03 Oct 2012

Blood Mountain presents 'Stories from Central Europe II'

Blood Mountain is pleased to announce its programme for the 2012 Budapest Design Week, Stories from Central Europe II. In line with the organisation's broader mission and as the continuation of its 2011 festival contribution, Stories from Central Europe II supports the region's arts and design community by inviting leading international thinkers and makers to share their expertise in Blood Mountain's critical programme and intimate setting.

The theme of the 2012 Budapest Design Week is 'Slow Design', which promotes a holistic approach to design production and consumption. It celebrates ideas of cradle-to-cradle, sustainable development, regionalism and cultural diversity. Largely inspired by the Slow Food Movement, its ultimate belief is that an overall improvement on the quality of contemporary consumer products will lead to a better quality of life for designers, producers and consumers, and also support local industries and communities.

Stories from Central Europe II is produced in association with the 2012 Budapest Design Week and with support from the British Council, the Dutch Embassy, the Graham Foundation of Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and Lánchíd 19 Design Hotel.

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SEMINAR: Design Futures
Friday 05 October, 2 to 5pm

Venue: Blood Mountain (Vérhalom utca 27/c, Budapest 1025)
Audience: industry stakeholders (students, designers, critics, consumers) | in English
Cost: free with prior registration, limited capacity: info@bloodmountain.org

The event examines the changing course of design thinking since the 1990s and speculates on its future possibilities. With contributions from leading international experts:

Fiona Raby, Professor of Industrial Design at University of Applied Arts, Vienna; Reader in Design Interactions at Royal College of Art, London; co-founder and co-director of Dunne and Raby design studio, London

Thomas Geisler, Design Curator at the MAK - Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art, Vienna; co-founder of Vienna Design Week

Tim Vermeulen, Manager of International Programme at Premsela Institute for Design and Fashion, Amsterdam; independent writer, curator and consultant of contemporary art, architecture and design

Edwin Heathcote, Architecture and Design Critic of The Financial Times, London, Founding Trustee of Blood Mountain Foundation (chair of event)

Produced with support from the British Council, the Dutch Embassy and Lánchíd 19 Design Hotel

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WORKSHOP: LED Badge Making
Saturday 06 October, 11am to 1pm

Venue: Blood Mountain (Vérhalom utca 27/c, Budapest 1025)
Audience: 6 to 12 year-olds | in English and Hungarian
Cost: 4000 HUF | limited capacity: info@bloodmountain.org

Part of Blood Mountain's bilingual education programme, the event provides younger audiences with the opportunity to consider the concept and possible practice of 'Slow Design'. Produced with supervision from Blood Mountain's art educator and in partnership with the UK-based design studio, Bare Conductive.

Produced with support from the British Council

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TOUR: Edible Estate #12: Wekerle, Budapest
Sunday 07 October, 11am in English, 12pm in Hungarian

Venue: Szente-Lénárd Family Garden, Nádasdy utca 9, Budapest 1192
Audience: design enthusiasts of all ages
Cost: free with prior registration, limited capacity: info@bloodmountain.org

Subject to weather conditions, on day of event please check: www.designweek.hu/en/news

Join Fritz Haeg, artist-activist-designer and Blood Mountain's June 2012 artist-in-residence for a guided-tour and candid discussion about the Wekerle garden at the end of its first season. During Design Week, Haeg will also run a seminar for architecture and design students at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest.

Produced with support from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts

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WORKSHOP: Making a Light Switch
Sunday 07 October, 3 to 5pm

Venue: Blood Mountain (Vérhalom utca 27/c, Budapest 1025)
Audience: design enthusiasts 18 years and older
Cost: 4000 HUF (free for students with valid student ID), limited capacity: info@bloodmountain.org

In line with Blood Mountain's mission to support critical design discourse, participants learn to make the omnipresent object of our contemporary life. Led in partnership with Bare Conductive.

Produced with support from the British Council

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FURTHER CONTRIBUTIONS
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EVENT: Pecha Kucha
Wednesday 03 October, 8.20pm start

For tickets and more information: www.designweek.hu

Taking part in the sixth rendition of the popular Pecha Kucha lecture series, which invites speakers to present 20 slides for maximum 20 second per image, industrial designer and Blood Mountain co-founder, Tom Sloan shares his interpretation of 'Slow Design' and discusses Blood Mountain's varied contributions to this year's festival.

