The ‘updated’ lower east lab berlin – ready to welcome (almost) what ever you can come up with
We are so happy with our lab, we are full of good, new energy with this place we have had for eight years now – the home of lower east design, lower east lab and camillo’s kitchen lab.
Recently we have had quite a few guests in the lab, among them the board of a Danish theater (for a day-long meeting and later in the evening for a full menu dinner), a group of students and teachers from a Danish folk high school came by (for an introduction to our universe, a ‘mini urban safari’ and for a dinner), a creative communication company used the space for a one day workshop, with both talks and yoga on the program.
Very soon there will be a new film production taking place in the lab – and shortly thereafter the lab will be transformed into a fashion show room for 4 days.
Between all the hustle and bustle the lab functions as our design studio. Right now we are finishing the work on the new cookbook from Camillo’s Kitchen, we are working on a book about the Danish designer Verner Panton, on a visual identity for a non-profit organization, graphic stuff for an exhibition in Belgium and other very fine projects.
After the summer ’22 we again will open up for Camillo’s Kitchen dinners in the lab.
You can rent the space when you need an awesome space in the finest backyard in town, Kreuzberg, Berlin.
Call +45 40636899 or (even better) send an email to js@lowereastlab.de
Opening today, Friday October 11th; the exhibition “Chinese Whispers“ at Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, Denmark.
A debut! For the first time we at Lower East have done the design for an entire exhibition. We enjoyed the work so much, loved the cooperation with the museum, and are happy and proud of the result. Come by and check it out! The exhibition runs until March 2020.
About “Chinese Whispers“: With the participation of a number of international glass artists from different countries British artist, Erin Dickson, examines ideas of national identity across borders. The exhibition is part of ‘From Where We Stand – 7 Exhibitions on National Identity’, a collaboration between seven Danish art museums.
Also today three other exhibitions are opening at the museum; MAPPING DENMARK V: BALTIC SEA GLASS. A presentation of Baltic Sea Glass – Pete Hunner and Maibritt Jönsson. FOUR ROOMS. Solo exhibition with Czech artist, Zuzana Kubelková. EXIT 19. Graduation exhibition (glass), KADK; Annelie Grimwade Olofsson, Marita Wongsupa, Laura Wuisman Bækhøj.
Here’s a sneak peak from the exhibition “Chinese Whispers“.
Check out the museum’s website.
Art postersWe designed a series of four posters for the exhibition “Vilhelm Lundstrøm og den gode smag“ (Vilhelm Lundstrøm & the epitome of good taste) at Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, Denmark.
Here you can see all the posters – if you want to own one or more of these master pieces, you can buy them in the shop at the museums. You can also pay a visit to the museum – they will, among other exhibitions be showing the fantastic William Kentridge exhibition “The Refusal of Time“ from March 21th.
Check out the museum.
work in progress – cookbook from Camillo’s KitchenDuring the next week or so we will finalize the design, the writing and the editing of the cookbook from Camillo’s Kitchen. Then we’ll send it off to the printing house – and cross what ever we have that everything will work out in the best way. Launch and tour dates to be announced very soon. The Lower East team behind and the photographer Malthe Ivarsson are looking very, very much forward.
Here’s a sneak peak from the finishing of the book; checking photos, creating illustrations, hand-drawing the last two letters (y and æ), writing, editing and proof reading.
Even a very beautiful poster with the most common fish will be produced, illustrated by the fabulous Juliana Toro – including the names of the different fish in four languages.
Please, keep hanging on here at the blog for more info.
50 Voices of DesignThe Design School Kolding has 50th anniversary this year – to celebrate that they have (among a lot other activities) published a very fine book
50 designers, graduated from the school, tell their story in the book, and give an insight in the world of design and designers – Lower East’s Helle Marietta Pedersen is one of them.
She tells her story and her way to the design school – and describes her dear Lower East Lab like this; “where we express ourselves with loud music and good coffee and develop ideas and projects. Here we have workshops and co-working space. We are a training facility for interns, and we encourage our clients to come and work with us. It’s our dream to continue developing Lower East Lab as a vibrant space where design is the starting point and where play, openness and exchange of ideas are the precondition.”
Check Helle’s full story at the school’s website.
See also a review of the book on the DesignETC’s website (in the danish)
Cy Twombly in ParisLower East went to Paris for a first meeting about a new exiting book project. During our stay in Paris we visited the Centre Pompidou, who is presenting a major retrospective of the work of American artist Cy Twombly.
