Tenerife Design Festival

TDF 2009

Over 6000 pepople took part in The first Edition of the tenerife design festival
The Tenerife Design Festival (TDF) ended its first edition on the 25th October with the participation of over 6000 people from among professionals, students, business leaders and the general public. Participants were able to take part in workshops, symposiums, exhibitions and other activities during the event which was mainly held between the 19th and 25th October in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

TDF was proposed by CTND NoQuietDesign with the aim of creating links between international design tendencies and local resources, innovation and creativity thus generating a global awareness which contributes to regarding design as a tool for change and an economic driving force.

TDF has had the support of the Canarian Regional Government, via the Septenio programme, and the Cabildo de Tenerife (Island Government), via its Economic and Competition, Tourism, Culture and Economic Development Areas, as well as having the collaboration of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council.
The Festival proposes design in a dynamic way via five interconnected areas: TDFLab, TDFSolution, TDFATmósfera, TDFSigno and TDFAward. These thematic areas make up a programme which involves cooperation and experimentation, lectures, exhibitions, competitions, urban interventions, etc. and with the participation of prestigious national and international designers and creators. Within the framework of TDFLab, Walking Chair, América Sánchez, Gràffica, Roberto Feo (El Último Grito) and Albert Folch gave a variety of workshops for students and professionals.
TDF Solution led to a symposium on the “Profitability of Design,” given by Xènia Viladàs, Pierluigi Cattermole and Renate Schepen, as well as the lecture given by Martín de Azúa, “Nature + Tourism Festival+ Local Identity”. Also within this area, the Campana Brothers, who were patrons of the festival, gave a symposium on “Design and Local Production”, in which they explained their way of working, which is based on craft processes and natural, indigenous materials of their birthplace Brazil.

Within, TDFAtmósfera, the Viennese duet Walking Chair offered a wide retrospective of their work in the Círculo de Bellas Artes, at which 750 people attended, and various Canarian creators put their works together in the collective exhibition “Disleño”. TDFAtmósfera also brought the public closer to Dutch design with the exhibition “Binnen Buiten/ Make the street your home”, which was in the Recova from the 6th to the 29th October and received about 1.800 visits. Delfina Morán, curator of the exhibition, explained during the inauguration what the main aim of the exhibition was: very close to the philosophy of the festival as a whole: “It is aimed at all sections of the general public and by that I mean people who are not connected to design, designers by profession, etc. But we are particularly interested in the ordinary citizen, who knows little about design but uses it constantly.” Also inside this area, the “Flying Grass Carpet” landed in Santa Cruz on the 18th October, offering a leisure and fun space during the whole festival, as well as being the stage for other activities, like the Pecha Kucha night. Vol. 2, or the awards ceremony for TDFAward. TDF Signo was an experimental project of cooperation between local, national and international designers and representatives of industry and craftsmen and women. It is a tangible example of the exchange between the indigenous and the external and is intrinsically linked to the aims of the festival. For three months, nine designers worked with master craftsmen and women and local industries to create a structure from the knowledge, methodologies and experiences of each one of them. These exchanges generated new products that shared two characteristics: they include the values of the Canarian identity (through materials, craft techniques or the typology of the object itself) and they are aimed at being integrated into the tourism sector of the islands, and at the same time promoting the international projection of Canarian culture. The results were truly surprising: four variations of the traditional Canarian “timple” – guitar (Víctor Viñas and Francisco Fariña); a sculptured seat inspired by the landscape of the Teide (Harry & Camila and Esculturas Bronzo); urban furniture that brings together in one element a seat, a flower box and fountain (Martín Azúa + Julca); a souvenir based on the potato from Tenerife (Héctor Serrano); an urban bench which combines techniques of palm weaving with cement (Héctor Serrano, Beatriz Fernández Sánchez and Esculturas Bronzo), some separating panels made of cane set on volcanic rock from the Teide (El Último Grito and Cecilia Delgado) and a lamp made of Teide volcanic rock (CTND + Guama Arico).
The exhibition of the projects developed in TDFSigno was inaugurated on the 21st October, as well as the presentation of a video that contains images of the “Making Of” this area of the festival showing the synergies generated to perfection. (http:/www.zaunka.com/tdf-signo/).

