lifeiscarbon®

Shaman Of Dance

The solo performances of Finnish born, Virpi Pahkinen have received critical acclaim in over 30 countries since she started touring the world in her dual role as dancer and choreographer. In amazing combinations of music, stage sets and lighting, Virpi Pahkinen makes her body become its own calligraphy and manages to take dance to new dimensions. It's difficult in wordsw to do justice to her unique dance creations but take a look at Virpi Pahkinen in a short dance film below.

In addition to her acclaimed solo performances, Virpi Pahkinen has also created several works for groups of dancers, including Bardo, Silence of Trembling Hands, Zefirum and La Lettre de Chasse. Bardo was also made into an award winning film (Bardo 010) for Swedish Television (SVT) and has since been broadcast in Japan, The Netherlands, Singapore and Scandinavia.

Virpi also danced in several of Ingmar Bergman’s stage productions at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm and been awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Opera Prize and Carina Ari Foundation Gold Medal. Beyond dance, her musical talent and interest in light as architecture have led to collaborations with other artists, for example the lighting designer Jens Sethzman, the composer Akemi Ishijima and performers such as the violinist Jon Rose and the singer Sussan Deyhim.

Scandinavian Home In A Box

Hotel Kirkenes

Box-Home is an interesting installation by the Finnish architect Sami Rintala in collaboration with the Icelandic architect Dagur Eggertsson and the Norwegian artist John Roger Holte, that’s currently on show outside Gallery ROM in Oslo, Norway.

Sami Rintala has worked on an impressive list of projects around the world (we’ll certainly be profiling his work in the near future) but is primarily known by Norwegians for two previous thought provoking projects in Norway. Hotel Kirkenes comprised of a site specific building in the far north of the country that was erected as part of The Barents Art Triennale 2005 and Migration (2004) involved a series of flying libraries that were hung up in one of Oslo’s central parks. See a selection of images below:

ROM for Kunst og Arkitektur (ROOM for Art & Architecture) was established with the aim of stimulating and inspiring architecture and art through a combination of thought provoking exhibitions, courses, debates and workshops. The Box-Home project is an attempt to challenge traditional ideas about the home, as Sami Rintala explains; It’s about the attitude of building more than any other question! It’s about the quality of living not the quantity of space or the size of the investment!

Diamond Eyed Bambi And Her Dark Revolver Lover

Next week our favorite Finnish art fashion brand, IVANAhelsinki, will be launching their new Spring/Summer 08 collection Diamond Stripes and Revolver during Paris Fashion Week.

Paola Ivana Suhonen, the designer behind the fashion label who runs the family company with her older sister Pirjo, used a combination of her own dark native mindscapes and knowledge of northern legends as the start point for the new collection but drew most of her inspiration from an intriguing Slavic love story called The diamond-eyed Bambi and her dark revolver lover.

If the stunning photographs of IVANAhelsinki’s latest collection strike you as slightly familiar it’s because they’ve been taken by another lifeiscarbon® favorite, the well known art photographer Elina Brotherus. Look below for more pictures from the new collection:

The Thought Project

The Thought Project, by Danish photographer Simon Høgsberg, is a study of the thoughts people have when they walk alone in the street. Over a period of 3 months, the photographer approached 150 strangers on the streets of Copenhagen and New York and asked them what they had been thinking about the moment before he stopped them. Using a Dictaphone, he recorded what they said and then took a picture of them. 55 of the 150 thoughts are represented verbatim within the resulting project, a compelling piece of work that becomes an addictive read.

Simon Høgsberg’s photographic projects put us in mind of the work of Sophie Calle, the French writer, photographer and conceptual artist, who happens to be another lifeiscarbon® favorite.

His fascinating photographic projects have so far included Professional Fury (Four days on the road with Denmark's leading heavy metal band), Copenhagen/Istanbul (Notes from a bike ride through across Europe), Faces of New York (Interviewing 10 New Yorkers about their faces), The Low-Fat Diaries (A trip through Europe for 14 Euros), Blue Lights and Hash Browns (A portrait of six street artists) and The Tower of Babel (15 images from New York). See a selection of images from his projects below:

Danish Vintage: New Collection

Despite the fact that we’ve written about Danish clothes brand nümph before, we can’t resist showing you a selection of images from their latest collection (take a look below).

Yet again, nümph is all about color conscious, elaborate, quirky prints that are fresh and affordable. As always the latest collection is full of retro influences, but in addition to the usual bohemian gypsy look there’s a slight hint of faded 1930’s Hollywood grandeur.

nümph is the result of the dream of seven young women. Having previously worked for major Danish fashion companies where they yearned to be in a work environment in which they could generate fresh ideas, the women wanted to be able to create the type of clothes that women would want to pull out of their closets time and time again – feminine yet edgy, faultless yet affordable.

