Looking back at SXSW by Jeroen van Erp
South by Southwest, SXSW for short, is an annual film, interactive and music festival in Austin Texas. It all started in 1987 as a music festival that slowly grew into a world-leading showcase festival and conference. In 1994, an interactive and film festival were added. The latter two have grown into leading platforms for their sector in the last two decades with over 50 000 visitors. Last week, a large delegation of Dutch designers, creatives, developers and musicians descended on the exceptionally pleasant and liberal Austin. The Netherlands was present with a large and enthusiastic delegation including Alexandra van Huffelen, our state secretary for digital affairs.
The second and third weeks of March, Austin is invariably upside down. Downtown is teeming with techies, designers, musicians, filmmakers and policymakers all hungry for what’s hip and happening next. Tech optimism reigns supreme, this year the delivery robots were not to be missed. They are criss-crossing the city, driving on their own and are only hard to get off their path. The Tesla cybertruck was also an emphatic presence – and it is not too bad in reality, less clunky than I expected.
Design has always played an important role in the festival. There were interesting panels on NASA’s corporate identity, for instance, including David Rager reintroducing the iconic worm logo. Very special were the brothers Mackinnon of The Taboo Group who, in a hilarious presentation – they were in their pants at the end, they would take some off if anyone left the room – preached their beliefs regarding provocative brand activations.
The Dutch delegation had come under the theme Immersive Experiences. This was a bull’s-eye because besides the ubiquitous theme of AI, this was quite a dominant trend. Through the Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, a number of Dutch installations were given the opportunity to present themselves to the international audience. Great appreciation was given to VR opera Songs for a Passerby by VR director Celine Daemen. And as often with these kinds of installations, you have to experience it and it is hard to describe what it is. An attempt: you get VR glasses on with the only instruction, follow the light. You then find yourself walking past wondrous scenes, including a train, which you also see riding in the distance moments later. But you also encounter yourself. It is a dreamy and downright surreal experience in which not only the limits of technology are explored, but especially those of your own adaptability in a non-existent world. Also impressing was Studio Biarritz’s installation The Imaginary Friend. The installation invites you to join the vivid imagination of 8-year-old Daniel. Become his imaginary friend and get to know Daniel’s desires, fears and help him expel his demons.
Dutch Digital Design had reserved a timeslot where agencies showed their vision of Immersive Experiences for Good? Cees Dingler of Capitola presented an immersive game where playing with virtual trains is used to teach children the principles of physics. What is speed or acceleration, and what about the speed to take a ramp?
And although not within the scope of Dutch Design Daily: the punks from Rotterdam’s Tramhaus were awesome!