What's the deal? - Schmiede Producer Festival

What’s the deal

Schmiede Hallein

WHAT WAS THE DEAL AT

SCHMIEDE HALLEIN

2013 & 2014

Introduction — 04

Introduction — 05

Introduction

This is the What’s the deal? (WTD) report on partners’ collaborations and productions during Schmiede13 and Schmiede14.We, Schmiede Hallein, hosted the kick off as well as the production and gathering event of the cultural EU project “what's the deal?“ sustainability and young urban cultures. Partners came from four European countries and the following cities: Amsterdam, Munich, Ljubljana and Hallein.

During Schmiede13: RETURN, September 19th -29th 2013, all project partners gathered together for the kick off meeting. According to a tough timetable we talked about the details of the upcoming project and decided on lines of action. During the week we had the chance to get to know each other and refine our individual projects as well as the general concepts, talk about money, values, sustainability how to engage as well as create lasting connections among participants and last but not least reach a large and receptive audience for our core issues.

During Schmiede14: SelfAssembling, September 11th-21st 2014, each project partner hosted a production oriented lab - a SchmiedeLab is an open focus group (2-3 LabLeaders plus around 50 participants) within the large creative collaboration gathering Schmiede (around 300 participants) - according

to their field of expertise. Muslauf from Ljubljana built trikes (bikes with three wheels) for an upcoming trip to and happenings in Munich. Coolpolitics from Amsterdam with local support from Hallein joined forces for the DESIGNLab (Reinventing material). Around 50 participants from all over Europe came together to participate at the eTextiles Lab. — Rüdiger Wassibauer, Director

Diving into the scenes — 06

Diving into the scenes at Schmiede13

At the end of September 2013 we hosted the kick off meeting. Partners from Amsterdam, Munich, Ljubljana and Hallein met for the first time. During the well-organized meeting days we got to know each other, the institutions we work for and our projects. Parallel to the organizer meeting the researchers connected and defined their common approach for the research and the narrative reports.

Susanne from the Amsterdam WTD-team said about the meeting of the researchers: “Before you start something, it’s always a good idea to be well prepared, right? That’s why we decided that the What’s the Deal project needs an International research on the concept of sustainability and the urban arts. As a way for us to pinpoint important developments and opportunities for the project, but also to inspire, and show more about our scenes and cities!

The first part of our WTD project is all about delving deeper into all the scenes and checking up on how things stand in the field of sustainability. As we speak, our researchers – a group of scientists, curators, trend watchers and artists – are mapping the specific local scenes in each of the four cities. In Amsterdam we focus on people working in the field of design, and we want to take the idea of design in the broadest possible sense. We are checking out graphic designers,

fashion designers and industrial designers, but we are also talking to architects and artists working on more conceptual art. In short: every artist working with the idea of sustainability: either in a conceptual or really practical sense. Munich is working with the skateboarding scenes and urban wasteland. Ljubljana is researching the biking culture, dig culture and anti consumerism way of life. Schmiede is checking out the digital communities and looking at (local) spatial terms based on interest. Korinna, Amal, Marcus and Tilen (the research-team) are spotting key players and new talent, talking to the artists involved as well as looking for bigger trends. They also want to take stock of the existing structures and figure out what the needs of the artists are, so we can create activities that make their creativity more visible and enable them to work on themes as sustainability and social design in their own way.”

After the first meeting days we did our first public presentation. In the frame of the Schmiede13 we did a SchmiedeTalk: “What’s the deal” where Susanna and Tuncay presented four cities in four countries, four urban youth cultures and four different approaches – the common denominator is sustainability. The aim of the EU project “What’s the deal” is to show relationships between young cultures of the cities (Mural Art, Design, Urban Sports, digital media) and the concept of sustainability.

Diving into the scenes — 07

Between 2013 and 2015 a series of activities will be initiated. The Schmiede13 RETURN provided the framework for the kick-off. The deal is sustainability.