100% Norwegian In London

Double Room Plate by Tanja Sæter.

Today saw the launch of 100 % Design at Earl’s Court in London and for the next three days there’s also the chance to catch some of the special exhibitions within the show, including 100% Norway.

This year’s show features new works from some of Norway’s more established designers alongside new names who have never before shown outside Scandinavia. The focus this year is on glass, porcelain and textiles, all designed with sustainability in mind. Each designer has taken the theme of sustainability and interpreted it in a new way. One example of which is Cathrine Maske’s Blue Wing Butterfly vase that has been designed to draw attention to a national species that is close to extinction. Take a look below at a selection of designs from the show:

Maske has been joined at the show by other talented designers including Tanja Sæter, Anne Haavind, Kathinka Dysthe, Lena Hansson. Kari Håkonsen, Lars Kværne and Vidar Koksvik. You’ll also find new tableware by Porsgrund, porcelain from newcomers Wik & Walsoe, stylish wall-coverings from Scandinavian Surface, knitted homewares from Johan Rye-Holmboe, and a superb new range of textiles from the highly talented Sari Syväluoma who we’ll be profiling on lifeiscarbon® in the near future.

Lots Of Sustainable Design

Swedish designers LOTS haven taken a closer look at sustainable development with their latest project LOTS of Green, a new collection of products that can help all of us change our environmentally unfriendly behavior. Products in the collection include the Urban Garden greenhouse for self-subsistent urban households, the Imprint takeaway cup that can be reused many times over, luminous Solaris paving slabs that are powered by solar energy, park benches for today and future generations, and the Urban Picnic, in which they have given children the opportunity to have their say on the urban environment. Take a look below at images from the LOTS of Green:

If you can’t get enough of LOTS designs, and we certainly can’t, then you’ll be pleased to hear that they’ve become regular contributors to our friend David Carlson's online trend site, the David Report. Hanna Ljungström from LOTS recently wrote about marrying crafts and industry as a way to deal with sustainability.

Naturally Inspired Design

Inspired by the traditional stone floors of old farmhouses seen during various trips to Provence, we’ve long been searching for a way to recreate the same effect at home. Until now it hasn’t proved easy to incorporate a pebble floor into a typical Scandinavian apartment full of bare wooden floors but thanks to 2 Form Design there’s now a simple way to accomplish it.

Based in Oslo, 2 Form Design have created an excellent range of rugs inspired by textures found in nature and promise to add furniture and other interior accessories in the near future. Current designs for rugs include Sand, Desert, Memento (inspired by leaves) and the incredibly realistic looking Pebbles. Take a look below at images from the collection:

Not only do we love 2 Form Design’s innovative rugs but we also applaud their company philosophy, which amongst other things states: We are dedicated to the expression and appreciation of beauty. Our wish is to encourage positive emotions through our designs. We respect the uniqueness of diverse cultures and peoples, including our customers and staff. We maintain a strong sense of ethical, social, corporate, and economic responsibility.

Quirky Scandinavian Simple

Solidarity - A chair with room for a friend

October is going to be a busy month for the Swedish designer, Peter Andersson. Not only will he be showing his work at the annual design exhibition Snedkerlagets Efterårsudstilling in Copehagen but he’s also been invited to be part of the group show We are Going Underground at Tokyo Design Week. As if this wasn’t enough, Peter has also recently designed a piece for 20ltd, the rather exclusive online store that sells limited edition design objects.

"I design every day objects, aiming to give them a twist towards the unordinary and the unexpected. What that is tends to differ, since every project has its own conditions. I don´t have a template as to how my designs should end up. Hopefully I’ll even surprise myself."

We’ve long been fans of Peter Andersson’s designs. Their simplicity and stripped-down functionality may at first seem quintessentially Scandinavian but there are nearly always humorous twists and quirks that emerge from the apparent frugality. One need only take note of the informative sub-titles that are sometimes added to the designs. See for yourself by taking a look below at a selection of Peter’s designs:

Designs In Norwegian Wood

It’s with a certain sense of mea culpa that we’re finally profiling the work of Norwegian designer Cathrine Kullberg. There’s no accounting for the delay since we’ve loved her first product range from the moment we saw it and were struck by the thought “Why didn’t we think of that?”

Norwegian Forest lamps draw on the classic Scandinavian tradition of using thin birch strips for lighting. The designs depict a delicately cut forest motif which, when lit, become more visible as the blonde birch veneer gives out a warm glow. Currently, Norwegian Forest comes in three versions – large pendant, small pendant and table light - but Cathrine promises that new models will surface on a regular basis.