Organised by KÉK – Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Center

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EXHIBITION: Slow Design
28 September to 28 October 2012

Venue: Design Terminal, Hungarian Design Center, Erzsébet Square, Budapest 1061
Opening: Friday 28 September at 6pm, open daily from midday to 8pm

Contributions to festival's keynote exhibition, curated by Rita Halasi:

Tom Sloan: Hungarian Traveller Collection
Commissioned by Blood Mountain for the 2011 Budapest Design Week, this is a concept design collection inspired by the art of gymnastics and a spectacular story of socialism. On display: bench, bag and poster. For full project description: www.tomsloan.net

Fritz Haeg: Edible Estate #12: Wekerle, Budapest
Commissioned by Blood Mountain for its June 2012 artist-in-residence programme, it is the latest chapter in artist's international kitchen garden programme. On display: documentation film (produced in partnership with 56Films and directed by Réka Pigniczky) and photographs by András Káré. For more information: www.edibleestates.org

Bare Conductive: Pop Up House and Electro Card Workshop kits
This London-based design studio pushes the boundary of design through education and innovation and leads two workshops for Blood Mountain during this year's Budapest Design Week. On display: two kits using studio's innovative Bare Paint invention. For more information: www.bareconductive.com/light-up-paper-houses | www.bareconductive.com/electro-card

Technology Will Save Us: Lumiphone Workshop kit
This London-based 'haberdashery' for technology is committed to teaching design consumers to make and appreciate new technologies beyond their mere consumption. On display: one of three workshop kits presented at Blood Mountain during the 2011 Budapest Design Week. For more information: www.technologywillsaveus.org/resources/lumiphone

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NOTES
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FIONA RABY is professor of Industrial Design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and reader in Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art in London. She studied Architecture at the Royal College before working for Kei'ichi Irie Architects in Tokyo and also holds an MPhil in Computer Related Design from the Royal College. Fiona is a founding member of the CRD Research Studio where she worked as a Senior Research Fellow leading externally funded research projects. She has taught in architecture for over ten years and is the co-founder and co-director of the London-based design practice, Dunne & Raby. With an aim to use design as a medium to stimulate discussion and debate amongst designers, industry and the public about the social, cultural and ethical implications of existing and emerging technologies, the studio is an industry leader in the growing practice and disourse of 'critical design'. www.dunneandraby.co.uk

THOMAS GEISLER is design curator at the MAK - Museum of Applied Arts Contemporary Art in Vienna. As a member of the collective Neigungsgruppe Design he co-founded Vienna Design Week and co-directed it until 2010. A trained and practicing designer, Thomas' interests have extended to design theory and material culture studies with research and teaching commitments at the Vienna University of Applied Arts, the Vienna Technical University and University of Applied Science in Graz. His publications include 'Career Ladders: (No) Instructions for Design Work! (Vienna 2007)' and 'Victor Papanek: Design for the Real World (annotated German re-edition, Vienna/New York 2009)'. His current exhibition, 'Made 4 You. Design for Change' (on view at MAK until 07 October). presents a provocative case for design's critical role in the future of our societies and economies, and also represents Thomas' own decisive voice in developing a critical discourse for contemporary industrial design. www.MAK.at

TIM VERMEULEN is a curator, writer and consultant of contemporary art, design and architecture in Belgium and the Netherlands. In 2004 he started Utrecht Manifest, a biennial for Social Design with the Dutch furniture brand Pastoe and Utrecht's Centraal Museum. In 2009 he joined Premsela, The Netherlands Institute for Design and Fashion where he works as the programme manager of its international initiative, Designworld. Finishing his studies in 1998 in fine arts and photography in Brussels, Tim co-founded Bullet, an exhibition space for photography and contemporary art and A-Prior, a magazine on contemporary art specialising on the Low Countries. www.premsela.org

EDWIN HEATHCOTE is a British-born architect and designer of Hungarian descent. He has been the architecture and design critic of The Financial Times since 1999 and also writes as its part-time cultural columnist; regarded an influential independent voice on diverse issues of the arts and the built environment. Edwin has lived and worked in Budapest intermittently over the years and is the founder of Izé (in colloquial Hungarian meaning 'things'), a hardware manufacturer producing in Hungary and specialising in bespoke ironmongery and lighting by leading architects and designers. Edwin is a trustee of Open House UK and founding trustee of Blood Mountain Foundation. www.ize.info | www.ft.com/intl/life-arts/design