Finally, TDFAward, the area of festival dedicated to design contests, awarded a prize to Javier Sicilia and Aranzazu Sarmiento, “Tenerife: Paradisum 1.0.”, an innovative guide on how to take advantage of and enjoy the potential of coastal areas. months, nine designers worked with master craftsmen and women and local industries to create a structure from the knowledge, methodologies and experiences of each one of them. These exchanges generated new products that shared two characteristics: they include the values of the Canarian identity (through materials, craft techniques or the typology of the object itself) and they are aimed at being integrated into the tourism sector of the islands, and at the same time promoting the international projection of Canarian culture. The results were truly surprising: four variations of the traditional Canarian “timple” – guitar (Víctor Viñas and Francisco Fariña); a sculptured seat inspired by the landscape of the Teide (Harry & Camila and Esculturas Bronzo); urban furniture that brings together in one element a seat, a flower box and fountain (Martín Azúa + Julca); a souvenir based on the potato from Tenerife (Héctor Serrano); an urban bench which combines techniques of palm weaving with cement (Héctor
The great number of venues, inside and outside in the open-air, where the different activities were carried out immersed Santa Cruz de Tenerife in a multitude of exhibition spaces which clearly demonstrated that functionality and design can and should be together. This is one of the reasons why the Tenerife Design Festival has been selected as an example of European good practice in creativity and innovation. (http://create2009.europa.eu/calendar_of_events/events_archive/events_singleview/news/tenerife-design-festival.html).
The development of the festival and the excellent results obtained have ensured that the Tenerife Design Festival is already an international symbol and part of the Island’s and Spain’s reality. A festival which is not just a one-off event, but one that hopes to become a continuous embrace between design and the Island of Tenerife.

www.tenerifedesignfestival.com/en

Swap Party

Swap is trendy

Being trendy and save money, follow the dress fashions of the moment without blowing your salary, a practice in vogue for many years. The subterfuges adopted to dress up with the latest market trends are many, starting with the reuse of old style back in fashion clothes and buried in the closet of mothers, aunts and sisters, until the amendments do it yourself with scissors, needle and threads the most creative and enterprising.

Wound, however, the result is certainly not what I expected, so some of the most brilliant minds who created this world and talks about the female mind, have thought but why not broaden the horizons of commerce DIY and involve friends and friends of friends in search of the cool look?

Swap Party

The result is a bit ‘to save and a little’ to have fun and spend a pleasant few hours, the latest trends from overseas: swapping or, in layman, barter. The oldest form of commerce of the human back in vogue as it evolves into party time, involving thousands of people and earning lots of fashion addicted.

Appointment? Just choose a date and invite all the friends / friends to take tea or an aperitif, either in house or in a public place, no matter, the only imperative is: to bring clothes, jewelry, shoes, accessories, handbags, necklaces belts, now no longer used them for barter.

For several months this new way of shopping has landed in Italy, naturally attracting mainly female audience who, hopping here and there among the various swap party, try to get rid of incorrect or purchase of accessories now in disuse, with the hope to barter for them with something more useful and in keeping with the refined style, taking home perhaps, some good business.

Swap Party a Bologna

The swapping phenomenon has grown so much in Italy in recent months, to have even a club dedicated Swapping Club Italy (http://www.swapclub.it), founded by Tamara Nocco and Francesca Caprioli.

Swap Party

The club collects events, appointments and information on the swap party Italians but mainly acts as a reference point for all the swapper from our own, in the organization of party dedicated in various Italian cities. The first editions nationally held in Bologna and Rome, Italy and coordinated by the Swap Club, have raised a significant degree of public enough to convince other groups of swappers in other cities, especially central and northern Italy, to organize their party.

