Visit Miraikan´s website here

“Change only challenge the prepared mind” Prof Svante Lindquist (Nobelprize presentation)

On the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Sweden and China the Sweden-China Innovation Forum took place the 21st of May 2010. Leading government’s officials such as Maud Olofsson, H.E. Li Keqiang, First Vice Premier of the People´s Republic of China and His Majesty the King Carl Gustav. This Forum discussed and provided insights from many different aspects with talks from leading Swedish Academics and CEO´s.  The Forum discussed issues like national policies for innovation with examples how to create entrepreneurial bridges between academia and other sectors. But the most commented topic from the Swedish speakers were addressing questions how to create innovative environments in companies and academia, both from an organizational standpoint but also how this should be addressed on the individual level. One interesting speech on this topic was Professor Svante Lindquist presenting insight about the 829 Nobel Prizes, how these individuals have been challenging known facts and what milieus that had foster their thinking and development towards breakthrough work. A lot of the facts he presented were very intuitive like; courage, challenge earlier paradigms, see new ways, high degree of freedom in competitive environments but also pinpointed facts like more elements of chaos and structural instability. The Chinese delegates were very interested in this topic obviously as China still haven’t produced any Nobelprize winners. The Visual Voltage was presented to the delegates both by showing parts of the exhibition, but also through CEO Christina von Dorrien presenting the Interactive Institute´s research under the topic of Finding the Frontiers: how Interactive Institute is developing new fields within research through new combinations with experimental work-methods . This presentation was in the context of the growing creative industries and particular how art and design play a more important role in the future of innovation. I don’t know if innovation will save the world but it is very clear that innovation is the new black in the global economy.

Welcoming words were given, amongst others, by Mr Mikael Lindström, Swedish Ambassador in Beijing.

More than 100 guests attended the opening whereof more than 20 from different media. The recently opened China Science and Technology Museum is located next to the Olympic Park.

The visitors are welcome to free guided tours given by graduates from the prestigeous Tsinghua University throughout the exhibition period.

If you would like to join the guided tours please contact Li Xiaohan, 13911325175 or Pan Fei, 13520213459 or email Beijing@visualvoltage.se for an appointment.

You will see electricity as never seen before!

China Science and Technology Museum
Adress: No 5 Bei Chendong Road, Chaoyang district, 100012 Beijing
地址：北京市朝阳区北辰东路5号 邮编：100012

Welcome!

In collaboration with China Science and Technology Museum, the Embassy of Sweden and Academy of Art & Design at Tsinghua University the Swedish Institute is proud to present the Visual Voltage Exhibition – A Design and Art Perspective - in Beijing.

The Visual Voltage exhibition has been produced by the Interactive Institute for the Swedish Institute. The exhibition is part of the Swedish Institute´s environmental initiative – Facing the Future – Sustainability the Swedish Way. The aim is to promote discussion about sustainable societies and to make people more aware of environmental issues.

The Visual Voltage exhibition has received a lot of media attention during the international tour which started in October 2008 and has been greatly appreciated by more than 50.000 visitors in Shanghai, Washington, Brussels and Berlin.

Now it is time to present the exhibition to the audience in Beijing who are welcome to visit  the exhibition and to join a free guided tours.

The exhibition Visual Voltage enables visitors to explore various forms of electricity and to experience and reflect on energy consumption. Some of Sweden’s best known artists and designers have been brought together with engineers, technical know-how and environmental consideration in this ground breaking exhibition. You will see electricity as never seen before.

Welcome!

By The Swedish Institute and the Interactive Institute in collaboration with China Science and Technology Museum, the Embassy of Sweden and the Academy of Art & Design at Tsinghua University.
Read more about the Interactive Institute here
Read more about the Swedish Institute here
Read more about the Embassy of Sweden here
Read more about the Academy of Art & Design at Tsinghua University here
For more information please contact:
Li Xiaohan 13911325175, Pan Fei 13520213459, or email Beijing@visualvoltage.se

China Science and Technology Museum
Adress: No 5 Bei Chendong Road, Chaoyang district, 100012 Beijing
地址：北京市朝阳区北辰东路5号 邮编：100012

All the Visual Voltage workshop exploration results, images from the Pecha Kucha and the finissage in Berlin are now available at the Visual Voltage workshop website, www.visualvoltageworkshop.de.

