Monday, November 14, 2011

Contribute? The DPP:s

DPP has an interesting issue coming upBeyond ‘Progressive’ Designing – critically reflecting on contemporary progressive design practices eg social design; participatory design; design for social innovation; human-centred design.
Furthermore
DPP is also looking for contributors for coming issues with themes as What comes after design?, Design and development, In love with things and Post-natural ecologies.


INSPIRATION: Sigríður Níelsdóttir



At the age of 70 Sigríður Níelsdóttir began making & recording her own music, using her kitchen as her studio, sampling the waterfall of her kitchen sink to old cassettes from the local library. 
The joy for sounds & music, the lust and the diligence of her work truly inspires and there is no wonder why she has influenced so many icelandic musicians. 
In seven years Sigríður Níelsdóttir recorded and released 59 records and over 600 songs.
The documentary film Grandma Lo-Fi invites you to her world & leave you utterly inspired. 

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Malmö: Power & Women

For some time, the subject women & power, women in & out of power, and women empowerment has increasingly poked on my attention. 
Next week, coincidently it seems, this will be the subject to dig deeper into as 4 events takes place in Malmö, all with some different focuses.

On Tuesday 8th Nov, Doc Lounge screens the documentary film Women Art Revolution (2010). The film takes off in the 60s feminist art-movement when female artists and feminists begin to take action against discrimination within the art-establishment in the U.S.


"You can't be what you can't see"

Next, the day after, Wednesday 9th Nov, STPLN hosts the Swedish premiere of another american documentary – Miss Representation (2011).
Miss Representation raises the issue of growing up in a society increasingly shaped by & in the media. It focuses on the mediated image of women & the fact that women are under-represented in positions of power. 
The screening at STPLN will be followed by discussion for the audience to take part in.



3rdly the weekend 12-13 November Feministiskt Forum Malmö is arranged, with the purpose to create a venue for different feminist movements within the city.

And last but not least is the event Kvinna och partiledare – ett samtal om maktens strukturer i Sverige at Moriska Paviljongen. Invited to the panel discussion are three of the most well known swedish female politicians, all formerly leaders of different political partys. The topic is power structures in Sweden and will discuss power & gender in Sweden taking these politicians own experiences as examples.

The talk is initiated by FI, swedish political feminist party & moderator is the political editor of newspaper Sydsvenskan Heidi Avellan.

And a P.S.
 

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Information|Inspiration: Design Philosophy Papers (DPP)

I have linked to this page before & I will now do so again.
The DPP archive (click back issues) goes as far back as 2003, the issues addressing numerous viewpoints on design for the contemporary world.

"Design Philosophy Papers (DPP) comes from a longstanding desire to gain greater recognition for the study of design by the intellectual community at large, as well as our frustration with the market-driven conservatism of design publishing. It aims to break away from the idea of design as a specialist interest, as well as rejecting the simplistic and debased way design arrives before the public via both old and new media — frequently merely as style or technics. It also comes with a passion to communicate, share and argue for a much, much greater general recognition of importance of design and ‘the designed’ as managed and unwitting agents of force and power."


PLAY at CPH:DOX



Tomorrow is the first day of Copenhagen's 11 days long documentary film festival CPH:DOX 2011.
This weekend I am especially curious about Ruben Östlund's new film PLAY, that premiered earlier this year.

The format is called dramatised re-enactment & is based on a series of events of severe gang-bullying that happened in Gothenburg a couple of years ago.
Östlund is also coming for a masterclass on The National Film School of Denmark on Saturday to talk about his work-methods & the swedish welfare-reality.

CPH:DOX also features short films, audio-visual works, a collaboration with the National Gallery of Denmark as well as a special theme called Food on Film.

Documentary: We Were Here


The documentary We Were Here by David Weissman won the audience award at Mix Copenhagen Festival 2011 that ended yesterday. The story based in San Francisco & the renowned The Castro acts as a reminder of the immense AIDS-tragedy that struck the gay community in the 80s. But even more it becomes a homage to the people that have passed & all the people that engaged themselves, a community joining together, that struggled to create awareness, researching the disease & developing medication, as well as fighting for their civil rights.