Science of the Time, formally known as Signs of the Time

What it Is:

Leonie Kuipers, Amsterdam:
In the Netherlands the cultural entrepreneurship is still on the rise. More artists want to operate on the interface of commerce and art. Not only designers and visual artists are creating works without financial government support, also theatre makers and museums are playing with similar concepts. Settings becoming more full of brands, sponsoring the play. Buildings are pimped with commercials as artistic expressions.
Designer and architect Teun Castelein, known from the advertising on the Sandberg institute has made a new project in collaboration with the Graphic Design Museum (formally know as the Beyerd Museum). For the opening he covered the frontage with 250 flags. Each brand could buy his own flag, inspired by the famous ‘Million dollar Homepage’ (a website designed by a British Student). The museum and the exposition from Teun Castelein was opened by queen Beatrix.

Why it's cool:

Castelein is the ideal example of the entrepreneurship as he explains: “On one hand I disgust commercial things, on the other hand I like to play with it”
Also in his other works, like the advertisement on the Sandberg institute or the Burka he designed for the Kunstvlaai (‘My Boyfriend Went To Afghanistan And All I Got Was This Lousy Burka’) you can see this friction.  Castelein: “I would love to design an amazing product, a product that everyone likes, but at the same time shows a critical perspective of the word around us.”