This past weekend we were invited by Absolut Vodka to attend the celebration of the Absolut Art Collection in Stockholm, Sweden. Having been an active fan (!) of the brand for some years now, we could of course not decline the invitation.
Friday started with a presentation by Absolut. We were given a brief history of the brand. Absolut is 30 years old and was until very recently state owned, which made their approach to design and advertising only more impressive. It was also nice to see the comparison of the bottle with competitors 30 years ago and today, which made you realize how timeless that design really is, or maybe how progressive it was at the time.
Then a nice gathering and lunch followed. The whole event took place at the Lydmar Hotel in Stockholm, a super nice design hotel. We can only suggest it for your next stay in the city.
After the lunch we came to the actual topics of the trip – The Absolut Art Collection. In the last 30 years Absolut amassed over 800 artworks done by artists from all around the globe for them. They started with Warhol and continued with Haring and the list only continues as impressive. For the event in Stockholm they invited some of their artist collaborators, including David Shrigley, Silvie Fleury and others. A panel discussion about Commissioned Art – Career Boost or Sell Out took place. It was great hearing some actual artists address the topic. Funnily it does not seem to be a problem for most of them, as long as they can keep their artistic freedom.
In the afternoon we had the opportunity to have longer conversations with David Shrigley and Silvie Fleury. More on that soon!
