A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the ISPCC's new hard hitting new campaign to combat the emotional abuse of children. Well, the next stage of the campaign is on the way and I think this is going to be something really special.

The campaign is centred around the notion that children believe what they are told, and the terrifying fact that emotional abuse shatters childhoods. In the gallery we have installed a sheet of glass on which is written one of the most resonant phrases of the campaign; ‘You stupid little bitch.’

The ISPCC's 'Break the Glass' installation and event in The Copper House Gallery will see a very large sheet of glass illustrating the campaign's message placed within Barry McCall's Pho20graphy exhibition, which is also supporting the ISPCC. Artist James Earley will be responsible for the artwork.

Members of the public are being asked to support the campaign too by tweeting #ispcc. Through a tweet counter counting down from one thousand to zero that is attached to the glass, the installation will come to life and the glass will shatter, revealing a message of hope behind the glass. This will all happen at a special event hosted this Friday (8th of June). The whole thing will also be filmed and captured in slow motion using a special high speed camera.

Be sure to check it out - this is a really cool campaign IMHO.

View the live feed here: http://www.ispcc.ie/art-installation/1791

Coca-Cola Launches Move to the Beat London

Last week, Mark Ronson and Katy B unveiled a giant 25m wide, 10m tall new piece of urban art right in the center of London in the shadow of the Olympic Stadium. The artwork marks the launch of Coca-Cola's Move to the Beat campaign and their London Olympic sponsorship. It was created by Neil Edward, Hadley Ever and Smug, and is situated in Hackney, East London. The Beat Wall, as the piece of art is known, tells the story of how the sounds of sport and music were fused together by Mark Ronson with lyrics and vocals by Katy B, to create the official Coca-Cola song for the Olympic Games.

The song, Anywhere in the World, will provide the soundtrack for mobile and digital platforms and all Coca-Cola events during the games. The Beat Wall is the visual dramatisation of how Mark Ronson travelled the world searching for the inspiration to create it, while meeting young athletes and recording the sounds of their sport to use in the song. The campaign itself is Coca-Cola’s global campaign, focused on teens, to celebrate the beat of London 2012. The campaign ambition is to bring teens closer to the Olympic Games by encouraging their passion for music, and drawing inspiration from London’s musical heritage.

“As the longest continuous supporter of the Olympic Games Movement, our ambition at Coca-Cola is to bring teens closer to the Games and to sport in general,” said Sanjay Guha, Marketing and Olympic Games Director for North West Europe & Nordics. “The Move to the Beat™ campaign is all about bringing the Olympic Games to life in a way that engages a teen audience, bringing the social side of the Olympic Games to teens everywhere by tapping into their passion for sport and music live online and providing access to fantastic content via Track the Beat.”

The unveiling of the Beat Wall also marked the launch of the Beat Facebook app and the Move to the Beat television commercial. The Track the Beat app engages teens by encouraging them to ‘collect beats’ through Facebook to gain access to exclusive content and prizes. Teens will be able to discover the beats that feature in the Move to the Beat song, download wallpapers and screen savers of imagery from the wall. The Move to the Beat TV ad, which features the song, will be broadcast globally and sees Mark Ronson and Katy B performing alongside some of the international athletes whose sporting sounds have been used to provide the beat of the track.

The athletes whose sounds form the beat of the track and whose images appear on the wall, are:
Darius Knight, 21, table tennis player from Great Britain
David Oliver, 29, 110m hurdler from the United States
Kseniya Vdovina, 24, 400m sprinter from Russia
Dayyan Jaffar, 17, archer from Singapore
Maria Espinoza, 23, taekwondo athlete from Mexico

Sky Rainforest Rescue 'Amazon' Exhibition

This week, Sky (in association with WWF and the Gallery of Photography) announced the Irish premiere of ‘AMAZON’. AMAZON is an exhibition in aid of the Sky Rainforest Rescue which features the work of two award-winning photographers - Sebastião Salgado and Per-Anders Pettersson.

The exhibition aims to highlight the plight of the Amazonian rainforest and its peoples. Through the two beautiful and distinct photography collections of xxx and xxx, the exhibition showcases the work of Sky Rainforest Rescue, the three year partnership between Sky and WWF. Sky Rainforest Rescue itself is aiming to help save one billion trees in the state of Acre, North-West Brazil.

The exhibition, which had a critically acclaimed six-week run at Somerset House, London in November 2011, is curated by Bakul Patki and will be accompanied by a programme of talks and events. For further information and updates see www.galleryofphotography.ie.


