, it certainly does not improve our moral standing.
UPDATE #2: scott macaulay, editor of filmmaker magazine, quoted my blog in his article about von trier, which includes some follow-up reactions from von trier
himself. it’s worth taking a gander. thank you, scott.
a beautiful and emotional response to the heartbreak in japan. buy it and the money from your purchase goes directly to the canadian red cross, who will send it to japan. not everyone agrees that buying this poster is the right solution. here’s a thought-provoking point of view on that.
you can also make a contribution to the relief efforts by donating here or here.
ewan and i submitted three concept proposals to the NO RIGHT BRAIN LEFT BEHIND INNOVATION CHALLENGE – an open call for ideas to address the “creativity crisis” in america.
teams from all over the globe have responded, from creative agencies, strategy, design and innovation companies, to think tanks, schools, universities, and “ordinary” citizens. amongst those participating are frog design, syrup, saatchi & saatchi, wieden+kennedy, goodby, silverstein & partners, hyper island, redscout and eleven.
i think the response has been nothing short of tremendous while i’m hopeful that among the 300 ideas that have been submitted, there are at least a few that can bring about the meaningful change which many of us are seeking.
we were each given seven days to produce our best ideas, which are then submitted for review by a panel of education and innovation experts. for more information on the challenge itself, see further below.
we’d love for you to vote on the proposals, and hope that you’ll take our submissions into consideration.
remember to express your love by clicking on the heart – that’s how you vote!
here’s our team page for the challenge, so that you can vote.
here’s a link to our website, to not only see each proposal but also many of the intelligence briefs and background documents, including interviews with teachers. it’s good stuff. really!
just remember to return to the challenge site to vote!
finally, here’s a direct link to the original IDEA BRIEF that forms the basis of the challenge.
thank you!
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taking an earnest stab at this kind of innovation makes me appreciate how intensely difficult it is to solve a major problem in six days, let alone a month, a year or three years. it’s going to take all kinds of contributions and great clarity of purpose.
now, we haven’t had a chance to look at ALL of the contributions yet, but many of them have inspired us, and some of them have us asking questions. obviously, we have a bias towards certain ideas being stronger than others, but a sincere attempt has been made to craft an honest opinion of all of the ideas that our paths have come across. sometimes that opinion is quickly-formed, a hastily scribbled note based on a short-lived first impression, while at other times, the opinions have been more carefully considered. nonetheless, they are written out of an interest to see good work and are fueled by the high expectations that come with this challenge. hopefully, all of our ideas will live up to each our own expectations!
here you go, the initial responses.
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THE GOOD
easily implemented, easy to grasp, CREATIVE MORNINGS is an idea that asks that every school day starts with 15 minutes of open creativity during a period in which students are normally idle and getting settled in. i could see this one being talked about. sometimes simple is best.
i like the IN YOUR OWN WORDS idea by modea – asking students to create their own textbooks as evidence of the strength of their understanding and familiarity of a subject. is it right brain enough? the eternal question. it could be, depending on the students and the teachers.
that same agency offered TOGETHER WE (L)EARN MORE – an incentives-based initiative which i’m a bit less thrilled about. collecting points? well, we used it in of ours too… so, fair enough. it’s a trade-off. they also created CRACKING THE CREATIVE WINDOW, with a badge system that reminds me of foursquare and its mayoralties.
KIDtalks should get some traction. it’s an idea that’s easily understood and it has merit. it feels very derivative, obviously, so that makes it a bit less appealing.
saatchi los angeles proposed a deck of CREATIVITY CARDS (modeled after IDEO’s method cards – they are also similar to the drift deck from near future laboratory’s julian bleecker) to inspire creativity and (re)action. the idea looks nice, seems easily activated, and is not needlessly high-tech. this one might get some attention. yeah, it probably will.
i quite like simple and stout’sDESIGN SHOP – very hands-on. i could see it happening.
i like this idea, THE CREATIVITY BEE by banddigital, and ewan and i were thinking of something very similar – we actually asked ourselves last week, “is there something that we can create that is the equivalent of a national spelling bee?” it came up over after-work beers with a few colleagues, but we ultimately decided to focus on other ideas. now, it’s not just my ego that likes this idea, i do believe that banddigital has done a nice job of articulating their idea, and it’s good to see that it’s getting noticed. for us, the challenge with this idea was, how do you quantify creativity? and even if you could quantify creativity, such as the manner in which it will be measured for this competition, does it actually produce more creative thinking? i don’t know the answer to that one. when all of us involved with this challenge gathered around to hear the initial brief two weeks ago, there was a desire expressed by viktor venson, one of the organizers, to create a movement that feels similar in spirit to the olympic movement. i think that banddigital has taken several good first steps towards meeting that particular goal.
