Manifesta 18
at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
(2018)
We were invited to create a scenographic setting at the Royal Danish Academy, for the 2018 edition of 'Manifesta', an annual confe-rence for, and celebration of, Danish design.
Organised by some of the most influential actors on the danish design scene. Our job was to provide a setting that fitted the multiple sections of the evening (talks, buffet style eating, general mingling and finally some awkward adult dancing). We qucikly decided on a solution that would attempt to break the venue into smaller, more intimate, spaces within the very large conference hall.
The overarching theme given to the speakers were one of 'creation'. Each designer was asked to think about whether 'the concept', 'the job', 'the material' or 'the craft' weighed heaviest on the process. We wanted to reflect this theme of 'creation' in our scenography and we ultimately landed on a solution that shows a three dimmensional universe in the middle of being created, with each of the elements influencing each other.
These clustered elements were then visualised as giant 'cross sections', allowing the guests to literally walk into the middle of the creation able to fully investigate the process from any angle they wished to.
The cross sections were printed onto twelve seperate 5 meter long flags (for a total of 90sqm of print).
An accompanying animation was also created, which worked as a live backdrop for the speakers, showing an animated cross section of the same structure.
Credits
Design, Animation & Execution: Dark Matters
Client: The agency for culture and palaces DK