Can the networking follies at conferences really influence the way we meet people?

My first conference-like experience was in 2003 when I attended Milan's infamous fair, Salone Internazionale del Mobile. It was an incredible experience, especially since I was a student at the time, and everything just seemed beautifully intentional. . .from the networking follies, to the global representation of designers, to the gorgeous people in attendance, it was all unforgettable eye candy. You know it's a successful event when I'm is still talking about it 9 years later, right? A shot from my archives below.

Image below, Salone Internazionale del Mobile, 2003.

Earlier this week, the shot below was released as a teaser really, for the upcoming C2-MTL (Commerce + Creativity) conference which promises to reinvent the business conference experience.  Gorgeous right? Well, it made me think of two things.  One, the fact that networking is still a more successful activity when done face to face no matter what you facebook-addicts (linkedin-users) say. Two, what about those networking spaces? In recent years, some conferences/design shows/conventions etc...have been going out their way to design creative environments in a monumental scale. And so I'm curious,  can the networking follies at these conferences really influence the way we meet people?  I found a couple of recent examples to illustrate my wonder...see below.

Images below borrowed from the C2-MTL site.

Images below, courtesy of Fredrik Färg, of his installation / bar and furniture pieces for this year's furniture fair in Stockholm. 

Networking next to that giant yellow dinosaur was probably fun.

Images below of Novo Nordisk's new corporate conference center, Favrholm, designed by SeARCH architects, located in a historic farm 25 miles north of Copenhagen.  You can read a detailed article about it in this month's Architectural Record, click here.  Even the floor plan is alluring. Those Danes, what would we do without them? -  they foster innovation and restoration with great pride.  Can you believe this is a healthcare research facility (dash) conference center?

Images below borrowed from the Architectural Record site.

Topic No.1: Innovative Conferences, Cosmo THIS! 

Undermän

. . . is the Swedish term for the base in pair acrobatics. The base, usually a man, is the one who lifts and supports, overshadowed by his partner’s acrobatic skills. Under in Swedish also means wonder or miracle. Quote from Cirkus Cirkör.


I've been obsessed with Cirkus Cirkör (a contemporary circus company from Sweden) ever since I stumbled upon their website a couple of years ago. I'm dying to see them perform in person.  Oh, if they only came to Montreal! Can anyone reading this post make it happen? Undermän is their latest production currently touring in Sweden.  The whole lumberjack look cracks-me up! Check out the video below. . .the triadic melancholic storyline is uniquely fabulous and real.


Image below borrowed from here.

. . .Undermän is a documentary contemporary circus show that does not only share spectacular acts and the stories of missing what once was. It is a performance where the artists stand in front us, here and now, as themselves, and give everything they've got to reach their dream of letting go, having fun, throwing themselves into the unknown and trusting life to catch them. . .Quote from the director, Olle Strandberg


ENSEMBLE: Mattias Andersson + Peter Åberg + Matias Salmenaho

MUSIC BY: Andreas Tengblad . . . the "troubadour" of the story?

Idea and direction: Olle Strandberg Producer: Lisen Boalt Technical producer: Stefan Karlström Lighting design: Eero Auvinen Lighting technician: Kamilla Hultman Sound technician: Felicia Hamberg Tour manager: Emma Therkelson Photography: Mats Bäcker

Bizarre beauty...

inspiration for the weekend...


I am not a fan of clowns and goofy shoes, but the mystique of circus life has always intrigued me. Two years ago I read the famed book, Water for Elephants and a few weeks ago I browsed through the 544 pages of The Circus, 1870s-1950s. I am fascinated with the history of the Circus...I mean how can one not fantasize about chariot races, equestrian elegance, super-humans, wild animals and mustached ring masters etc...But presently, I must admit that I am most in awe over 21st century contemporary-performance-craft and the bizarre couture-like-physique it extracts from its continuous commitment to transform itself into a lasting art form...and of course I am talking about Stockholm's illustrious talent, Cirkus Cirkör. One day I will see a live performance...I must...


IMAGES BELOW: (left):Cirkus Cirkör; photo by TOBIAS FISHER  (right)From the exhibit, Personalities of the circus. Photo by STANLEY KUBRICK, March 1948. (Can also be found in Taschen's circus book.)