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THE COULD BE GOOD / ALMOST THERE CONCEPTS
i like how ZAAZ seattle offered limitations as a way of cultivating creativity – THINK INSIDE THE BOX. nice job. in fact, the more i think about it, the more i like it.
this idea is perhaps more a business school kickstarter rather than a right brain kickstarter… still, they want kids to learn by doing, and i think it might get some traction. not sure. TAKE THE BUS.
on the other hand, KIDSTARTER seems to offer more focus on the creativity aspect of kid development – but it still feels very business schooly.
i really like the subversive aspect of CHEATING IS ALLOWED, an idea by creature (from seattle) – the proposal calls for cheating, i.e. collaborating, which then makes standardized testing irrelevant (which it already is, of course). this is nice. thought provoking. is it fair to ask if it goes deep enough?
this proposal establishes a kind of creativity-based game, requiring students to determine the shortcomings and problems that their schools are facing, and then take a stab at resolving them as a primary component of the game. in KINGS & QUEENS OF CREATIVITY, you have to defend your “castle,” by being good at problem solving. not sure if the idea is strong enough as it seems to get more diffuse in the later portions of their brief.
nice idea by saatchi - RESUPPLY – applying sustainable or recycled products for kids to use as creative tools – but, at best, it seems too vague – leaving too much up to the imagination.
this idea very much reminds me of our “I’D CLONE THAT” concept (which we ultimately did not submit) – creating an online clearinghouse for teacher/teaching skill development and information. i think this idea might do well.
i like the role reversals in this proposal called THE POP-UP CLASSROOM – playful and thought-provoking.
ERASERS is both irreverent but also relevant. there’s a simple message – don’t fear mistakes – backed up by a simple solution – get rid of the erasers.
just like saatchi and saatchi‘s creativity cards, the METHOD DECK idea, from the bucket brigade, borrows quite heavily from IDEO’s method cards. good (original) ideas manifest themselves in many ways, i guess. it’s nicely executed.
syrup nyc offers REVOLUTION 101: teach kids to think like revolutionaries. introduce students from kindergarten all the way up to university-level and beyond to the works and contributions of geniuses and revolutionaries, in order to study their methods and innovations, expressed in a way that young kids can appreciate.
in some ways, THE SOLUTION SCHOOL from cole & weber is a bit like the problems period from the bucket brigade (see further below) – but here we’re talking about putting the kids’ collective creativity towards an ambitious effort to solve pressing global issues.
eleven inc. wants to teach creativity through math (where virtually all things add up to 11) – and i don’t see why not – the challenge is to find 11 solutions for each problem.
i like redscout‘s camera + word based creativity-enabler, A WHOLE NEW LENS. it’s an idea that is more or less ready to go.
another variation of a deck of cards is the FL!Pclassroom creativity cards, by the martin agency. it’s quite evident that IDEO has made a huge impression on many of the contributors. not that they own the idea, but i wonder how they feel about that? this one also offers a digital version of the cards – which i think is promising.
CREATIVITYCAMP.US by fallon feels a lot like the CREATIVE SCHOOLS MOVEMENT (whose idea appears a bit further below) – handing out monthly assignments for students to tackle by using right-brain approaches. file this under “not sure” as i like the way that literacyhead expressed their idea a bit better… as a footnote, it’s too bad that they didn’t actually buy the domain name that’s built into the name of their idea.
a quick comment about AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES: EXPLOITING OUR STRENGTHS from emily wright… i really like the proposal to turn ‘wrong answers’ into opportunities for students to get extra mentoring in the classroom.
A BOX APPEARS IN THE CLASSROOM by standard time is a community-focused solutions-based creativity kick starter that culminates in a national outside the box festival, which highlights final projects and the journeys behind them. the idea proposes to bring together teachers, teaching artists and their students, who are then invited to participate in a variety of creative challenges, which, in some cases, might directly benefit the local community. i like the idea, but i’m wondering about the selection process and if the idea is broad enough to include schools from lower-income neighborhoods. i’m also wondering how this initiative is going to be financed, as the brief never addresses that point. at the very least, the projects encourage critical thinking.
