This weekend I popped down to the V&A (one of my favourite museums) for the DECODE exhibition– a collaboration with onedotzero. Digital technologies have provided advertisers with new opportunities, but this weekend I experienced how digital technologies are providing new tools for artists and designers. The exhibition featured innovative and often interactive displays (and a few that were broken which seems somewhat typical…).
My favourite was the ‘Exquisite Clock’ by Fabrica. Exquisite Clock is based on the idea that time is everywhere and that people can share their vision of time. It’s a clock made of numbers taken from everyday life – seen, captured and uploaded by people from all over the world. It exists as a website, an iPhone app, and as a series of installations.
Image via. And here’s a clip I found recorded on a mobile phone on YouTube.
Second up has to be ‘Videogrid‘ by Ross Phillips. Videogrid is an interactive video installation consisting of a grid of squares (5×5) which can each record a 1 second loop of film. Exhibition visitors can participate by recording a close-up section (which I did!). Therefore the installation becomes a constantly changing collorative artwork. Somebody uploaded this clip of themselves at the V&A.
So if you live in London and have some time to spare, pop down to the V&A. A short but worthwhile visit.
For three evenings in October (8th – 10th), a new interactive smoky communication will be underway in Trafalgar Square, commissoned by the ICA. It will be an evening to remember – one that combines a very modern medium – mobile, with a 5,000 year old one – smoke signals.
This experiment works as a hybrid system that explores the dynamic and spatial capacities of smoke and light, in relation to modern mobile technology. In Memory Cloud, visitors can text any message they like to the artists’ creation, and that message will be made into huge light-and-air smoke signals, all in real-time.
The project motivates social interaction through visualization of personal expression, and a collective act of writing space. This new exploration of personal expression in public spaces is from Minimaforms, founded in 2002 by brothers Stephen and Theodore Spyropoulos as an experimental architecture and design practice.
Last night I went to see the House of Viktor & Rolf at the Barbican artgallery. Over the past 15 years, these Dutch fashion designers have taken the fashion world by storm with their blend of cool irony and surreal beauty. Perhaps as I went straight from work and my brain was still whirring with advertising thoughts, I couldn’t help but wonder what brands could learn from such as inspiration like Viktor & Rolf. So here are four things that came to mind…
Don’t be confined by your industry norms and conventions
The fashion industry dictates new collections for every season. Rather than conform to a needless norm, Viktor & Rolf took to the streets in 1996 with a daring high coverage show of self promotion with posters announcing ‘Viktor & Rolf on strike’. And in 2002, Viktor & Rolf eschewed the convention in which each model wears one outfit. The ‘Russian Doll’ show featured one model who wore the entire collection sequentially. The pair have continued to shock and break conventions.
A gorilla playing the drums to Phil Collins surely goes against all advertising conventions with no big product shots, no happy middle class family, and no big logo, but that seemed to work out just fine.
Communicate ideas in innovativeways
Viktor & Rolf have always communicated their ideas in inventive ways. To get across the ephemeral nature of the fashion industry, in 2002 they used bluescreen technology to create special effects through the juxtaposition and overlapping of different images. And in a more recent fashion show, Viktor & Rolf wanted to communicate how each outfit is a self sufficient fashion show. They did this by dressing each model as a walking event – harnessed to independent lighting and sound systems. Take a look at the clip here.
In the same way, brands need to move away from just telling people their ideas, and rather express them in a memorable and relevant way. Take courier company Deadline Express for example. To prove the idea that when they give you a time they actually mean it, they created a billboard featuring a countdown timer to when it would blow up. And it did. Watch it an action at YouTube here.
And when Honda wanted to communicate the idea that “Difficult is worth doing”. They did this with a daring and difficult live TV ad.
Have a strong sense of self
Similar to the need for brands to understand their own brand DNA, Viktor and Rolf have a strong sense of self. They know who they are and they express how they feel. Viktor & Rolf have always said their shows are an expression of their own state of mind. Frustrated by the relentless turnaround of seasonal collections, this year they turned around and just said NO. “We love fashion, but it’s going too fast”. Fair enough. You’ve got to respect them for it. What brands out there truly know who they are and express this at every touchpoint?
Draw inspiration from other industries and the world around you
Just as I am attempting now, Viktor & Rolf have never been confined to drawing inspiration solely from the fashion industry that surrounds them. They have always been inspired by the world of art. In an early exhibition, they created an installation based on historical PVC costumes, headless figures, entrapped behind glass. They also draw inspirations from the social and cultural context surrounding them. At the end of the 90’s, Viktor & Rolf drew inspiration from two contradictory scenarios – the end of the world and the biggest party ever. They created a collection based on the silhouette of a mushroom cloud produced by an atomic bomb.
Maybe I am simply clutching at straws here, but my lack of blogging over the past few weeks has been due to none other than lack of inspiration. Thanks to Viktor & Rolf, I am once again feeling inspired. Thank you.
Bank Holiday I decided to check out Cans Festival in the big smoke on Leake Street, SE1. Work from the pseudo-anonymous Banksy featured alongside 29 other graffiti artists. They even invited people to add their own stencils in a collaborative spirit. Despite the very long queue (it was a free event after all!), it was well worth the wait. There was even the opportunity to some of the artists working away, not Banksy of course. There was so much to see it was hard to take it all in.
I took some snaps with my dodgy camera – you just can’t appreciate the detail and the great atmosphere from my pics. Alternatively you can look at this Flickr collection here via PSFK. Also, worth checking out this YouTube clip of it here.
Nicola Davies 