Nov / 19 / 2009 ¬

SPOT ON WIEN Took Tokyo with Contemporary Design, Music and Fashion

For 5 days “SPOT ON WIEN – Flashing Austrian Design and Music“ was under Tokyo's spotlights as the biggest contemporary contribution to the Austria-Japan-Year 2009, established on the occasion of 140 years of diplomatic relations between both countries. As this year's only guest country and official partner of 100% Design Tokyo, Vienna and Austria presented a 'spot-on' selection of the today's domestic creativity, including product and furniture design, fashion, electronic music and dance performances. “SPOT ON WIEN – Flashing Austrian Design and Music“ was developed by the Vienna Tourist Board and JULAND* BarcelonaVienna with the support of the Austrian National Tourist Office, Austria Wirtschaftsservice aws and evolve | impulse.

On Friday, 30th, Vienna's deputy mayor and president of the Vienna Tourist Board Renate Brauner officially opened the prestigious design fair 100% Design Tokyo, major hotspot of the annual Tokyo Designers Week, ranked as the biggest design event of far-east Asia. Tokyo's design-savvy audience had the opportunity to delve into Vienna's and Austria's creative output on SPOT ON WIEN's main stage: the 150 m² large exhibition space prominently located and featuring experimental work next to classics by companies steeped in tradition like Wittmann, Augarten and Lobmeyr. “SPOT ON WIEN – Flashing Austrian Design and Music“ brought about 30 designers and 6 design producing companies such as Wiesner-Hager, Team 7 and Eternit. Five days of varied events familiarized Tokyo's audience with Vienna and Austria as tourist destinations which - beyond their appreciated traditional issues - have plenty going for contemporary lifestyle and creativity.



Press Reception and Press Shooting on the 1st Day
The press reception on the first day officially opened the SPOT ON WIEN exhibition and all the parallel activities. Vienna's Deputy Mayor Renate Brauner welcomed the numerous journalists highlighting the importance of design in the Japanese culture. "Japan is known for its impressive tradition and high appreciation of design, so it will be very exciting to see how the Japanese will receive the creations being produced in Vienna and Austria nowadays,“ she said.

"Vienna attracts Japanese visitors mostly by its imperial heritage. With SPOT ON WIEN – Flashing Austrian Design and Music we want to show a facet of our city that is less known, but certainly not less worth seeing. With this we should like to surprise and give Japanese people another good reason for visiting Vienna,“ Norbert Kettner, Director of the Vienna Tourist Board, revealed during the press reception at 100% Design Tokyo.



The Press Shooting took place at the SPOT ON WIEN booth which shaped up as a perfect shooting location, as the scenery emulated a photo studio where the products were litterally standing in the spotlights. All journalists were given a “Diana Mini“ Lomo camera to shoot the products and their designers.

VIENNA MUSIC NIGHT Opens 100% Design Tokyo
The opening ceremony of 100% Design Tokyo started with the VIENNA MUSIC NIGHT. As the fair stood under the banner “love green“, the new japanese Minister for Environment Sakihito Ozawa was present. Elektro Guzzi's electro-jazzy grooves gave the crowd a good reason to hold on to their glasses filled with Austrian wine. The outdoor space of the SPOT ON WIEN show was also well attended. Japanese women dressed with traditional “Dirndl” served great Austrian food and wine there - all rounded off with electronic music spinned by Austrian DJs.



100% Design Tokyo Display Excellence Award 2009 Received
The icing on the cake of SPOT ON WIEN's successful opening day was the Display Excellence Award 2009 JULAND* BarcelonaVienna received for the best exhibition design at the 100% Design Tokyo show.



Long Queues & Camera Flashes Inside
The following days brought loads of visitors queueing up at the exhibition space to get the exclusive SPOT ON WIEN – bag with the book-like catalogue of SPOT ON WIEN – Flashing Austrian Design and Music and lots of information on Vienna. At times, the queue easily exceeded the 50 meters of length the exhibition booth possessed. Amidst the photo lights flashing again and again, people had big fun, as they were surprised by the spontaneous photo shootings performed with the small instant cams by courtesy of Lomography. Many designers of the products shown within SPOT ON WIEN – Flashing Austrian Design and Music were also present, ready for a talk ABOUT their products or a photo with the visitors.



Electronic Music & Loungy Ambience Outside
SPOT ON WIEN's outdoor exhibition space invited to relax and to listen to the electronic music sounds by Austrian DJs who spinned their fave records in two afternoon sessions. SPOT ON WIEN's well frequented outdoor spin-off was furnished with a series of Enzis, Vienna's outdoor furniture known from MuseumsQuartier, and with GP designpartners' “Hei Solar Lamp“ which automatically switched on at sundown. Mischer 'traxler's design producing solar power plant “idea of a tree“ rounded off the outdoor activities of SPOT ON WIEN – Flashing Austrian Design and Music.



Fashion Shows, Live Electronica and DJ Action at Velours Club
The elegant Velours club in the glamourous Aoyama district, where Tokyo’s most fashionable addresses are lining up, was crowded to bursting with guests and VIPs, who expected the first SPOT ON WIEN Night Event focusing on Austrian fashion. The “Fashion Shooting” featured three shows with vanguard women's wear by Ali Zedtwitz and Diptych and headwear by Mühlbauer, causing sensation among the guests. And-I’s extravagant accessories led through the soirée as icings of the cake worn by various VIPs.



Then electronic music filled the air. DJ Marflow aka Diskokaine dragged the crowd on the dancefloor with his outer-space-disco blend, followed by Ogris Debris' elegant live-house-set, until finally Austria's electronic music pioneer Patrick Pulsinger took over, working the dancing crowd into the early morning.

Dance Performances, Visuals & Music at Club Super DeLuxe
Under the title “A Journey of Dance“, the second SPOT ON WIEN Night brought two modern dance performances to Club Super DeLuxe. Both the fashion-world inspired “Look Look“ and the video & art performance “One Hour Standing For“ were applauded by the audience, before electronic music heralded the second part of the night. Elektro Guzzi offered one one of the trio's magic, jazz-influenced live sets. Ogris Debris reappeared one day later with another of their charming shows, before the DJs BNCKD and 7 Samurai took over, presenting their soulful mixture of house and disco to rock the club, visually supported by colourful motion graphics by Vienna-based design studio Strukt.



Find more galleries and information about SPOT ON WIEN -Flashing Austrian Design & Music on www.spotonwien.com.

All pictures © Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek - www.danielgebhart.com

Links:

(0 comment)