[artinfo] "Artists in Industry" International Conference, Bucharest

[adrien török]

*ARTISTS IN INDUSTRY. THE ROLE OF DESIGN IN THE DIGITAL ERA*

*Bucharest, November 1 -, 2012*
*Sala Frescelor, University of Architecture and Urbanism Bucharest*

Thinking critically about design is a way to understand the relationship
between the contemporary person, his peers and the world - the way things
are produced and consumed. This is due to the fact that the term ‘design’
today has become a
prevalent theme of reflection that includes not only commercialized and
consumed goods but also current practices that define our everyday life.
Aside from its aesthetic value, design is today the projection screen of
our lives. Modern design
cannot be separated and cannot be understood outside technological and
industrial innovations.

The project “Artists in Industry” is a platform that searches to bring into
discussion the status of design in the current context, an analysis that
needs to take into consideration historical forms of artistic and
industrial production and their
associated theoretical justifications. In the same time, the processes of
globalization and digitalization are today phenomena with profound
implications in defining the new paradigms of production and consumption.

Initiated by 2580 Association in 2011 with support from the Administration
of Cultural National Fund, the project “Artists in Industry” was motivated,
on the one hand, by the lack of institutions in Romania interested in
presenting and
valuating the applied arts beyond an ethnographic interest (there are no
museums of decorative art or centers dedicated to architecture and design),
on the other hand, by the need to encourage a theoretical debate regarding
the Romanian and Eastern European design.

A first stage of the project consisted in creating an on-line archive
“Artists in Industry. Romanian Textile arts between 1945 – 2000” (
http://archive.artistsinindustry.com), dedicated to Romanian textile art
and design during the above mentioned period. This “virtual museum” had the
goal of offering an “identity” to the Romanian textile design, an identity
without which any attempt to initiate a critical debate would be unfounded.
The project aims to enlarge the archive towards other forms of industrial
production (glass and ceramics, furniture, electric household goods etc.).

Whishing to deepen the critical debate pertaining to the status of
contemporary design and its forms of manifestation, 2580 Association
organizes an international conference titled “The Role of design in the
Digital Era.” The conference will take
place November 1 -2 , 2012 at the University of Architecture and urbanism
“Ion Mincu” in Bucharest, and will put into discussion the relationship
between design, industry and economy, between design and technology. The
issues put into discussion relate to the impact of digitization onto the
design and production processes, the role of the designer, the status of
the “consumer” and “user” in the context of a digital and globalized
economy, and last but not least, design challenges
brought about by the digital era.

Guest speakers include: Janis Jefferies, (Goldsmiths University of London),
Tom Bieling (UdK - Design Research Lab, Berlin), Zilvinas Lilas (KHM,
Cologne), Sophie Pène (ENSCI, Paris). The program is coordinated by Bogdan
Ghiu, Tincuța Heinzel and Augustin Ioan.

For more information regarding the schedule of the conference please visit:
http://conference.artistsinindustry.com

-- 
Tincuta Heinzel
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