One day later we presented our first sustainable project: Wastecooking. Wastecooking is a performance collective of filmmakers, chefs, waste divers and musicians. Wastecooking provides an interface between art, activism and active social policy + criticism. David Gross, founder and symbol waste-art director presented the project: “We are a cooking show. We cook with foods that have been thrown away. Jamie Oliver goes in the morning to the supermarket and buys the food fresh, we go behind the supermarkets in the evening, dive into the garbage and also bring out fresh food “ At the Schmiede we cooked together after the presentation of the project, a part of the WTD group also went waste diving – for team spirit as well the food supply. Then we ate together and had a party – with music, films and – as a special highlight: Live music with queen Cecilia waste. She plays her own songs, lyrical, oblique, and distinctive and including some composed specifically for the waste cooking live performances.

After five days of talking through concepts, basic ideas, programs, budgets, reports, documentation etcetera we ended our official kick off

meeting and were really exited and looking forward about all the things that will happen during our What’s the deal project.

What’s the deal Labs — 08

What’s the deal Labs at Schmiede14

At the Schmiede14 in

September 2014, we did three Labs in collaboration with our partners from WTD. Additional to that there was the possibility for artists and the Schmiede participants (smith) to meet up with different persons from our WTD network to talk about the ongoing projects or how to participate in upcoming projects, for example in the final event which will happen in Munich in June 2015.

With Coolpolitics from

Amsterdam we did a DESIGNLab, which was about reinventing textile material. Marjanne van Helvert (Amsterdam) & Janett Sumbera (Hallein) worked together with participating artists and came out with creative fashion products. The fashion industry is a controversial world where stories and facts about exploitation, pollution and waste have become standard. What are the alternatives? What is possible in times of economic crisis? What are the new technological opportunities? What are the effects on aesthetics and style? Marjanne van Helvert is a textile designer and writer from the Netherlands. She holds a Bachelor of Design in Textile Design from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and a Master of Arts in Cultural Studies from the Radboud University Nijmegen. She works according to her Dirty Design philosophy that involves the ethical side of design into the aesthetical side and considers the

impact of material, labor, technique and form on both social and natural environment. Janett Sumbera used to be a professional dancer, for example she was part of the Compagnie de Jean-Yves Ginoux in Paris. During her dancing time she was always on the search of the perfect form to underline the perfect expression. This led her to the costume design for theater and special events, to installations and performances, finally to her Label SUMBERA – upcyclingKleidung.

The TrikeLab with Muslauf from

Ljubljana designed and assembled two tricycles, which lead a Bike ride to Munich. The first trike to be build was a repair bike that gets your best and favorite bike-mechanic with all the tools he needs directly to where you and your bike got stranded and need a mechanical fix. The second one built was a Keg-bike, because delivery of refreshments is always needed and always needs to be done in proper biking style. On the last day of Schmiede the newly built trikes & the Muslauf team packed their tools and joined a two-day Biking Caravan to Munich. Muslauf is a diverse group of people from Ljubljana, joined strongly by their love to bicycles. Their eagerness to endlessly discuss any biking related topic over a can of cold beer is only shadowed by their passion to design and assemble custom bikes. The lab will be led by a team of six: BorČeh, Ajda Fortuna, Marko Makuc, Marko Marovt, Domen Ožbot and Andraž Tarman.



The e-textilesLab with Hannah Perner-Wilson & Mika Satomi brought together e-textile practitioners with performing artists to build interactive wearables and textiles that function in a live context. The aim of the lab was to provide space, time, materials and tools for developing concepts, collaborating and building new projects that involve electronic textiles in “Live” and “On Stage” performance settings. In the workshop “Meet The Materials” Hannah and Mika introduced a range of electronic textile materials, its properties and characteristics to get familiarized with and understand how it can be used as a part of sensors, actuators and circuits. These materials have been available at the E-Textile Live Lab during the Schmiede to be used in projects. Following the introduction, they hold a small prototyping session to introduce tools and processes. After that every member of the Lab had the chance to present their work in “Pecha-Kucha” style: rapid succession with a slide show of the projects. Short questions and answers session followed at the end. The presentations gave an insight into individual members of the lab, as well as an overview of things happening within the field of electronic+textiles+performance today. Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson have been collaborating since 2006, and in 2008 formed the collective KOBAKANT. Together, through their