Last weekend the exhibitions Visual Voltage and Visual Voltage Amplified celebrated a big finissage-party at Felleshuset in Berlin. Before everything was packed up and sent to Beijing, the next stop of Visual Voltage in April 2010, 150 guests followed the invitation of the Swedish Institute, Swedish Embassy and the hosts of the workshop and experienced the energy of the workshop in a public closing session with a presentation of creative results.

39 international participants joined the 1 1/2 workshop session hosted by Christina Öhmann (The Interactive Institute, SE), Johan Redström (The Interactive Institute, SE), Myriel Milicevic (Interactive Design Studios, Berlin) and Professor Reto Wettach (Fachhochschule Potsdam and Interactive Design Studios, Berlin).

Different groups presented 10 inspiring thoughts on how design can turn an invisible activity of energy consumption into a process that can be experienced, and thereby potentially altering awareness and leading to a change in behaviour.

Since the opening of Visual Voltage in the beginning of December 2009 and the finissage on January 23, 2010, more than 12 000 visitors from Berlin and abroad came to experience the Swedish exhibition and its local extention, Visual Voltage Amplified, curated by Dr. Susanne Jaschko, at Felleshuset of the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.

Coming up next: Visual Voltage at the China Science and Technology Center in Beijing, April 8 - May 23, 2010

To deepen the discussion about the topic of the exhibition, Interactive Institute, together with Berlin-based design-research firm IxDS, will be hosting a one-and-a-half day workshop addressing professional designers.

The goal of this workshop is to discuss, share and invent design strategies for raising awareness about energy-efficiency, without imposing the “gloomy feeling of guilt” (Régine Debatty); and for changing our consuming behaviour without making us feel like energy-saving martyrs.

The workshop is hosted by Christina Öhman and Johan Redström (Interactive Institute, Sweden) and Myriel Milicevic and Professor Reto Wettach (Interaction Design Studios, Berlin).

Do not miss the Public Workshop Finissage, on Saturday 23 January and experience the energy of the workshop in a public closing session with a presentation of workshop results and the finissage-party.

The finissage starts at 6pm. No entry fee.

Workshop Program

The opening of the amplified extension, the performance and the pecha kucha attracted a pretty good audience, as can be read in the previous blog, but people seem to find the way to Nordische Botschaften even before and after. The Power Aware Cord and the Flower Lamp have their deserved audience but also another installation, Mezzo, attracts people by its effective interaction.

Mezzo is a piece by the Swedish artists Tore Nilsson and Steven Dixon. Nilsson is currently teacher at the Royal University College of Fine Arts in Stockholm and Dixon professor at the Bergen National Academy of the Arts. They have been collaborating in many pieces before, but Mezzo was created for the Visual Voltage exhibition.

The installation consists of a number of small monitors showing different images and short film clips, that Dixon/Nilsson have collected, and that represent different forms of energy. These flickering monitors attract the viewer to step inside the installation. What happens then, is that the appearance of the viewer triggers a sound, a sound that both attract more spectators and that grows louder the more people that move within the installation.

It’s a noisy installation. The sound is created of recordings of the magnetic field around Venus. The concept suggests that there are many energy phenomena that we don’t regard as energy. Dixon and Nilsson plays with the concept, and create an interactive piece of art out if it, but some of the designers in the Visual Voltage Amplified have noticed the same thing and they discuss how these kinds of energy can be harvested and used. How? Go to the Felleshus at the Nordische Botschaften and find out yourself!

Visual Voltage Amplified was opened with a colorful program on January 7th  and is now accompanying the Swedish “mother exhibition” Visual Voltage until January 24th 2010. Despite of the winterly weather conditions outside, more than 200 interested visitors found their way to Felleshuset of the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.

The exhibition Visual Voltage deals with the mayor subject “energy“ from the perspective of Swedish designers and artists. Both climate change and pending decisions on the European energy politics motivate also artists and designers from Germany to respond to this subject with their work. These responses are now presented in the exhibition Visual Voltage Amplified.

Organised by Berlin-based curator Dr. Susanne Jaschko Visual Voltage Amplified shows concepts and documentations of projects which critically reflect on energy consumption or which offer new perspectives on subjects such as energy production or use. The selected projects already exist or are still in progress.

Visual Voltage Amplified presents an inspiring, thought provoking and extraordinary cross-over of projects between design and art. These two neighboured but nonetheless separate disciplines generate the gravity field at which the various perspectives and practices meet and correspond with each other.

During the opening night five designers and artists presented their projects and ideas in an entertaining Pecha Kucha session.

The evening closed with an audio-visual performance by Swedish artist Nils Edvardsson.