On Tuesday we carried the theme of innovation out into the field, beginning with a trip to the Danish Design Center. The DDC's mission is to build cultural awareness of creative design, aid design firms, and brand Danish Design on a national and international level. We took a brief tour of the facilities, then settled in for a presentation by Rasmus, our guy from the EU. His focus was on mainstream adoption of innovative ideas and the acceptance curve that must be endured before that happens.A pop culture example was given involving Heartbeats, a song by The Knife. The Knife is a Swedish brother/sister duo who embodies anti-establishment artistry and all of the fabulous eccentricities that go along with it. They wear crow masks and costumes on stage to disguise their appearance. You won't find their likenesses in music videos or at award shows either, because they wear masks on those occasions as well. Their music is certainly innovative but like most artists who break new ground they are difficult to get into at first. Give it a listen and find out for yourself.
Behold, Heartbeats by The Knife:
The song was never picked up for rotation on mainstream American radio stations, or even college stations for that matter. Later, Jose Garcia recorded an accoustic cover that managed to retain the edge while being palatable to mainstream ears. This version got the attention of an advertising agency who used in the most hypnotically beautiful commercial ever produced. Bonus points if you can guess which company the advertisement is for before the end.
Heartbeats, by Jose Garcia
It was an interesting way to demonstrate how dramatic innovation undertaken by an obscure Swedish musical group can find its way into the living rooms of millions of people around the world. It was also a good excuse for me to post a really cool song and a brilliant video.
The DDC was just the beginning of our day, however. Next up was a trip to Tivoli, the world's oldest operational amusement park and Zentropa, a film studio just outside of Copenhagen. You can check out all of Tuesday's pictures here, but you won't get an explanation until the next post.
UPDATE: In August the popular HBO show Entourage included The Knife's version of Heartbeats in the soundtrack of one of its shows. The odd duo from Sweden is slowly making its way into mainstream culture...