work, they explore the use of textile crafts and electronics as a medium for commenting on technological aspects of today’s “high-tech” society. KOBAKANT believes in the spirit of humoring technology, often presenting their work as a twisted criticism of the stereotypes surrounding textile craftsmanship and electrical engineering. KOBAKANT believes that technology exists to be hacked, handmade and modified by everyone to better fit our personal needs and desires. In 2009, as research fellows at the Distance Lab in Scotland, KOBAKANT published an online database for sharing their DIY wearable technology approach titled HOW TO GET WHAT YOU WANT.


of the chilled bike lab: We supported each another in a special way and I have the feeling we made special friends for special projects and ideas in a special future. For me it was a pleasure and privilege to be there with you.“

Theresa Reiter: „Imagine a gigantic studio for

all types of artists and performers, where equipment is always available and you are free to collaborate on any project you have in mind. Artistic heaven? No, it’s a reality. It’s called Schmiede. It all started when „What’s The Deal?“ invited me to participate at Schmiede as a fashion designer. All I knew about Schmiede at that time, was that it is an annual event,

Testimonials — 012

Testimonals

We collected some impressions from participants who have been at Schmiede for the first time, thank you for sharing them with us…

Christopher Lewis: „I attended Schmiede14 in

Hallein being part of the bike lab for the first time staying five days. The Saline itself with its different interesting spaces talking history impressed me from the beginning. Even more impressing was the way Smiths with various creative backgrounds from all over the world took a thousand chances to communicate and cooperate in different experimental ways. I instantly felt at home at Schmiede that, I guess, also accounts to the Schmiede motto this time: SelfAssembling. It showed, that creativity most likely happens in free mental spaces where time, rhythm, images form ideas without the expectation for them to be productive or effective. A world which, especially now, is asking for both economical and societal changes needs intercultural discourse like offered at Schmiede. These changes do not require, fixed plans, powerful politics, a lot of money or economical growth – we have enough of that. It needs loving people who have a passion for what they are doing. Among Smiths there are a lot of these people and they will spread the spirit, I am sure. Solely talking about the participants


bringing together about 300 artists and designers that focus on digital media and urban culture. These „Smiths“ get together for ten days in Hallein near Salzburg and set up their workspace in an old saline to network, experiment, collaborate and make art. Knowing little more than that I made my way to Hallein and the Perner Insel, where the saline is located. The building complex itself consists of several factory segments added over time, creating a unique mixture of old industrial charm and spacious halls. I was told there were three other fashion related artists, so I made it my first goal to find them. Not the easiest task, considering the size of the location. The space at Schmiede is set up on a first-come-first-serve basis. Wherever people found a free space or corner, they set up their creative camp. After having found my colleagues for the week we set up our temporary sewing studio and invited every one interested in working with textiles, sewing and upcycling materials to work with us. Since sustainability is one of the key topics of „What’s The Deal?“, we decided to adopt that idea into our work and focus on different ways to incorporate upcycled materials into our projects. At that point Schmiede had formed into a giant studio with little groups of Smiths working in similar fields, some having set up in a certain area, some wandering around. While helping out several others with their projects who weren’t quite as familiar with a sewing machine, I started my own project, which was to interview different