In fact, program swap party in Milan, Turin, Florence and many other cities.

Short swapping can continuously renew their wardrobe in a nice, teach sharing and, above all, without spending money.

Indipendent Games Festival

The 12Th Annual

In a world where the words open source and shareware are commonplace, even the vast space of video games can not be outside.The industry of video game records every year hundreds of millions of euros, advertising and promotion of the games are now on all major media in this area there is no age that is not affected by the fever of video game consoles and the fight is fought every day and every occasion.In this market, an oligopoly of companies holding almost all of the shares.Companies like Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft or Sony, only to say a few, shared a rich market, where the real battle is often fought on a few famous titles, like the challenge that is renewed annually between Pro Evolution Soccer (PES or as fans call it) and FIFA.

In this world where investments seem to be necessary very high and a large team of industry experts, analysts, programmers and marketing, a new reality begins to emerge and come to the attention of users: independent video games. We are manufacturers of video games scattered around the world who, instead of targeting the general public or repeat continually dusted off the usual great titles each year, are aimed on design, innovation of the idea of video games, history and identification of player with the video product.

The Independent Games Festival, starting from the basement of computer science students and the crowded basements of universities, now at its twelfth edition, pits attendees from around the world in categories such as excellence in the visual arts, graphics, sound, concept idea Festival for the game and innovation. From this festival, whose page is accessible via www.igf.com, new names have come out of the industry sector which, through the ability to make users download their product directly from the network, jumped the chain of distribution, which made can be visible only to majors.

All this without taking into account the universe of the so-called flash game, really entertaining playable exclusively online through the Flash Player. The player must not download anything, just open the web page dedicated to the game and is immediately possible to dive into the experience.

Some portals, such as www.armorgames.com have made this their mission statement and produce hundreds, thanks to collaborations that come from around the globe.Although social networks have played an important role in the emergence of these realities, the ability to connect directly with the games in them and challenge their friends, made many popular games that are now known to all who come to the network. Thus names like PopCap or Amanita Design, the agency first and second graphics Czech American, have made their way into major world dominated by aggressive and very rich, able to spend millions to develop and test a video game. This struggle of David against Goliath obviously can not be fought on the same battlefield, is not the intention of the small agencies violudica beat the giants of the world in terms of box office. The intentions are to create quality products with few opportunities, often from simple but yet revolutionary ideas that shocked the user to the first game and they do stay glued to the screen.

(Italiano) Bread & Butter – Fashion from Barcellona

LEGO’s 50 years

In 2008 the most famous brick all over times celebrates its 50° birthday. And it’s a real invasion in every fields, from art to web, from design to fashion, to show.. in a fantasy and creation’s explosion! Lego, for celebrating in a big way, has brought out ToyTastic collection, vip and celebrities in a ”plastic” form very similar to the original shape: Beckam, Madonna, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Batman, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones (in the photo, The Pitt)But Lego means also art:the Little Artists are the Art Craziest Nation’s authors, reproductions of famous work of art. The two artists John Cake and Darren Neave takes care and builds their personal “mini exhibition” of modern art in the consumption’s kingdom where also art has become a product. Lego so continues his course, passing from art to fashion, with the new collection of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, famous french fashion designer, and his colorful and original clothes and accessories inspired to the bricks. It’s also noteworthy the naif-jewelry series by Jacqueline Sanchez: necklaces, ear-rings, rings, bracelets realized with the magic briks and little diamonds. But..it’s not ended! The multifaceted Lego bursts also in “street-architectural” field: first in Bocchignano, near Rome, where Jan Vormann has repaired cracked wall using Lego bricks, on the occasion of art contemporary exhibition 20 Eventi, giving a surprising touch to walls and streets; Lego has also become protagonist of a Guinness record:in front of Vienna’s town all, infact, 3000 children have built a tower made up of 500’ooo Lego pieces, creating a really unique sculpture. Lego also in the music! For their videoclips Fell in love , the pop american group White stripes has even chosen as protagonists two characters made up of Lego..