From the museum website:
“Organized around three major cycles – Nine Discourses on Commodus (1963), Fifty Days at Iliam (1978) and Coronation of Sesostris (2000) – this retrospective covers the artist’s entire career in a chronological circuit of some 140 paintings, sculptures, drawings and photographs, providing a clear picture of an extraordinarily rich body of work which is both intellectual and sensual. The selection includes many of Twombly’s iconic works, several of them never previously exhibited in France.”
“Rich and complex, the work of Cy Twombly, who passed away in 2011, spans a period of some sixty years without ever losing any of its force, even in the very last years of the artist’s life. One of the most productive in recent history, Twombly’s career links the culture of post-war America, dominated artistically by Abstract Expressionism, and the Classical Mediterranean culture that he discovered as a young man and made his own.”
A very beautiful and overwhelming experience. Highly recommendable. On show until 24 April 2017.
read more on the museum website.
Louise Pommery and art
On the Lower East trip to France, we visited Reims to spend a weekend with our dear friends and champagne lovers John & Birgitte. One of the highlights of the weekend was our visit to the champagne house Pommery.
After Mr. Pommery had run the champagne house for only one year from 1857-58, he died. The young widow Louise Pommery decided to take over the champagne business and led it on to success and glory. She invented the champagne as we know it today with a very low content of sugar. She used her fortune to set up the first pension fund and a social security system for her employees. She also founded the orphanage in Reims and its maternity fund. She was also a patron of the arts, and in the champagne cellars of Pommery art exhibitions are shown with different themes.
The exhibition we joined was called “Gigantesque!”. “Playing with the architecture of this estate, the Gigantesque! exhibition seeks to showcase the excess and extravagance of today’s artists: ideas and research that partake of the colossal, but, at the same time, of the unbelievably tiny, the miniscule. Defying all norms. Out of scale. The gigantesque is the unbridled imagination, the exceeding of all measure. For the artists, gigantesque is the desire, the new energies, the challenge to create and invent new utopias. Gigantesque, like art and the immensity of the human being.” Read more about Pommery on the website.
The Four Agreements
Earlier this year we created this series of postcards based on the Mexican, spiritual teacher Don Miguel Ruiz’s “Four Agreements“, which we find very inspiring, both in our professional life, as in our private lives.
The cards are illustrated and designed by the talented, newly graduated graphic designer Hejdi Pattey, who we had the pleasure of having as an graphic intern in 2015/2016.
Here is how Don Miguel Ruiz summarises ‘The Four Agreements’:
Be Impeccable With Your Word.
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Don’t Make Assumptions.
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
Don’t Take Anything Personally.
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering…
Always Do Your Best.
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
We hope that you will dive into the four agreements and find inspiration in it! Reach out if you want a printed set of the postcard.
research, photos & inspirationLower East on tour with camera, note books and (of course) the macbook; doing research, finding inspiration and taking photos for the forthcoming cookbook from Camillo’s Kitchen. In Palma de Mallorca and in Lisbon. Especially the food scene in Lisbon was new for us, rich and very inspiring.
In Palma we saw the food market, Mercat de Santa Catalina as a little oasis in the hectic (and way too touristed) part of the city; Santa Catalina. We had a wonderful and joyful dinner at Duke, and also found the tapas at 13% very pleasant. In Lisbon especially Taberna da Rua das Flores and Cervejaria Ramiro stood out, with fantastic meals, lively atmosphere and a sweet staff. Also the two food markets Mercado da Ribeira and Mercado de Campo de Ourique was certainly worth the visit.
We also had time to look at art; at CCA Andtratx, Mallorca and at Es Baluard, museum for modern and contemporary art in Palma – and to have a very uplifting talk with the sweet people behind tings lisbon.
And now back to work with new energy and fresh inspiration.
Some food pics from the tour:
European Glass Context 2016Until 13. November 2016, The European Glass Context takes place on the Danish Island Bornholm. There are two huge exhibitions – one at Bornholm Art Museum and one at Grønbechs Gård showing works from 94 European Glass Artists. Lower East had the pleasure of designing the catalogue for the exhibitions as well as invitations, postcards, posters, diplomas and a totebag. We loved it. Read more about the exhibitions and see photos from the openings on http://www.europeanglasscontext.com. And on the facebook page.