FRITZ HAEG is an American artist and prominent urban gardener. He studied architecture at the I.U.A.V. (School of Architecture in Venice, Italy) and the Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburg, USA). He is a 2010-11 Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Rome, a regular lecturer at American Universities (Princeton, Parsons, Cal Arts, University of Southern California) and contributor to periodicals (Artforum and Frieze). His work has been exhibited at leading art institutions (Tate Modern, Whitney Museum, Guggenheim Museum, Salt Beyolu, San Francisco MoMA, Wattis Institute, MIT and many others). His projects range from urban gardens and wildlife habitat (Edible Estates, Animal Estates, Gardenlab), to social gatherings and educational environments (Sundown Salon and Sundown Schoolhouse) and design projects (Fritz Haeg Studio). Between his travel, work and public engagements, Fritz's home since 2000 is a part-subterranean, part-geodesic dome in the hills of Los Angeles. www.fritzhaeg.com

EDIBLE ESTATE #12: BUDAPEST was commissioned by Blood Mountain and established in summer 2012 at Wekerle Estate: a former social housing and innovative garden programme of the early 20th century, which has since become a middle-class suburb. Its aim is to revive Wekerle's original mission to support the health, social and economic well-being of its residents. The site was selected through an open call and is located in the front lawn of the Szente-Lénárd Family, a third generation Wekerle family. The garden was designed by Haeg in partnership with the family and built with the help of volunteers. It is maintained and the produce is consumed by the host family. This is the 12th site of Haeg's Edible Estate Regional Prototype Garden project, which launched in 2006 and consists of six American (Kansas, California, New Jersey, Texas, Maryland, Connecticut, New York City) and four international sites (London, Rome, Istanbul, Budapest). The 13th Edible Estate is scheduled for 2013 in Minnesota, Minneapolis (commissioned by the Walker Arts Center). www.edibleestates.org

BARE CONDUCTIVE is the mastermind of four recent graduates from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College in London and focuses on the development and manufacture of electrically conductive materials. With an ambition to engage people of all ages and capabilities with electronics and technology, the studio's products provide exciting new platforms for prototyping, experimenting and learning about electronics. Its first product 'Bare Paint' (launched 2011) is the first commercially available non-toxic paint with the ability to conduct electricity. Its second product, 'Bare Skin' is in development and aims to become the first conductive paint suitable for body application. Bare Conductive received an Honorable Mention at the Prix ARS Electronica in 2010 and won the British Technology Strategy Board's 2011 Disruptive Solutions competition. www.bareconductive.com

TOM SLOAN is an Australian-born industrial designer with built-work ranging from furniture, products, interior and lighting to architecture. He began as a product designer at Lab Architecture Studio in Melbourne, where he designed the furniture of several art institutions comprising Federation Square: Australia's largest cultural and civic precinct. Tom founded his first company in 2003 and has since worked independently and on behalf of various design practices. His position as Senior Designer at London's Jason Bruges Studio (2006-09) enabled him to design and deliver bespoke artworks and interactive design objects for clients including Veuve Cliquot, Established & Sons, BBC1, Nike, O2 and a number property developers and architecture firms. His recent projects include the Origo bistro and restaurant in Budapest (voted the best Hungarian interior of 2011) and a new commission by Siemens for the 2012 London Olympics. With a degree in Industrial Design from Melbourne's RMIT University, a strong work ethic and genuine belief that good design improves lives, Tom is an ardent believer in practical knowledge and private entrepreneurship. Tom is co-founder and co-director of the Budapest based cross-disciplinary arts organisation, Blood Mountain Foundation. www.tomsloan.net

BLOOD MOUNTAIN FOUNDATION is an independent non-profit organisation working at the crossroads of contemporary art, architecture and design. Based in Budapest, our mission is to generate fresh discourse and to encourage the production of new work through curatorial and educational programmes, publications, artists-in-residence, and cross-disciplinary projects. Central to our objective is the belief that culture is an agent for social change and its open discourse and unrestricted practice are fundamental to the life of a participatory democracy. Blood Mountain takes part in the Budapest Design Week for the second consecutive year in 2012. The organisation was founded in 2010 by Hungarian-born curator, Jade Niklai and Australian industrial designer, Tom Sloan. www.bloodmountain.org

Address: Vérhalom utca 27/c, Bp 1025 | info@bloodmountain.org +36.1.326.1844
Public transport: buses 91/191/291 to 'Mandula' or 'Vérhalom' utca, or walk from Margaret Bridge (Buda side)

BUDAPEST DESIGN WEEK: www.designweek.hu
BRITISH COUNCIL: www.britishcouncil.org
DUTCH EMBASSY: www.dutch-embassy.com/hungary-budapest.html
GRAHAM FOUNDATION: www.grahamfoundation.org
HOTEL LANCHID 19: www.lanchid19hotel.hu

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For images and other requests, please contact
Jade Niklai, Director: jade@bloodmountain.org | +36.30.415.2123
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