Cirkus Cirkör's current piece, Wear It Like A Crown is at the Södra Teatern (Stockholm, Sweden) until the 24th of February. 

Related pics below...1)Inside jacket pages from Taschen's The Circus, 1870s-1950s  2)Photo by Marisol Correa of Cirkus Cirkör performer, Jesper Nikolajeff   3)Cirkus Cirkör poster, photographer unknown. 4)Ensemble for Wear It Like a Crown. (Henrik Agger, Louise Bjurholm, David Eriksson, Jesper Nikolajeff, Fouzia "Fofo" Rakez, Anna Lagerkvist) Photos by Mattias Edwall.

photos below of Cirkus Cirkör's previous piece Inside OUT 
Photos by Kicki Nilsson.  Absolutely yummy...

headless creatures...

Fredrik Färg blows me away once again.  
His limited collection Succession will be on display in Stockholm's upcoming Design Week exhibition, 20 Designers at Biologiska. He is truly a Swedish delight...I would love to meet him one day. His RE:COVER collection was polished yet these pieces are too hysterically dandy and delicious...


STOCKHOLM DESIGN WEEK: Feb. 7-13, 2011
Exhibit: 20 Designers at Biologiska
WHERE: Biologiska Museet, Djurgården, Sweden.
Curated by: Fredrik Färg, Emma Marga Blanche and Hanna Nova Beatrice
Open days: 10 FEBRUARY 12:00-20:00, 11 FEBRUARY 12:00-20:00, 12 FEBRUARY 10:00-15:00


images courtesy of Fredrik Färg

Stockholm's DANDY...

Where:  Nordiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden. ON display until May 1, 2011.
Work by:  Björn of Kleen, Christian Quaglia, Goran Sundberg, Lalle Johnson, Olof Enckell and Frederik Andersen & Rickard Lindqvist. . . vote for your favorite here.


some image details from form us with love, photography by Jonas Lindström.
others from the Nordiska Museet's website.


The displays are hysterical...Nordic humor mixed with fashion...
It would be fascinating to have designers from all over the world create a "dandy" outfit...L.A. dandy, San Francisco dandy, Mexico City dandy... wow...big smile on my face!!
. . . is your man dandy?

Oscar Wilde (A19th century literary dandy, author of "A Picture of Dorian Gray") wrote, 
One should either be a work of Art, or wear a work of Art...
 I think I agree...don't you?

I want to join the Cirkus!

Cirkus Cirkör is a contemporary circus company founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1995. I found their website by chance a few months ago and I am dying to see any of their performances...REALLY... but the pictures below of their latest show, Wear it Like a Crown hypnotize me. Brilliant costumes, fearless makeup and gorgeous body technique with a dash of horrid magic...they make Cirque du Soleil appear boring...no easy task! 


I love the message of the performance as well...
In this tragicomic and absurd performance, Tilde Björfors explores chaos and order and the transformation of risks into opportunities. It is about choosing to wear our failures, fears and shortcomings like a crown. To polish it, and wear it with pride. (www.cirkor.se)


and even more intriguing...
Wear It Like A Crown...is part of Tilde Björfors’s research at the University of Dance and Circus in Stockholm, where she explores opportunities and risks in the research project ”Contemporary circus as cross-boundary in arts and society.” The interdisciplinary research project has circus and circus performers as its starting point, and includes researchers from other fields such as economics/leadership, psychology/neurology, ethnology/pedagogy and philosophy.  (www.cirkor.se)



Director: Tilde Björfors
Costumes by Anna Bonnevier.
Music by Rebekka Karijord.
Most Photos by Mattias Edwall
Ensemble: Henrik Agger, Louise Bjurholm, David Eriksson, Jesper Nikolajeff, Fouzia "Fofo" Rakez, Anna Lagerkvist.

SWEDISH DESIGN at its best!

I came across Swedish designer Fredrik Färg this week and I just had to share his talent with you. His designs are inspired by classic menswear and the final product is impeccable.

For me design is a room for exchanging ideas about how we can improve our surroundings. How we experience the spaces and objects in our life. My aim is to create spatial poetry that affects the viewer/user both physically and emotionally but still leave it as an open end. (Fredrik Färg)

images courtesy of Fredrik Färg