Voices of the Forest
The Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto is right now having an wonderful exhibition, Voices of the Forest, at Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, Denmark. The exhibition will run until mid of October this year.
We at Lower East designed the book for the exhibition – you can see and read more about the book and the exhibition under our work at our website.
A look into the book Ernesto Neto, Voices of the Forest. Pictures from the building of the exhibition.
Being in Venice for the 56. Biennale, we went to see the exhibition PROPORTIO at the Palazzo Fortuny. Having read Mette Sandbyes enthusiastic review in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen we went with high expectations. And YES it was AMAZING. The old beautiful Palazzo Fortuny with both a sense of decay and glory to it housed the exhibition curated by the dutch art collector Axel Vervoordt together with Daniela Ferretti. The exhibition presents a huge amount of art objects, architectural models and design objects from the 15. Century till today. The focus is on mans attempt to understand the human scale and proportion in space, geometry, the golden ratio etc.
The whole setting, the lighting and the surprising combinations of old and new works put together was exhilarating and so inspiring that you just got new energy to explore the three floors of the palace. We immersed ourselves into a great and mysterious “Wunderkammer”. The walls were covered with beautiful fabrics giving the space a warm and inviting ambience. An extra plus was the curators’ concern for the fact that visitors may get exhausted, deep huge couches draped with fabric in a warm and relaxing colour pallette, were placed in the middle of the exhibition. You could sit/lie/rest there, like if you were a guest of the house being taken good care of. GREAT.
PROPORTIO features specially commissioned works by leading artist – among others Le Corbusier, Anselm Kiefer, Anish Kapoor, Ellsworth Kelly, Sol Lewitt, Bill Viola, Giacometti, Gerrit Rietveld, William Kentridge, Botticelli and many many more…..
Mast 31 – visual identity
Lower East has designed the new visual identity for the Swiss company, Mast 31.
The creation of the visual id was good ol’ team work; a dedicated client and the Lower East team, including our talented Swedish trainee, Amanda Pousette.
The man behind the company, Fabian Leuthold, is a passionate coffee roaster, barista – and a company and organization consultant. Why not combine these talents and passions in a new company, he thought.
Mast 31 believes that the companies of the future is investing in their corporate culture, because they has recognized the tremendous potential of satisfied employees. A lot of good stuff starts with a damn good cup of coffee, right?
You can reach the man behind on mast31.ch and check him out on his fact sheet (link at the bottom of this post).
what’s new?
what’s new from innovationsdorf bern, from kaospilots switzerland, from changels, from new business and bits and pieces from urban safari berlin, quiet days and lower east. We did the design of this fine newspaper, 32 pages, filled with thoughts, questions, information, pictures…
You can check out and read the entire newspaper on this link to ISSUU.
And you can require your own personal printed newspaper, by contacting us.
See some of the pages from what’s new? here:
Urban Safari Berlin 2015Do you want to explore inspiring spaces and meet interesting people?
Then Urban Safari Berlin is the thing!
Berlin is a vibrant metropole! The city is right now a melting pot of start-ups, young entrepreneurs, fresh ideas, inspiring atmospheres, cool exhibition venues, an innovative food scene and just amazing corners.
A perfect spot to explore, make you smile, think of (old and) new ideas, wonder about how funny & crazy some projects can be – and simply enjoy the love for new, small and bigger beautiful things.
Come join us on an intense 2day safari into this urban jungle! We have arranged a tour this spring, on 1 and 2 June 2015 – here we have put together a journey for you with special focus on inspiring new business, creative spaces and the co-working scene. (If the dates doesn’t fit you, special safaries can of course be arranged).
This Urban Safari is a co-creative initiative of changels (Switzerland) and Lower East (Berlin).
Want more info? Check this link to our website. Or send us an email. Or call…
Contact: js@lowereast.dk, www.lowereast.dk
How to communicate your projectLower East had this week the pleasure to work with the first year students from Team #3 at the KaosPilots Switzerland – we had four creative, hectic and funny days, where we focused on ‘how do we communicate our project(s)’, ‘how to communicate your business’ and ‘how to communicate your unfinished business’. How do we get people on board in your project, where do we find the first client, and the next, and the next…. What’s the thing with the importance of having a cool visual identity, how high a priority has the logo (nowadays), what’s a business strip, what’s a mood board, how old fashioned is a flyer, what’s the communication strategy behind and what’s the extra spice in what we are doing?