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THE “I’M FEELING THE ZEITGEIST! THEY CAME UP WITH THE SAME IDEA AS WE DIDS!!”
these are ideas that seem like they belong in the same neighborhood as ours. unintentional, of course. file under “like minds think (somewhat) alike.” : )
bucket brigade put together really nice looking presentations, many of them seeking solutions that are quite similar in approach to ours. this one is very close to our invention hour: PROBLEMS PERIOD = a period of class time dedicated to problem-solving, enabling kids to develop creative thinking skills and come up with child-driven solutions.
this one is also very close in spirit to our invention hour.
this particular one seeks to reframe the debate in a way that’s similar to the education amnesty but the literacyhead team does take it a bit further, so maybe it’s unfair to put them in this category. the CREATIVE SCHOOLS MOVEMENT ultimately wants participants to spend a month learning about a real world problem and then acquire a variety of skills in order to tackle the problem on their own through monthly collaborative competitions. i like the gist of the proposal, though it gets a bit bogged down at times by its own wordiness without offering too many specifics. i’m also wondering if it is really useful to try to measure the value of an idea in the manner in which they are suggesting? the problem with some competitions is that they don’t always encourage creative thinking… sometimes they merely encourage participants to game the competition so that they can win. how do we move beyond that?
i think our version of the RIGHT GAME articulates its vision a bit more effectively than this version of game-creation.
CREATE ANYTHING by kiba kiba books also feels very much like a kindred spirit to the invention hour… coincidences, of course. i’ll come back to their idea – to do a more careful analysis and comparison.
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THE NOT QUITE THERE (IMHO) OR NOT QUITE AS AMBITIOUS
i think mentoring is important. this idea by wolff olins new york seems nice enough but it feels like it falls a bit short in the ambition department (which is not to say that i question the team’s integrity or honest efforts), while here’s another one that could use a bit more muscle.
good ideas, good questions, but very vague. where’s the leadership in these “WHAT IF” questions? what if they sat down and drafted an implementation plan for their idea?
cute idea but not necessarily visionary: RIGHT BRAIN (holi)DAY, even though i love the idea of staging this on thomas edison’s birthday.
if they had spent a bit more time generating a clear articulation of their idea, then this one could have been pretty interesting.
not in love with the execution of the idea, but it takes an unusual subject matter – daytime drowsiness – and tries to play with it in THE DREAM SCHEME.
i don’t think anyone would mind losing a popular vote to an idea that truly inspires us but it is quite another matter when a slick commercial wins a beauty contest – which is what appears to be happening with LET’S GO. the idea is essentially a commercial masquerading as a documentary – if only the no right brain left behind initiative kicked off with this video produced by advertising behemoth draft fcb, because that’s where this contribution would be best applied. it would have been a very nice way of starting off the challenge.
initially, i didn’t feel the urge to write a response to LET’S GO because, while it’s a heartfelt piece of storytelling, it didn’t offer a noteworthy solution nor did it have a unique point of view. re-hashing the innovation challenge’s BIG IDEA is fine but does it really advance the cause? on one hand, yes, one could argue that they re-formulated the assignment brief better than the organizers themselves, and thanks to their video, their contribution seems to be the leading vote-getter – but that’s kinda too bad. i might be wrong. i’m happy for fcb draft because their feel-good story will bring them benefits – but in truth, their response to the challenge would have been more suited for the opening presentation rather than an idea submission for the challenge itself – and, ultimately, there’s a risk that this takes away from the earnest contributions that other teams have to offer. oh well. less a sour grapes issue, and more an example of where i’m mostly interested in seeing that the best ideas gain the most attention.
PLUMB from sew creative out of california feels vaguely like an online matchmaking service. that may not be fair, but it does want users to build a profile based on a variety of factors so that students can both be evaluated by teachers while also forging connections to mentors. the idea brief states that “plumb measures factors rather than assets…. allowing students to understand the importance of factor development…. for example, the most influential factors of being a musician will vary quite a bit from those of an attorney. children should be given the opportunity to understand this and set forth on a smart, informed life path and having the ability to adjust it along the way….” the brief goes on to suggest that “true intelligence” can be measured. as i’ve voiced before, i have my doubts about how much energy we should apply towards measuring creativity, even if the intention is good. well, the intentions are always good, aren’t they? that said, i appreciate the desire to connect students with mentors while establishing an online social network to achieve this does offer real value. their company website is also kinda fetching.