Creative Hub: users community generated architecture

The Hub Creativo project, supported by Milano Metropoli and Milano Provincia, iso going on. It’s patronized by 2LIifeCast for CrossCreative.

The first stage is on January 8, on WDT-Planet (http://slurl.com/secondlife/WDT%20Planet/80/156/33) at 22.00 CEST, a mother sim where SaliMar, Vstex and  DapRaf Creation are joined to create an archipelago of harmonic islands communicating by sea, born without commercial or business aim, they’re going to become a natural point of aggregation and creative and artistic exchange.

We are welcomed by Mila Tatham, designer and builder. She has established Solidea/ Builders in Second Life with Rodroguez Imako. In this meeting we’ll report all the  proposals of general dispositions of spaces according to functions and blog tips. We recall that your partecipation is always open! You can follow the calendar and the roadmap to know where we are and for taking part in it.

It performed on december 22 the first meeting with Hub Creativo project. A very interesting moment in which the project has been presented to builders in a debate that has raised a lot of very important and stimulating questions.

“Project your Creative Hub” is not a contest: it’ something beyond usual competition ways ( where the besrt creativity of the best builder is award-winning) and it’s organized to be a full-blown workshop with the aim of facing new forms of collaboration in SL in the course of an architecture planning. In these workshops’ sessions we laid the fundations for a shared planning’s method, using the digital world as an ideal environment for the involvement of citizens, public administrations, institutions and communities in the sharing of  processes of territory’s management, with the clear purpose to take the inworld activities to integrate themselves in RL management economy. Second Life as an instrument for generating a project marketplace where architectural simulations are workable and able to be visited in real time and therefore purchasable as winning solutions.

It’s obvious a testing course, but at once we deal with very important subjects: for example the governanceof creativews and citiziens: what’s the real value of hints and proposals in modifying the administration’s choices? Or also: the circuit of Blog/Community+ second Life is sufficient for creating substantial projects?

The project is still in itineris, and although its aim is clear, the road for reach it will feel many variations.

So we invire all the builders, the designers and the digital citiziens of virtual worlds interested in the search of innovative and productive instruments to partecipate: we always need of new voices and experiences!

‘HUB CREATIVO’ is a project supported by Milano Metropoli territory agency (http://www.milanomet.it/) and 

Provincia of Milano, patronized by 2Iifecast for CrossCreative (http://www.crosscreative.org/gioco/memberlist.php). 

Attached below (http://idisk.mac.com/sennett/Public/download/box.zip), you’ll find:

1 the project document with the calendar and the roadmap

2 the document of specifications of hub’s use destinations and the relative area

3 notecard text for the first stage

4 logos for the set up

For further information:

Send an IM to: Vive Voom, Stex Auer, Core Tatham 

Send an e-mail to: staff@2lifecast.com

Concept Car

Far-back the virtual reality is integral part of automobile prototype’s development:in view of the fact that the majority part of defects noticed on new car’s models of Formula 1 are singled out during 3d race’s simulations. SL is not certainly the adapter virtual platform to this kind of development, but it’s a community brich in creatives and designers, so we’re not surprised if, in a very close future, the development of some concept cars really started from Secon Life’s metamondo. The term “concept car” means a new prototype of motor vehicle, realized on the base of a specific theme, destined to define a new concept of use or a limit accessible only from technique in the period this is built, often without consider the productive standard’s bonds. Normally the concepts by which the concept car are developed are functional as safety, consuption, ergonomics, aerodynamics or the kind of use; and they are realized for foreshadowing new models or for showing design solutions or advanced technologies that will be adopted in the manufacturer’s future production. So we have visited Motorshow in Bologna for evaluating the new trends and compare them with ideas coming from SL metamondo.