people with different professions and create custom backpacks for them, specially equipped for their needs. A dancer for example requires different features in his luggage than a skateboarder or a programmer. It was then that I started to interact with and get to know the people around me and was immediately involved in several projects. These were realized over the next days and varied from costumes for performances over textile sculptures to a three-dimensional screen used for an interactive digital performance. These days of getting to know each other, planning and making projects, regardless of whether they lie within ones field of expertise, felt like the most energetic time at Schmiede. It was then that the kitchen area and the bar turned into networking hubs where Smiths could approach each other and develop interdisciplinary creative concepts, that could never have taken place in the „real world“ as we began to call it, since Schmiede was more and more turning into its own world with its own dynamics and feel for time. On September 20th, the last evening of Schmiede, the results of this creative fusion were shown and presented to the public. The range of artworks was nearly as divers as the range of Smiths. Interactive digital projections mixed with performance art and traditional craftsmanship. Our textiles area presented different approaches on upcycling, including my backpack project. Having completed only one backpack in the end, I did not come as far as I had wished to, although the


project has great potential and can be further developed after Schmiede. To me, the real success of these ten days were the projects that formed and came to life during Schmiede, as well as the social aspect of it. I left Hallein having found new friends, new inspiration and a head full of ideas.“

Catherine Deml & Elena Carr: „The Schmiede is offering a

spectacle – a serving tray of talents, abilities and skills among the nearly 300 artists. The image of a large circus tent develops, in which the artists are showing their skills with their fascinating works, one after the other. This year there are also several artists from different genres within the framework of the project “What’s the deal?” at the Schmiede. “Sustainability and young urban scenes” are at the center of the artistic debates of the project. The Schmiede, which takes place every year, a spectacular media art festival,

has just been recognized as such a place for young urban cultures. Now we concretized the image of the Schmiede, as an eventful circus spectacle. The Schmiede Hallein resembles, like other art institutions, a traveling circus. During the ten days of work you will get spectacular impressions, wrapped up in a kaleidoscope of optical sensations. After the last big event, so called the “Werkschau”, the Schmiede is turning down the tents again and moves on. Maybe to show the practiced artistic work at the next “What’s the deal?” event.“


Research project — 016

Research project on the digital realm of young urban cultures

Schmiede is a network of people strongly engaged in

various fields of arts, design, technology and performance. Members get together for intense cooperation and experiment during two weeks in Hallein in relative isolation. Though cooperation, collaborations, network-activity, mutual support and assistance go on during the whole year over digital means of communication as well as on several local, self-organized meeting points.

The Schmiede researcher Korinna Lindiger followed a qualitative approach aiming to comprehend structures of involvement in the network. The leading research questions have been:

· In which ways is Schmiede sustainable for it’s members? · How does the network itself remain and develop sustainable? · In which ways do members contribute to the sustainability of the network?

In December 2014, at the Kunstquartier Bergstrasse, in the frame of the subnetTALK series Korinna Lindinger discussed the first results about the sustainability of the semi-digital network for artist’s biographies: “Schmiede is a network of people strongly engaged in various fields of arts, design, technology and performance with various professional competences. Members get

together for intense experimentation for two weeks per year. Cooperation, network-activity and mutual support go on during the year through digital communication. Non-hierarchic knowledge transfer and interdisciplinary exchange plays a constituting role for Schmiede. Tran local communities of interest have gained importance as places of individual and collective resources for professional development.” The whole research has been published as zine and can also be found online. https://issuu.com/wtdproject/docs/what_zine_schmiede_web2?e=0

Impressions — 018

Impressions of Schmiede 2014 and 2014

Impressions — 019

Impressions — 020

Impressions — 021

Published by:Schmiede HalleinAustrian NPO for the promotion of digital cultureVollererhofstr. 372, 5412 Puch, Austriawww.schmiede.ca

In the framework of:What’s the dealwww.whatsthedeal.eu, www.facebook.com/wtdproject

Edition Editor: Kerstin KlimmerDesign by: Mina Zabnikar, EeLayout: Bartholomäus TraubeckPhotos: Schmiede, Gini Glitzert Photography, Olivia Wimmer Ela Grieshaber, David Fisslthaler, Gebhard Sengmüller

with the support of:

This project has been funded with support of the European Commission. This publication solely reflects the views of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

© 2015 by the authors

Imprint — 023

Published under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 Unported License

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What's the deal? - Schmiede Producer Festival