i think the HAVE A BALL TEACHING idea put out by the marketing store could benefit from further development. the strength of the proposal is found in its simplicity, which means that it can be put to use right away – but the details of how teachers are going to teach through various forms of ball-play are not sufficiently spelled out. it left me asking questions. on the plus side, i like how yet another team sees the value of sharing their lessons by establishing an online resource for the benefit of all teachers and students.
the institute of noetic sciences‘ WORLDVIEW LITERACY PROJECT wants to put a mapmaker’s modus operandi into practice – which is quite interesting – as it aspires to the noble goal of giving each student a voice of authenticity in the classroom. by allowing students to speak from their own experiences, the idea brief argues that they are able to explore differing worldviews, hence worldview literacy. i didn’t quite buy the argument. i think the ambition is valuable, and yes, broader perspectives are absolutely useful but i’m not sure how this cultivates greater creativity and, specifically, greater right brain creativity.
asking kids to enter a sanitized version of SECOND LIFE seems a bit too simplistic. don’t kids already have access to it, and are we really engaging their creativity by using this approach? editor’s note: after hearing from one of the creators of this idea, i should clarify that the idea wasn’t meant to “literally use a second life-esque computer game, but to structure a teacher-student-peers relationship with real-life simulations and feedback loops — sort of a classroom choose-your-own-adventure…”
the idea behind LIVINGBOOKS, offered by tribalddbnew york, is to allow schools to have access to the most recent content of education publishers, so students can be taught with the newest media, at the lowest cost (assuming that they have computers or digital notepads). it’s good that they’ve taken budget into account, but the idea is a bit vague on details, while promising remarkable results, and i’m curious to hear more about how publishing houses would be so willing to release their content at such great discounts.
platform proposes an informal kind of noble sampling (or plagiarism) as the foundation for their idea, SECOND STORY. using their own words, albeit slightly out of context, they ask “why teach children to write something that no one has any interest in reading? kill the essay… instead, sample works from the greats and rearrange them into something entirely new—your version of the story.” as a teaching tool, i see the value in this – and it’s certainly an approach that many filmmakers and artists have employed – but it feels fraught with danger. i’d use it as an exercise but not as the basis for an entire course. i think that platform is thinking the same thing, as they intend for this idea to “jumpstart [the] creative process.”
it’s a bit amusing that while SECOND STORY proposes borrowing ideas from an established masterpiece, THE BITTY PROJECT pins its ambitions on original storytelling. the strength of the idea is that classrooms upload individual stories to a shared website for feedback and peer review from students who come from a broad spectrum of grades, geographical locations and interests, establishing what karla valenti describes as “creative thinking through collaborative storytelling.” on one hand, students can contribute to a story with multiple parallel streams and divergences, creating a compelling and complex work. on other hand, the collaborations could descend to mob rule, resulting in a finished work that appeals only to the lowest common denominator. i don’t see anything in the brief that suggests a way of favoring one over the other.
austin outfit cass avenue has an idea called ideaBOX that reminds me very much of MISSION:SUMMER from perkins+will. they are both mobile educational laboratories packaged inside of catering trucks. cass avenue‘s is bio-diesel fueled. cute.
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THE PROMISES UNFULFILLED
lovely images, but i have no clue what the copy is trying to communicate. editor’s note: thanks to the comment below, i later found out that this idea, called mission:summer, ”takes its inspiration from the nostalgia of the ice cream truck and the trendiness of the socially powered food truck. its goal is to bridge the summer between academic years with mobile, partnership-powered trucks where students can connect with local arts/cultural institutions and explore new projects and hobbies.” ok. this makes a huge difference. and the idea is quite good, i think. it’s too bad that the final idea didn’t make it onto the NRBLB’s actual idea page. while one can get the full details to their idea here, one can vote for their idea here.
i’m wondering why they chose to create a video. i can’t even tell if it’s serious.
i don’t see the execution. i know that sounds harsh and perhaps unfair but i have no idea what they are trying to convey.