If you happen to be in London this week you’ll be able to catch Cathrine’s designs at TENT LONDON, the East London design exhibition that showcases the work of newcomers as well as more established designers and manufacturers. Continue reading for more details and pictures of Norwegian Forest:

Icelandic Experimental Rock

It's been over 3 years since múm released their last album, Summer Make Good, but luckily there’s only one more week to wait before the launch of their new album Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy. The much anticipated album has been preceded by the recent release of the single They Made Frogs Smoke 'Til They Exploded, a chirpy song about animal cruelty, and a free mp3 download of Dancing Behind My Eyelids which was made available to fans that had subscribed to the band’s mailing list. Take a listen below:

For those of you who don’t know them, múm is an experimental Icelandic band. Don't let the word 'experimental' put you off. Their music, which we happen to love but find difficult to describe, is characterized by soft vocals, electronic beats/effects and a wide variety of traditional and unconventional instruments.

When the band was first formed in 1997, its original members were Gunnar Örn Tynes, Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason, and twin sisters Gyða and Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir. Sadly, with the departure of Gyða (in 2002) and Kristín (in 2006), the core of múm was down to the duo of Gunnar and Örvar at the start of the creative process for their latest album but happily by the end the band was larger than ever with a total of seven people.

Scandinavian Designboost

There’s just over a month to go until the start of Designboost in Malmö, Sweden, a new annual event that’s being organized by lifeiscarbon® friends David Carlson and Peer Eriksson. Designboost kicks off on October 17 and consists of an interesting series of workshops and lectures together with a month long exhibition - although the organizers have branded these as Boost Meetings, Boost Chats and Boost Show. The theme for the first event is sustainable design and participants so far include Kristina Dryza, Satyendra Pakahle, Jennifer Leonard, Eero Koivisto and Brent Richards (check the current list here.)

Malmö is in the midst of a renaissance and Designboost provides a great excuse to visit the city, not least because part of the event will take place on the top two floors of the Turning Torso Skyscraper, a stunning landmark building designed by Santiago Calatrava. More details of the event below:

Teitur The Happy

The word teitur means the happy one in Old Norse. You probably don’t need to know that but you should certainly know about Teitur, the singer-songwriter from the Faroe Islands. Teitur (born Teitur Lassen 1977 in Hoyvík) started out as lead singer in the Faroese band Mark No Limits but after having quickly gained a reputation at home, left the Faroe Islands for Copenhagen at the age of 17 to pursue a solo career.

Three albums later, with appearances on MTV and with his music featuring in TV and movie soundtracks, Teitur is rather unfairly still not receiving the attention his music deserves. Thanks to his unceasing touring, a loyal fan base, the popularity of his videos on YouTube and a whole host of supportive bloggers, it looks like he might eventually gain the reputation he rightfully deserves. Continue reading to see a brief profile of Teitur and to hear one of his tracks that we love:

carboncollective™: Marie Ek

carboncollective™ is the series in which we showcase the work of some of the more interesting Flickr photographers from Scandinavia. Over the last year, we've hand picked some of the best photographers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in order to show you a selection of their work. In our opinion, the photographers we've chosen demonstrate a strong sense of Scandinavian Æsthetics in their work and, as a collective, their photography spans a broad range of styles and subject matter.

Our seventh photographer is Marie Ek (born 1979) from Stockholm in Sweden. Originally from Västerås, just north of the capital, Marie is now a film student at The Swedish Film Institute in Stockholm, having previously studied art and history. Marie is passionate about film – everything from silent movies like The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari, through film noir to present day masters like Hayao Miazaki.

We love the simplicity and seeming naïveté of Marie Ek’s photography. It was no surprise to discover Marie’s passion for film, since her images often have a movie-like quality. We’re reminded of a favorite book of ours, Instant Light, a collection of Polaroid’s taken by the great Soviet film-maker Andrei Tarkovsky. Judge for yourself by taking a look at a selection of her work below and in the carboncollective™ VII gallery.

Danish Film In New York

Next week sees the start of an interesting Danish film series at Scandinavia House in New York. Featuring some of the best known films from Nordisk Film, one of the world’s oldest film production and distribution companies, the selection being screened can in many ways be viewed as a history of Danish cinema, from the very early days (Nordisk Film was founded by Ole Olsen in 1906) right up to the present day.

Olsen’s innovative and forward-looking company has often been regarded as synonymous with filmmaking in Denmark. Before the First World War, Nordisk was a prominent force in developing the language of cinema and hugely at successful competing internationally, maintaining offices in Berlin, Vienna, London, and New York. Productions at the company’s studios in Valby (near Copenhagen) were aimed at an international audience and the films in this series reflect Nordisk Film’s high production values and preference for literary stories and socially relevant subject matter. Continue reading to see details of the films being screened including a couple of our favorites; the award winning Pelle the Conqueror and the harrowing Aftermath: