and& summit and festival review

“How can we use what’s already there to enhance the world around us?”
-Landscapes of the Future by Daan RoosegaardeLast Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I attended the very first and& summit and festival in Leuven, Belgium. It was a beautiful festival flourishing in creativity, unique art installations, inspiring ideas, and influential speakers and artists. By day, I was learning about robots, the future of vibrant cities, new technology in the works, health, and beauty. By night, I was seeing some of my favorite artists and producers, such as Kelly Lee Owens, Bicep, Joy Orbison, and more. This festival felt different from most because of the inspirational feeling I had after returning to Cologne. Usually I go to festivals to party with my friends and simultaneously see some of my favorite artists. After this festival, I left with new ideas about the creative path that I see myself taking, and also discovered new artists that had me hooked straight away.

“Berlin is a city that is unfinished.”
-Experiences from Berlin: How to keep the city vibrant? by Lutz LeichsenringA common theme that I took away from and& is the use of things that we already have at our disposal to grow as people and a society. I attended a talk called “The Perfect Beat of the Vibrant City” where founder of The Creative Footprint and leader of Berlin’s Clubcommision, Lutz Leichsenring, explained that in order to keep cities vibrant, you must “monitor creative spaces, don’t over regulate, empower grassroots, cultural recognition, and profiteers must pay.” He demonstrates how Berlin is a constant prototype for what a more collaborative, sustainable and fair city should look like. During this talk, the producer Binkbeats got interviewed by Boiler Room host, Gabriel Szatan and explained that his “mind revolves around textures and sounds that I’ve seen or heard before.” Not only does Binkbeats recycle sounds he hears in everyday life, but loads of the other acts that I saw definitely follow down this same path.

“We want to infuse our lives with a sense of meaning.”
-Lifestyle Trends in the Digital Age: How Tech is Driving Culture by Eve Turow PaulOver the next week or two, I will write three articles about the different days I attended with exclusive film photos and videos from the the summit and festival. Check out these silly iPhone photos I took for a sneak peak of what the next few articles will include.

Studio LA Art Installation by Savannah