Trending now #2
The artistic movement
Artists are committed to Ecological Art
A real trend in contemporary creation, ecological art is increasingly asserting itself and is exhibited in the most prominent of venues: Nous les Arbres (We The Trees) of the Cartier Foundation, So far so good? exhibition at 104, La Fabrique du vivant (The Fabric of Life) at the Centre Pompidou, Broken Nature at the Milan Triennial, Post-Nature at the Taipei Biennial and the Ólafur Elíasson retrospective at the Tate Modern. These artists show that they can play a major role in the ecological transition by using sensitive experience or fiction, imagining a world without humans, by listening to trees and stones... Like Shun Owada who, in unearth/Paleo-Pacific, presents the sound of rocks eroded by an unidentified liquid: is it acid rain or glyphosate, a weedkiller?
The initiative
More sustainable festivals with Green Europe Experience
The cancellation of summer festivals has led to a constructive questioning on the scale of this particular cultural sector. Four major festivals - Boom Festival in Portugal, Dour Festival in Belgium, Pohoda Festival in Slovakia and We Love Green in France — as well as two NGOs, A Greener Festival in the UK and Go Group in Germany, have joined forces to rethink the design of their events. The aim is to reduce the ecological impact of festivals as much as possible, using the circular economy model of the ‘seven Rs’ (rethink, reduce, reuse, repair, renovate, restore and recycle) and by involving the public. Green Europe Experience (GEX) is committed to a three-year programme with the first two of the ‘Rs’: scenography and catering.
The installation
The Wall for luxury living invites you to the Perrotin Gallery
Contemplating a work of art on a screen? Normally this would be impossible for an art lover attached to emotions and the quality of reality to even contemplate... But now it can be done by going to the Perrotin gallery in Paris to see The Wall for luxury living, a screen designed by Samsung. Using MicroLED technology, it provides a unique image quality with an unparalleled high contrast ratio and faithful colour reproduction. Another special feature is that the screen, made up of removable panels, is totally modular and can assume unstructured, non-standard shapes. For Galerie Perrotin, is the ideal technology for using Scale One, an application that has been conceived and developed internally to disseminate works from other galleries around the world.
The square
The Benthemplein watersquare in Rotterdam
The Benthemplein watersquare in Rotterdam is the world’s first multifunctional flood square. In dry weather it is a public square with sports and play grounds that slope inward. On normal rainy days, it is a public square with three water retention basins, into which excess rain-water is directed from neighbouring streets and buildings. During episodes of heavy rainfall caused by climate change, the watersquare functions as an innovative solution to manage rainwater and avoid flooding and sewer back-ups. The first of its kind, Benthemplein square is setting the tone.
The work
The MIRAGE House moves to Gstaad
Designed in Palm Springs for the Desert X festival in 2017, Doug Aitken’s Mirage House is now in Gstaad for another contemporary art festival, Elevation 1049, a number that refers to the altitude of the Swiss village . Entirely covered with mirrors, the house absorbs and reflects the surrounding nature, be it the Californian desert or the Swiss peaks and pastures. The American artist’s work transforms with the seasons, the time of day and the direction of the gaze, making each visit a unique experience. While the exterior blends into the landscape to the point of sometimes becoming invisible to the visitor’s gaze, the interior plunges them into a kaleidoscope of infinite reflections. The Mirage House is located on the Schönried hiking trail in Gstaad and will remain in place until January 2021, before disappearing for good.
The word
Lagom
After the Danish hygge, here is the Swedish lagom (pronounced laaa-gom ). Untranslatable into English, the word means ‘neither too much, nor too little’ and symbolises a Swedish way of life that is modest and fair. It’s about living simply, preferring quality to quantity and favouring natural and sustainable materials. This state of mind, which is in line with the fashion for taking things ‘slow’, can be found in all areas, from food to fashion, even interior design.
AI
Intelligent transport of medicines
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted SkyCell, a Zurich-based start-up specialising in temperature-controlled containers for transporting medicines. They recently managed to raise $62 million even with the constraints imposed by lockdown. The containers are large, white, hermetically sealed cubes made of fully recyclable materials. They are very easy to handle, equipped with shock and vibration absorption technology, and are capable of maintaining their temperature for up to 160 hours, regardless of the outside temperature. But above all, they are intelligent: thanks to their small connected sensors, they are in constant contact with SkyCell, which can control and intervene remotely if needed.
The car
The concept car inspired by Avatar
AVTR for Advanced Vehicle Transformation: a tailor-made acronym for Mercedes’ new concept car, which was directly inspired by the film Avatar, whose second instalment is scheduled for release in 2022. James Cameron was of course associated with the design of this futuristic car, whose spherical wheels evoke the white seeds of the ‘Tree of Souls’. With its graphene battery, its 700-kilometre range and its vegan leather interior, the AVTR is certainly aiming to be environmentally friendly. It also promises to rethink the relationship between human, machine and nature: starting is done with the palm of the hand, with the AVTR recognising the heartbeat and the driver’s breathing, while 33 retractable flaps allow the vehicle to interact with the exterior, similar to the scales of an animal.
A quick look back
Futurama - In April 2023, German photographer Boris Eldagsen made a name for himself worldwide with an image that wasn’t...
Interview by Laurent Issaurat, Head of Art Banking at Societe Generale Private Banking, with Nathalie Obadia,...
A new take on travel
Interview with Mathieu Ruffat, , Specialist, EMEA & Americas, Watches Department at Christie's.