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OTHER THOUGHTS
all in all, quite a lot of inspiring contributions. cole weber of seattle put in some nice ideas, in case we failed to mention it.
i like the provocative thinking behind some of BBH global‘s idea names – and i’m curious why they haven’t received more attention..
by the way, there are some excellent team names in this competition, not to mention some individuals who’ve entered as one-person operations. a tip of the hat to those who fly solo, such as emily wright, henrik dufke, and leah in minneapolis while i commend the left’overs of new york, engine company 1 of san francisco, and d.c.-based BYO consulting for delivering a smile on account of their excellent choice in handles.
difficult as it may be to address this problem, in 500 words no less, i applaud all of the teams for taking their best shot.
this open competition offers a very timely and relevant opportunity for people from all walks of american life to take up the challenge. as evidence of that, one need look no further than this request for proposals for an innovation, science and research facility and campus put out by the new york city economic development corporation. we need real thinkers to create the curriculum for the future, and it needs to happen now. i would love nothing more than for any number of the lessons taken from this challenge to be applied to the development of the kinds of institutions mentioned above. if you want to apply your talents, their deadline is march 16, 2011.
as stephanie critchfield wrote on her company blog for band digital – “yes this is a competition, and we want your vote. but in the end, the best idea doesn’t just win a contest – it solves a crisis in our schools. there are a lot of smart and well thought out ideas on the website. we encourage you to check them out and vote for the ideas that you think do it best.” i couldn’t agree more. voting for ideas allows for an audience to be heard – and that’s valuable – even though there’s a substantial risk that the popular vote will more likely be decided by one’s ability to get out the vote rather than the idea that proves to be best… but so it goes. i have faith in the selection panel and look forward to seeing their conclusions.
congratulations to all of the teams for their contributions! i look forward to see the results! please vote!
the entire room of fifteen guests at the super bowl viewing party fell silent as chrysler’s IMPORTED FROM DETROIT (BORN OF FIRE) unfolded on screen.
genuinely provocative and beautifully photographed, the menacing soundtrack taken from eminem’s catalog makes way to a vaguely uplifting gospel, an apt metaphor for the ongoing redefinition of the city of detroit, and by extension, the chrysler brand.
though the commercial’s resurrection narrative is familiar, the storytelling was tense and compelling, pulling at all of the right emotions.
its faintly pro-labor sentiments juxtaposed with a preoccupation with luxury, the commercial in one shot evocatively combines the melancholy of fellini‘s la dolce vita and good-bye lenin with the muscular working-class heroism of thomas hart benton – as exemplified by the powerful image of the iconic joe louis memorial (the suspended bronze arm and fist) – a remarkable transition from what has become a typically dystopian view of the american rustbelt.
though this spot was not my personal favorite, and the narrative fizzled by the final shot, by all accounts, the ad makers got it right (as did longtime director samuel bayer). viewers noticed, they remembered, and i certainly think that these same viewers will think more positively about the brand.
given that well over 30% of detroit lives in poverty, it’s somewhat distasteful that chrysler should profit from their misery. it’s poverty porn at its most insidious, which is why my first choice actually goes to volkswagen‘s THE FORCE.
the commercial’s pleasing simplicity and excellent pay-off reward the viewer: a young boy in a darth vader costume attempts to use the mythical power of “the force” to impose his will on a variety of animate and inanimate household objects, only to be thoroughly baffled by the family car’s response to his endeavors. through this tribute to star wars, we are transported into a playful world of childhood fantasy and mischief, seen from two perspectives (the child and the father). the consequences are harmless though memorable, invoking a warm emotional response. that’s effective advertising, isn’t it?
honorable mention goes to carmax‘s KID IN A CANDY STORE – besides the amusing storyline, the casting was excellent and cheerfully over the top; as well as motorola‘s EMPOWER THE PEOPLE – for a beautifully created spot whose aesthetics truly stood out from the rest of the pack.
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THE WORST
for sheer audacity and ignorance, it’s hard to find a commercial that fares worse than groupon‘s TIBET, part of the client’s “save the money” campaign. making light of the deeply tragic circumstances of tibetans is ill advised at best. who is this commercial trying to reach? i understand the satire behind the spot, but do the ad makers assume that people living in the american heartland are so stupid and insensitive? a colossal failure whose responsibility is shared by otherwise highly regarded talents: crispin porter + bogusky, the usually good-natured director christopher guest and the client. the joke may have been on the bleeding-heart inclinations of the viewers, but thanks to their efforts, public opinion may, in fact, turn against groupon. now that’s an achievement.
for its oddly implied support of violence without consequences and for its reinforcement of a negative stereotype of african american women as petty alpha she-males, pepsi max‘s LOVE HURTS utterly fails to generate any positive feelings towards the brand. slapstick humor of the most callous kind. you get what you pay for, so i guess that’s what $800 gets you for this consumer-created spot.
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