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Ingmar Bergman Tribute

Ingmar Bergman first went to Fårö, a remote island in the Baltic Sea, on a stormy day in April 1960, to look for a location to shoot his film Through a Glass Darkly. The visit made a deep and lasting impression on him. From that date, seven of Bergman’s films were shot on Fårö. It’s also the place where he lived and worked for long periods of his life, and where Bergman was eventually buried following his sad passing earlier this year. Having once made the long pilgrimage to see his home on Fårö (despite the fact that the island is officially off limits as it’s a Swedish military area), we can vouch for the fact that it is a mysteriously beautiful place.

If you happen to be in New York next month, there’s a rare chance to see the documentary film Bergman Island at Scandinavia House as part of a tribute honoring the legendary Swedish director. Produced and directed by Marie Nyeröd, the documentary is being screened by The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) and The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) on Saturday, November 17.

As if this wasn’t enough of a treat Bergman fans, there’s also a memorial tribute and a special screening of three of his films at the BAM Rose Cinemas. Persona and Shame will be screened on November 20 and our favorite film of all time, Fanny and Alexander, will be screened the following day. If you haven’t ever seen Fanny and Alexander, you should! Considered by many to be one of his best films (Bergman intended the film to be his last ever feature, although he did go on to write several screenplays and to direct some TV specials), it is not an exaggeration to suggest that watching this film might change your life. See below for more details about the documentary and films in this special tribute:

Danish Tactile Ceramics

Danish-born ceramic artist/designer Marie Torbensdatter Hermann uses her fingers to leave a visual and tactile memory on the forms she creates. Instead of uniform looking and perfectly smooth objects, we find slight imprints left by the artist who made them. “My work is about the hand of the user and the piece itself. I am fascinated with how our fingers interact when we use and hold ceramics. I intend the pieces to give visual pleasure and a tactile awareness when used” explains Marie.

Until the end of the month there’s still a chance to catch To The Legion Of The Lost, an exhibition of ceramics by Marie Torbensdatter Hermann at Matin in Beverly Hills. Comprising of installations, it’s a chance to view the artist’s work as a whole and see how her pieces physically relate to one another. Bridging the increasingly fluid line between design and art, at times the exhibition is reminiscent of miniature landscapes whilst at other times the uniqueness of each individual piece demands to be appreciated. Take a look below at more images from the show:

Scandinavian Æsthetics In Motion

Trollbäck + Company is a New York based creative studio well known for their minimalist style and strong sense of Scandinavian Aesthetics. Despite it’s US base and Swedish name, the company is a truly multi-national affair with staff from Finland, Switzerland, Turkey, Canada and Japan under the leadership of creative directors Jakob Trollbäck (from Sweden) and Joe Wright (from Britain).

Originally founded to create graphics for TV commercials, Trollbäck + Company soon moved into making complete commercials before specializing in launching and rebranding TV networks, as well as creating title sequences for movies.

Recent projects include the on-air rebranding of CBS (they’ve also worked with AMC, CNN, Court TV, HBO, Nickelodeon, TCM, and TNT) a live action campaign for Infiniti cars, spots for MetLife and content for the giant video walls at the Frank Gehry designed IAC headquarters in New York. Take a look below at images from some of their work and watch films by following the link to their site.

Danish Documentary Photography

In capturing a single brief moment in a person’s life in a photograph, the Danish photographer Asger Carlsen somehow manages to tell a whole story about that person’s part, present and future. At times his work seems almost transgressively personal despite the fact that his motives are apparently neutral and most of the time there’s an eerie quality to the seemingly random happenings that he manages to capture.

Whilst occasionally doing some fashion work, Asger Carlsen is first and foremost a documentary photographer, but a documentary photographer with a distinctly offbeat approach. He clearly doesn’t want to document reality in a historical context but is more interested in telling the truth as he sees it. At first glance, Carlsen’s photographs seem to portray reality as it is (the same reality that we see before our own eyes) and yet somehow he manages to capture moments in history that would otherwise be lost in the glimpse of an eye.

Detour, a photographic road trip that Asger Carlsen took through five US states in just a matter of weeks, is a great introduction to his work. Take a look some images from Detour below before checking out the more unsettling Wrong Face on the photographer’s own website:

Everyday Finnish Design

Since opening in November 2005, the New York based concept store Kiosk has been offering a range of products from all over the world, one country at a time, with the entire selection of goods changing approximately every four to five months. All of the objects in the store are sourced during travels and are often traditional goods or anonymous designs found in ordinary everyday places like supermarkets, hardware stores and corner shops.