SLCamp2008

We can’t lose this occasion! On october 25, in Florence, there was the great SL Camp 2008 into Festival della Creatività. A double occasion, in reality, given that there was also the exhibition “De Avatar Dignitate” in the Florence’s anthropology museum. Sincerely, we remained very disappointed: the exhibition De Avatar Dignitate, organized by Mario Gerosa (friendly suggestion!), seemed superficial both in the organization then in the realization. Also the stand placed inside the Festival wasn’t great, but at least it presented some connections with Second Life. The SLCamp, organized by Fabrizio Pivari and talking about the Second Life’s death, was very interested under various aspects. It gave the opportunity of showing some projects that underlines the launch pad’s function of Second Life , and of how it could be a testing platform for many artists, above all on visual and digital arts, but also è stato mostrato come, the virtual reality could be a great opportunity to anyone wanting express their own art, without the untenable costs of real life. Therefore, Second Life as starting point for emerging also in real life, for ex pressing something or spreading a message. And the communication through Second Life has probably been the most important aim of the day. The promotional campaign leaded by Alice Mastroianni and her team for CBM ITALIA ONLUS on Second Life is an example of how virtual media could be used in reaching thousands of users in a serious, organized and efficient way. Of course, this meeting has been also useful for comparing ideas, considerations and projects of some protagonists of italian Second Life ‘s panorama, ..that has given life to a debate on how this virtual platformis used, lived and seen from the external. Surely we had preferred more crowd, both for considering others ideas and proposals, and for affirming, without any doubts, that Second Life is alive, active and rich in surprises. Waiting after giving sure answers to these Hamplet’s indecisions, we want underline what this SLCAmp2008 has given us: the meeting with many new friends, special people loaded in enthusiasm, as Dap Ho, from daPRaf Creations, Alice Mastroianni of Wonderful Dream Team, Micalita Writer, Mila Tatham, Rodroguez Imako, Gigi Roffo, and everybody with who we had spent a wonderful weekend, that we hope to repeat as soon as possible, maybe the next summer for a SLCamp2009 beach!

BASQUIAT – and the ghost to fight-off

In Rome it starts in these days the retrospective that pays tribute, with works and inedited photos, to this famous american artist.

Jean-Michel had a lot of ghosts to fight against. The title of the exhibition set up in Palazzo Ruspoli (Rome) retrieving that of one Basquiat pictures’series, immediately frames this character, that has been man nothing much but who will remain artist forever.

He grew up in NYC, he dead at 27 years old for heroin’s overdose; at the age of 7 he was invested by a car and, in the corse of convalescente he became excited by the most popular anatomy manual in the world, Gray’s Anatomy.

Fondazione Memmo presents more than 50 works (also some inedited), centred on Basquiat’s fragmented vision of human body and the complexity of the man himself. This perspective involves many basic themes widely revealing about the artist’s soul, as for example, the urban space so intensely experienced, his modus operandi, the graffiti art, his afro-caribbean origins, his fears and insecurities olf young musicien and painter. There is not any ties in his obsessive object’s repetition: skeletons, limbs’ fragments, cars, skyscrapers, toys, black heroes, writings, a crown, a clear self-assertion symbol. We can read a worls shattered by his own draw, incoherent but, at the same time, evident proofs of a lost innocente, a primitive and ritual representation of his world, made of delirium and marginalization.

Michael Halsband, the author of the 5 unpublished photos exhibited and Basquiat’s trusted friend, maintains that drug and alchool have been palliative for the frustration of “a black in this world”, using Basquiat’s words. Therefore, also his art appears as a sort of catharsis, for fightin off ghosts of a life lived between drugs and racism.

DRACULEA, in blood and love

DRACULEA in blood and love, the two acts musical setting by Tiziano Barbafiera, libretto by Diedo Ribechini, choreography by Anna Grunwald and Riccardo Giannini as director, formerly winner of the first prize as the best unpublished italian musical at Concorso Musical Day 2007, presents itself to virtual world as official ambassador of Avis Regionale Toscana with slogan “BLOOD IS LIFE”, a perfect union between AVIS and vampire’s world on Second Life, a great emphatized cultural and social initiative.

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