Exhibition Dates: 1 – 31 March 2012
Location: Gallery of Photography, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Opening hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11am - 6pm and Sunday 1pm - 6pm
Admission: Free

UpStart – Promoting The Importance of Creativity in Ireland

So what is all this about?

UpStart is a non-profit arts collective which aims to put creativity at the centre of public consciousness during the Irish General Election Campaign in 2011. The whole initiative is about reinterpreting the spaces commonly used for displaying election campaign posters in Dublin City. The objectives of UpStart is to encourage a debate on the role of the arts in this state. To do this they're asking artists to submit work for placement around the city to highlight the importance of creativity and ingenuity when society is in need of direction and solutions, and to emphasise the value of the arts to public life.

Submissions for the project are being sought from the full range of artistic disciplines and the hope is that over 500 submissions will be received from writers and visual artists, photographers, painters and graphic designers. These works will be duplicated and 1,000 pieces will be printed as election size posters and erected throughout Dublin city. They are also accepting works from musicians and film makers which will be hosted and exhibited through their website which will be launched on the day of the electoral poster campaign.

They believe that the future development of the country requires a healthy cultivation of the Arts and want all creative types to get involved with the project to spread the word as much as possible. To do this they made the above animated video to explain what they’re all about. As you'll have already noticed, Stephen Rea kindly did the voice over for them.

UpStart comprises artists and writers from Ireland and abroad and are non-aligned to any political party.

So why not favourite the video, share it to your blog or Facebook page, and remember to mention UpStart to other folk.

FUSE@GN1 - Pop-up Shop

Two weeks ago I was asked to pop along to the launch of something really cool. A friend of mine, Danielle Mac Innes, who runs the Dublin-based furniture and design company FUSE Interiors has partnered up with Gallery Number One to transform the space into a mid-century, vintage and recycled furniture exhibition and shop. The shop launched on October 29th and will be open for 4 weeks.

If you have any sort of interest in vintage furniture or design this will be a treasure trove of wonder that you need to visit. The pop-up shop has a wide selection of seating, tables, lighting, storage and cool accessories from a variety of sources and ages.


In case you're not familiar with Gallery Number One, it's located just beside Dublin Castle at 1 Castle Street, Dublin 2. The shop is open Monday to Friday 10am - 6pm (late Thursday) and Saturday & Sunday 11am - 6pm. And don't fear while the shop was due for a 4 week run, things have been going so well that it's now going to stay open until Christmas.

About Fuse Interiors
Fuse Interiors carefully source and select a mix of mid century investment pieces, flea market finds and restored vintage pieces. Through pre-owned vintage and re-cycled pieces, as well as seeking suppliers who use sustainable methods and materials, Fuse aim to bring responsible yet exciting design to their customers.

They work on large and small projects with both individual and business clients.
They offer a full range of design services which include floor plans, 3D drawings, sourcing and specification of furniture and finishes, colour consultancy and project management.

The World Is Full Of Interesting Things...

I spotted this over on Neil Perkin's blog Only Dead Fish. It got a lot of Twitter love last Friday but just in case you missed it, and because I think it's pretty special, here it is for you.

This is the updated 119 slide version of the Google Creative Labs presentation all about recent creative ideas and web campaigns covering everything from advertising to art, and politics to literature. This was put together by Tom Uglow and while it is viewable right here, just as Neil suggested, you should have a look at it on Google Docs for the full effect. This is simply brilliant.

Adidas Originals Street Art Competition

Champion Sports have just launched a pretty cool competition to find Ireland’s most talented urban artists to create an original piece of street art that will embrace the theme of ‘celebrating originality meets street art’. The prize is a masterclass with Krooked Type and the chance to get your art displayed on your own billboard. The competition is part of the launch campaign for the brand new adidas Originals clothing and footwear range.

The winner will get a two-day masterclass featuring Maser, Albert Hooi and Fraher, which should be a dream come true to any budding young artist. Or even a 30-something scribbler to be honest ;) Krooked Type will be judging all entries.

The new adidas Originals range is driven by adidas' history and looks to bring the spirit of adidas’ past and present to life in a fresh and modern range. The range combines typical adidas quality and materials with creative and luxurious street fashion, creating urban wear that blends timeless and modern designs echoing the brand’s heritage.

Coinciding with the competition, and offering a great place to pick up some inspiration, adidas and Champion Sports have specially commissioned a new collection by Maser. His ‘Originals-inspired’ street art installation can be seen at The Bernard Shaw, Richmond Street, Dublin 2, as part of the launch of the new adidas Originals range.