The students closed the week with wonderful presentations of their work. The future looks bright; there is a lot of good ideas and untamed creativity going on out there.
When the student is ready the teacher (dis)appears 😉
Pictures from the work in progress at the KaosPilots in Bern.
European Ceramic Context 2014 Bornholm
The European Ceramic Context 2014 on Bornholm is up and running. It will continue until 23.11.2014. Lower East just came back from the opening of the two big exhibitions and a wonderful opening party. The catalogue we designed for the event had arrived to the island and looked just as we wanted it to – so the designers were happy. The exhibitions was full of inspiring ceramics – we noticed a lot of animals in the exhibitions – several dogs, pigs, cross overs between animals and humans…. It was very interesting to see ceramics from 29 European countries put together in one place. Lower East also participated in the conference Materiality – the values of matter and making. The conference focused on materiality, thinking through materials, craftsmanship and why making is important to being human. Very inspiring speakers – even for us non-ceramists. This week Alexandra Engelfriet leads a master class Materiality – Body as a tool – Ceramic heritage as Matter. A lot of cool stuff is going on on Bornholm. We strongly recommend everyone who loves ceramics to go to Bornholm and see the wonderful exhibitions in Bornholm Art Museum and Grønbechs Gaard. Thank you for a great weekend. Read much more about European Ceramic Context on the website
Five of the conference speakers: Carsten Friberg, Namita Gupta Wiggers, Mårten Medbo, Helen Marton, Alexandra Engelfriet / photo © lowereast.dk
Lower East are happily involved in NEW BUSINESS in Switzerland; the one year training for entrepreneurs who want to grow their project ideas into sustainable and inspiring businesses. We work with changels on the program, both as designers and communicators – and as teachers and inspirators.
The program started successfully up in September, next module will be in October – still a seat or two available if you hurry up and want to join the New Business Team.
So, what is all this new business about?
We at changels are strong in coaching entrepreneurs and their teams to sustainable and regenerative success. We have been running several leadership trainings and strategic development processes for companies and entrepreneurs in start-up and further development to reach new horizons. We have started the KaosPilots school for responsible entrepreneurs, creative leaders and change makers here in Switzerland, a three year full time education with an international focus.
For a while we have felt a strong desire to start up an intense one year program based on the best of the changels competencies and experiences and our learnings from the KaosPilot training.
So here it is: the changels NEW BUSINESS, a mastery program for passionate entrepreneurs with existing and new projects and business dreams.
Check the changels website – where you find more info.
Lower East have together with Volcano Concepts organized and planned three Food Safari Berlin in September and October 2014. If you work with food, can’t keep your fingers from the pots and pans or simply just want to dig into the lively food scene here in Berlin, check this link out. Dates in 2014: September 11-12, September 25-26 and October 23-24.
Sorry! The info in the link will be in the Danish, call/mail if you want more details and an English version.
Check this earlier blog post about the food safari.
Photos from Markthalle Neun, Kreuzberg – one of the very tempting and very hot food spots in Berlin right now.
European Ceramic Context 2014
“European Ceramic Context 2014 forms part of a biennial symposium for European contemporary glass and ceramics on the island of Bornholm in Denmark. Through comprehensive exhibitions, workshops, master classes and lectures, an opportunity will arise to discuss and present the best of contemporary European ceramics today.” (text from the website)
Lower East have worked for this event since 2008. We created the visual identity, designed the websites, catalogues, posters, postcards, invitations etc. During the process, we always have an inspiring dialogue and cooperation with the director of the Biennial Susanne Jøker Johnsen.
For the European Ceramic Context 2014, which opens 13th September we already designed the website, postcards and posters. For the visual identity we developed a new colour scheme, ending up with a beautiful set of colours ranging from lavender over light and dark violet to a warm clay-grey and a dark liver-brown. For the poster graphics we have been playing around with the clay figures by Danish artist Louise Birch. On the poster we imagined, that the figures were in an exhibition space – exploring art, meeting each other, relaxing and enjoying a bit of yoga in between conferences and workshops. They are full of humour and we love them.
Read much more about European Ceramic Context 2014 on the website. We recommend you to visit Bornholm in September 2014 to see the fantastic exhibitions or maybe take part in a conference, workshop etc. Enjoy!
Bornholm Biennials for contemporary European glass and ceramics are jointly organized by Bornholm Art Museum, The Royal Danish Academy, School of Design Bornholm and Grønbechs Gård.