13th of November 2009, Puppet Theatre (Lai tn.1), suur saal (large hall)
09:30-10:00 Registration
10:00-10:10 Welcoming words by Kai Lobjakas
10:10-10:35 Margit Keller (Estonia)
10:35-11:00 Kärt Maran (Estonia)
11:00-11:25 Erika Pedak (Estonia)
11:25-11:45 break
11:45-12:10 Hannes Praks (Estonia)
12:10-12:35 Ronen Kadushin (Germany)
12:35-13:00 Autonomatic, Tavs Jorgensen (Great Britain)
Seminar moderator Kai Lobjakas
2nd of December 2009, The Estonian Academy of Arts (Tartu Road 1), hall
14:00 Marije Vogelzang (the Netherlands)
Margit Keller, PhD (Estonia) is a senior researcher with the University of Tartu’s Institute of Journalism and Communications. For the last ten years, her main area of research topic has been consumer culture in Estonia, including the differences and tensions between Soviet-era and Western consumer paradigms. She defended her doctoral dissertation on this topic in late 2004. In various research, she has tried to paint a portrait of the modern Estonian consumer both on the micro level – that is, examining the relationships between things, brands, lifestyles and people – as well analyzing Estonia as a consumer society on the macro level, by drawing on statistical data describing consumption and consumers. Keller is also a faculty member who educates students on the bachelor’s and master’s degree level in the field of branding, communication management and social theory. The goal of her presentation is to give a brief overview of the key data on Estonia as a consumer society from the aspect of relationships between people and things with symbolic importance – i.e. consumer objects.
Kärt Maran (Estonia) is a young designer who was selected to curate this year’s triennial. KNOW HOW, the theme and title of the triennial, calls on artists to cast aside artist-, designer- and producer-centred approaches, to share professional know-how and to offer exhibition visitors an opportunity to (re-)create the items themselves. The exhibition welcomes high-quality designs where the artist is behind the concept and form – but where users play a role in the actual production of the items. In her presentation, Maran will explore the concept of the exhibition and its backstory in the context of this year’s theme.
Erika Pedak (Estonia) is a textile artist and teacher at the Tartu Higher School of Art who has studied and written about the history of Estonian textile art for years. Pedak will speak about DIY activities, the role of crafts and outputs in the early decades of the 20th century, all from the perspective of textiles.
Hannes Praks (Estonia) is an artist trained as interior architect; among other things, in 2003 he founded a record label, kohvirecords, and the Internet radio station www.kohviradio.com, initially based on a freeware platform but now operating on new proprietary software. Why were the label and the radio station necessary, what made it possible to create them and how is it all working?
Ronen Kadushin (Germany) is an Israel-born designer working in Berlin, the founder of a company called Open Design, and the champion of an innovative design concept focusing on the topic of creative freedom. The objects, designs and drafts created by Open Design are publicly available on the Internet and can be copied, modified and reproduced. Kadushin will talk about his ideas in more detail.
AUTONOMATIC / Tavs Jørgensen, (United Kingdom)
Autonomatic do research that explores the use of digital manufacturing technologies in the creative process of designing and making three dimensional objects.
The word autonomatic, is a hybrid fabricated from two other words: Automatic, defined as “mechanical” and “working of itself without direct human actuation”; and the less familiar Autonomic, derived from autonomy, alluding to personal freedom and self-government. As such, it carries within it an intrinsic contradiction: Automatic suggests involuntary, repetitive, machine-like or machine-led actions; while Autonomic implies human self-sufficiency, independence and individuality.
Group consists of four designers: Justin Marshall, Katie Bunnell, Tavs Jørgensen, Drummond Masterton. They are design practitioners with skills and experience in designing in ceramics, metals, glass, plaster, plastics, amongst other media. As creative researchers they have a basic urge to invent new ways of making things, to ask “what if?”, “so what?” and “what next?”. Through their individualistic and autonomous approach to using digital technologies they hope to inspire other designers and makers to approach digital technologies with a creative mindset.
Marije Vogelzang (the Netherlands) is a designer who after graduating the Eindhoven Design Academy in 2000 has been since working on and designing eating concepts. Her interest is mainly in the verb „eat” not in food and designing it thus she develops her vision to design out of the verb of eating. It has been emphasized that she is not giving for to food or things neither decorating it. What is important for her is how we experience food. What is important, is what constitutes eating – the atmosphere, people involved, stories related to the ingredients, taste, texture, sound, scent, colour of the food, how it has been prepared and served.
She is exploring the intimacy of the design that really goes inside people and uses food as means to rely her ideas. Thinking of it, working and experimenting in her studio and restaurant, creating eating experiences for her clients, she has created also her unique way of treating the subject from the point of psychology, culture and design. In 2009 a book by her was published on the same subject. Studio Marije Vogelzang, founded 2004 in Rotterdam and expanded in 2006 to Amsterdam, is a small enterprise with big ideas working with restaurant conceptions, long term medical projects for hospitals, social events with an objective to educate and inspire. Working also with the food industry installations and new food rituals are created.