Speaking about the campaign, Emily Barry, Marketing Executive, Champion Sports said, “We are truly excited at the launch of the adidas Originals range in our stores. It has been a great experience to work with Krooked Type on the installation, which we feel really celebrates the spirit of both the Champion Sports and adidas Originals brands. We’re looking forward to receiving lots of entries to the Street Art competition and working with the winners to create their very own billboard!”

To enter simply email your artwork to celebrate@champion.ie before Friday 8th October. Submitted entries will be uploaded to the Champion Sports Facebook page, as they are received. The three winning finalists will be announced on or around Monday 11th October.

Biodiversity Campaign

This is the best video I've seen this week. Brilliant!

The link goes here.

Smirnoff Masquerade Ball - I Was There

When it comes to events that stand out, that make you wish you could do it all again, and that definitely were something that you had to be there, Smirnoff get full marks! The Smirnoff's 'Be There' Masquerade Ball last Thursday was absolutely brilliant. Aside from being a great excuse to dress up and go have a bit of fun, this was an evening that offered the unexpected at every corner.

From royal footmen at the front door to exotic stilt-walkers around the dance floor this was a veritable cornucopia of burlesque eye candy and creative adventure. The dress code may as well have read 'Desire' - everyone made an effort and the entire building was an array of fantastic gowns and stunning suits. Everyone was either masked or for those without a Venetian mask at hand, their were face painters at hand to create one-off works of art. Around the main ballroom there extraordinary performers moving and dancing to the sounds of DJ Alex Donald and Smash Hits. The drink of choice was obviously The Smirnoff Mule.

Richie and I in full masquerade garb

All-in-all, if you missed this all I can aptly say is, you needed to Be There!

Check out Smirnoff Ireland on Facebook to stay tuned to all their upcoming events.


Hat tip to DJ Spider for this video.

Philips Design Probe - SKIN:Tattoo

There is some seriously cool stuff being done by the Philips Design Probe, and this is by far one of my favourites. I love the idea of this...

Tattoos and physical mutilation are amongst the oldest forms of personal expression and identity. Subcultures have used tattoos as a form of self representation; a visual language communicating personality and status. Philips Design examined the growing trend of extreme body adornment like tattoos, piercing, implants and scarring.

The Electronics Tattoo film expresses the visual power of sensitive technology applied to the human body. The film subtly leads the viewer through the simultaneous emotional and aesthetic transformations between two lovers.

Khoda

“Khoda” is a fantastic animated video project by Reza Dolatabadi using 6000 paintings that were specifically created for the 5 minute film. Each time you pause the video you see a new painting.

Over 6000 paintings were painstakingly produced during two years to create a five minutes film that would meet high personal standards. Khoda is a psychological thriller; a student project which was seen as a ‘mission impossible’ by many people but eventually proved possible!

The Golden Age of Video

This is just about one of the best YouTube videos that you will ever see!



Ricardo Autobahn has spliced together a whole heap of movies from every genre and decade of the last 60 years to create an original song. The beat, the rhymes, the rhythm; all of it perfectly pulled together. This is just brilliant. What makes it even more fun is if you can spot all the movies, and name them.

Videogioco

Videogioco is a stunning animation by Donato Sansone, with sound by Enrico Ascoli.



Cheers to @RobReid for sharing this one :)

Tilt-Shift Soldiers March On Paris

To be honest there's not much to say here - just watch. This is one of the best examples of Tilt-Shift cinematography that I've seen.



Credits:
Photography: Albrecht Gerlach
Production: Tatiana Pereira @ Alta Media Productions
Camera Assistant: Tom Chabbat
Sound: Camille Michel
Canon 7D & 5DmkII for rent in Paris: photocinerent.fr

87 Cool Things

I found the following presentation over on If Only We'd Thought of That and I had to share it. It's a collection of cool things, put together by Google Creative Lab, that are just extremely inspiring and creative. Basically it's fairly comprehensive list of the most recent mashups, location-based games, video annotation, augmented reality, digital light displays, photomosaics and collaborative projects.

If the below SlideShare is too small to view, check out the full presentation on Google Docs.

National Australia Bank: Little Wonders

I found this great video over on Digital? Marketing? Blog! (via AdWeek) of The National Australia Bank's latest tv commercial, "Little Wonders". The ad uses some really sweet tilt-shift filming. I just love the effect so much - really nice.