Past collections from Japan, Mexico, Sweden and Germany have offered an antidote to over-design by featuring objects that are humble, straightforward and beautiful for their simplicity and directness. The current crop from Finland is no exception and includes a variety of inexpensive functional objects. Take a look below at a few of our favorites, get a feel for the interesting stories behind the products and then be sure to check out the charming Kiosk website:

New Nordic Short Films

Rondo by Marja Mikkonen

Whilst the Nordic region may not be home to the biggest movie industry in the world, its short films do regularly win top prizes at major film festivals around the world, To reflect this fact, Scandinavia House in New York is presenting a Nordic Shorts series, a wide-ranging survey of genres that introduces some of the best film shorts by the latest generation of Nordic filmmakers. The series begins this month with seven short films by Finnish directors and continues with films from Sweden, Denmark and Norway well into the Spring of next year.

The program of Finnish films includes Anu Pennanen’s Friendship (Sõprus- Дружба), a fascinating look at how two initially hostile groups of Russian and Estonian teenagers in Estonia come to know each other. Alli Haapasalo’s comedy Ilona (The Girl Who Had No Problems) explores the identity crisis of a young woman as she prepares to graduate from high school. Other highlights include Sami Korjus’s black comedy Harvest Time (Elonkorjuu) about a farm wife fed up with her lazy husband; Mika Hotakainen’s Visitor (Ensimmäinen Eskelinen), a darkly humorous portrayal of a father and son in rural northern Finland; and the animated story of an air hostess on a plane full of nasty passengers in The Irresistible Smile (Ilo irti) by the award-winning animator Ami Lindholm. See below for more details about the Nordic Shorts series and about the individual films:

Snow White Design

It’s been a while since we’ve mentioned that we love white but we couldn’t possibly talk about Pia Wallen without showing you one of our favorite designs of hers. Given that most modern Scandinavian homes are an expanse of brilliant white and that modern open plan living requires that almost all products are out on show, it was about time someone designed a vacuum cleaner that would look good sitting next to an iPod. Luckily, that’s exactly what Pia did when she teamed up with Electrolux.

Electrolux invited Wallén to produce her own interpretation of the Ultrasilencer, (supposedly one of the world's quietest vacuum cleaners) and the result is startling in its simplicity. Apparently the designer found inspiration in the extraordinary quietness of the cleaner and it reminded her of the most beautiful sound she knows - the sound of falling snow.

Snow white….well almost. As in most of Pia's work, there is always a touch of humor. Flashes of bright orange on some of the machine's functions echo the color of guide poles that are used to mark ski tracks through the wintery Swedish landscape. The special edition Ultrasilencer was only released in the UK and selected Scandinavian countries at the end of last month but it’s already proving difficult to get our hands on one. See below for more details:

Modern Scandinavian Classics

After 20 years, Pia Wallen is still true to the felt material that she created her very first designs with. The Swedish designer has developed a wide range of high quality and innovative products but is perhaps still best known for her most easily recognizable products; felt wool slippers, sterling silver jewelry and her iconic Crux blanket.

Pia Wallén is a designer rooted in Scandinavian culture and draws inspiration from a combination of history, traditional materials and techniques and the dramatic northern climate. Somehow she manages to combines tradition with play and fantasy, searching for new solutions in order to develop products that reflect today's culture and appeal to the modern consumer. Principles of functionality, simplicity and humor are always the basis for her contemporary interpretation of the Scandinavian craft tradition. Read about some of best known designs below:

Sigur Rós Film & New Album

Last summer, at the end of an extensive world tour, Sigur Rós finally returned to their homeland and played a series of free concerts around Iceland. The concerts took place in a variety of unusual venues that ranged from an abandoned fish factory, to a protest camp at the site of a controversial dam, to a small community hall in a remote village.

The entire visit was filmed and the result is Heima, a rare cinematic treat. Sigur Rós' haunting wall of sound set against superbly shot landscapes together with intimate interviews, offers a captivating insight into the band’s music, their inspiration and the place they call home.

Heima is out on DVD on 5 November 2007 and as if that wasn’t enough to look forward to, Hvarf/Heim, a new double album (one half electric, one half acoustic) will also be released on the same day. Turn the volume up, take a look at the trailer below and when that music begins we defy you not to be moved: