4th Marianne Brandt Contest 2010

Call for submissions for the 2010 Marianne Brandt Contest

A full 90 years after its inception, Bauhaus continues to command attention. Yet its anniversary is not the only reason for such sustained and genuine interest. Given the effects of several overlapping crises coming on the heels of the heyday of Hedonism, underscored by the current international economy and global climate, rationality is again taking on greater relevance throughout the world.
Yet for Marianne Brandt and other Bauhaus activists, rationality was never at odds with vibrancy and emotional warmth. It is in this sense that we announce the fourth Marianne Brandt contest in her home town of Chemnitz, again under the evocative motto of “Poetry of the Functional”.
At its essence, functionality means that objects fulfil their actual tasks in exemplary manner. But the finite nature of resources and the ecological aspects to products are far more critical factors today than at the peak of Bauhaus.
A philosophy incorporating energy efficiency, material usage and environmental concerns over the entire product cycle has thus also become a criterion for contemporary creative solutions and makes outstanding mental prowess all the more a valued resource never to be restricted.
As in the past three contests, the established “Product Design” and “Photography” categories continue to pay homage to Marianne Brandt’s most important disciplines. The variable third category for 2010 is devoted to “Light in Public Spaces”.

Category: Product Design

Bauhaus presented solitary experiments and the well-known concept of “design for the masses” as two sides of one total concern. As art and industry was regarded as a single unit since at least the move to Dessau, there’s thus no incongruity in Marianne Brandt’s magnificent artistry producing such famous objects as the “tea infuser”. While honing the aesthetics of series production with such creations, she was readily able to design mass industrial products for companies like Kandem.
Today’s computerisation of industry grants new opportunities to incorporate individually-defined details into efficient manufacturing. In keeping with Marianne Brandt’s visions, the contest is directed toward product designs which make use of advanced technologies as well as simpler albeit unusual ideas in providing the user with a product of highest functionality in combination with a form exuding originality and sensory appreciation. Suitability for mass production is a prerequisite.
You may submit a maximum of three variations of one product or study. The works should not comprise more than five parts at a maximum measure of 120 x 60 x 60 cm and a total maximum weight of 20kg. If you intend to submit a larger or heavier work, you must first submit a model or a paper presentation beforehand (maximum three sheets measuring 70 x 100 cm). The modalities for the works selected for final exhibition will be established separately.

Category: Photography

Bauhaus uses the relatively newly-established medium of photography as both an independent art form as well as a working tool for other forms of design. Marianne Brandt used photography experimentally and for documenting purposes.
Recent technological advances in photography such as digitalisation have occasioned today’s prevalent wealth of images. With these conditions in mind, greater weight is given to the quality of the finished work and the originality of the image. Therefore, the photography category in the Marianne Brandt Contest is focussed on perfectly-executed creative imaginativeness which can be realised with high-tech apparatus as well as with a simple pinhole camera.
You may submit three separate photographs or a series consisting of a maximum of five. Photographic series must be identified as such. The jury will then only consider the quality of the series as a whole and not the individual pictures separately.
Formats should not exceed 50 x 70 cm. Submissions may be mounted for support but in general are to be submitted unframed. Transparencies and image files will not be accepted.

Category: Light in Public Spaces

Light played a prominent role in Bauhaus and for Marianne Brandt. In architectural endeavours, it even became a metaphor for rational intellect. Le Corbusier defined the new architecture of the time as a “play of volumes brought together in light”.
As the third category in the 4th Marianne Brandt contest, “Light in Public Spaces” draws from this tradition and then goes clearly beyond it: light is used today with more sophistication and purpose. Architecturally-staged lighting can poetically fuel the urban imagination while enterprising efficiency and contending with widespread light pollution are also essential elements of concepts utilising light as an artistic means in public spaces.
The Marianne Brandt contest invites visionary ideas for the use of light. This may be individual light sources just as readily as complex concepts on the use of light in public spaces, marketing-oriented applications, or even artistic approaches.
You may submit visual documentation of a maximum of five areas in formats not to exceed 50 cm x 70 cm. Only image and video files on DVD in generally-accepted, projection-quality formats may be submitted in this category. All data carriers, protective cases, etc., are to be clearly labelled and accompanied by informative stills or printouts.

Participants

The contest is open to all students and creative youths under the age of 40 years old as of the final submission date who have their main residence in Europe. Members of the jury are excluded from participating.

Submission fees

Each submission is subject to a fee of €25.
This fee must be paid to account number 355101 2767 at the Sparkasse Chemnitz bank (routing code: BLZ 870 500 00) prior to submitting any work.
Please indicate "Teilnahmegebühr Marianne-Brandt-Wettbewerb" in the reference/ purpose line of your payment.
Bank details for remittance within the EU:
BIC CHEKDE81XXX; IBAN DE07 8705 0000 3551 0127 67
Please enclose a copy of the bank payment voucher with your submission.

Catalogue

Each contest participant will receive a catalogue for free.

Submitting work

Contest submissions will be accepted from June 1 through June 10, 2010.
Address: Wasserschloss Klaffenbach, Wasserschlossweg 6, 09123 Chemnitz
Open: Tuesday – Sunday; 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Arriving by CityBahn 522 (from the main railway station):
Neukirchen-Klaffenbach stop

Coordinated by Ms. Simone Fiedler / Ms. Eva Kühnert

Prizes

One €5000 prize and three acknowledgements will be awarded per each of the three categories. The Saxon Ministry of Science and Fine Arts will award a special Minister of Art’s prize of €5000.
Additional prizes will be awarded by renowned companies including Alessi s.p.a. Milano; vitra; USM Schärer und Söhne GmbH; the OSTKREUZ School of Photography and Design, Berlin; NAEF Spiele AG, Switzerland; and CARALUX LED-und Neonlichttechnik GmbH, Rackwitz.

Timeline

CoTimelinentest promotion through October 1, 2009
Submission of work: June 1-10, 2010
Jury deliberations: June 15-17, 2010
Entrants notified by July 13, 2010
Awards ceremony: September 24, 2010, Chemnitz Opera House

Exhibitions/Presentations

The jury and the organisers will select various entries from among all the works submitted for the planned exhibits at the Saxon Museum of Industry, Chemnitz, the Saxon Ministry of Science and Fine Arts, Dresden, the presentation at the “Designers’ Open” trade festival in Leipzig, and for inclusion in the catalogue.

Exhibitions

September 25, 2010 – October 24, 2010 at the Saxon Museum of Industry, Chemnitz
October 23-25, 2010 at the Designers’ Open, Leipzig
November 2010, Saxon Ministry of Science and Fine Arts, Dresden

Promoter

“Villa Arte e.V.” art association, Chemnitz

Patronage

The fourth international Marianne Brandt Contest is supported by the patronage of Ms. Barbara Ludwig, Mayor of Chemnitz.

Jury

Agata Madejska, Poland/Germany
Giulio Iacchetti, Italy
Harri Koskinen, Finland
Michael Batz, Germany
Marcus Botsch, Germany
Theo Williams, England