Sony: Soundville

In March 2009, Sony and Fallon used sound as the centerpiece to turn a small town in Iceland "into an extraordinary sound-system for a week." Juan Cabral, the man behind the Cadbury's Gorilla, created Soundville, a short film that documents three days in the life of the Icelandic town of Seydisfjordur, following the installation of several giant sound systems. Through the system the village was filled with an eclectic array of sounds by Richard Fearless (Death in Vegas), Mum, Bob Dylan, Toumani Diabaté, Roberto Goyeneche, Murcof, Federico Cabral, gUiLLeMoTS, and others.



Following the release of the documentary, Juan Cabral gave the following interview to Creativity Online:
So what was the assignment from Sony for this particular job?
The starting point was to show passion for sound above all—to create a pure sound experience. We also shot five product films to back that up, but it was mainly about Sony's love for sound.

How did you come up with this particular idea? What inspired it?
I was buying milk while listening to Stockhausen on my headphones. I felt everyone should be listening too.

How is this film being shown? Are there any special media strategies, as with "Balls"?
This was made for cinema and internet mainly. There are some television cut-downs and teasers too but the longer piece is the one that allows people to let themselves inside the journey and experience all the textures.

Obviously, turning a whole town into a sound system posed some huge production hurdles. Can you tell us about the process? How did you get permits to use a whole town?
The local production company in Iceland promised they could get a permit. And they did. They spoke with the mayor of Seydisfjordur and everyone in the village accepted. It's an 800-person town, but in the winter there's only around 400. We shot in the winter.

Were all the townspeople made aware of what was happening?
From the moment you place a camera people are aware. But I have to say, people got used to us very quickly, which was good because then it was about the sound. Also, because there were no actors we ended up with normal people being themselves when exposed to sounds. That's why most reactions are subtle and I think that's the most interesting part of the project, the little nuances, the melancholy, etc.

How did you set up and find the speaker systems? Did you recruit any special technicians to help you out? Was the town equipped to actually power everything?
The guys that make the Sigur Ros concerts in Iceland powered everything. We could play the music remotely and wirelessly. We built this 20 foott tower full of speakers and placed it in the middle of the town. Because it's a very quiet place—there's almost no traffic—you don't need a lot to make it sound good actually. And we certainly didn't want the sound to be bouncing everywhere.

How did you go about shooting? Can you tell us about your camera setups?
We only had two cameras actually. We didn't want a lot of crew running around or big cranes and all that. It was a gentle and quiet shoot. The idea was not to interfere with the daily routine. We were just observing in a way.

The sound is obviously a driving component of this piece. How did you go about selecting the music?
A lot of music was composed specifically for the project. Richard Fearless from Death in Vegas collaborated a lot. He recorded more than half an hour of original material: sounds, beats, atmospheric sequences, etc. Mum composed some beautiful tracks as well. I also asked my brother to record something and three days before the shoot he sent this wonderful little song, which we played to the sheep.

A company called A-bomb helped curate many hours of music too, so we had different playlists set to go from one mood to another.

For you, as a director what were you hoping to achieve with this spot?
Personally, I wanted to make something that I can be proud to show my little girl in ten years time. So I have to wait ten years to see what she makes of it.

What was the best part of this experience?
Every morning I had to choose a track to wake people up. . .not just people but a whole village.


Credits
Copywriter: Juan Cabral
Director: Juan Cabral
Production Company: MJZ
Producer: Nellie Jordan
Agency Producer: Gemma Knight
Director of Photography: Alwin Kuchler
Editor: Neil Smith
Sound: Parv at Wave
Post: MPC

Beamvertising Guerrilla Projections

A big cheers to Irish Street Art for the heads up on this one. This is from the always awesome PopWhore website, and their post Beamvertising Guerrilla Projections. Check it out...

David LaChapelle

If there's one thing you do in the next 6 weeks, this should be it!

David LaChapelle, one of if not my favourite photographers of all time, is here in Dublin with his “American Jesus” collection. The exhibition is at the Sebastian Guinness Gallery until the end of October and offers the chance to experience, first hand, one of the greatest photographers of the last 50 years.

Lachapelle is widely regarded as one of the best fine art photographers working today, particularly for his treatment of iconic celebrity images for some of the world's most renowned fashion magazines. His work has featured in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and Vogue. LaChapelle has also directed music videos for artists such as Christina Aguilera and Moby.

Stop-Motion Lego

There's no marketing connected to this video what-so-ever, I just thought it was really, really sweet.