Every day the news are full of new digital gimmicks. It feels like there are articles about an AR contact lense, about driverless vehicles, robot pets or retailer's online fitting rooms every minute. Has the world forgotten about the beauty of analog magic? If you also feel an overdose of all things digital we found your savior: Florian Kaps. His concept store is home to the probably most analog products in the world. Before he shows you his analog wonders himself at Forward Festival Munich, Vienna, Berlin and Hamburg, we want to give you a small preview:  

Impossible Polaroid Film

Phonocut

The Ultimate Notizbuch

Mechanical Flip Book

"Our foray into flipbook art started in 2009, when we traveled in Europe and the middle east; we fell in love with the mid-twentieth century mechanized signs that were still operating, especially the split-flap (or solari) departure/arrival boards in train stations, with their mesmerizing “click-clack-click-clack”.

"Here’s the real secret of our craft: magic. Our greatest satisfaction lies in watching wonder and joy overtake people when they crank the handle on a flipbook. Adults giggle like children, and kids scowl, openmouthed, with intense concentration as they try to figure out how it works. No matter how many times you create the illusion of motion, you want to do it again and again."

It always starts with a vision, a topic we want to explore. Very soon, we will find ourselves digging for information and being overwhelmed by our own thoughts. That's when we have to gather our inspiration.  This year, we saw shared idea documents and 400MB worth of pictures taken with our phone. At one point, we have to break it down to a motto. & then we know exactly whom to call. > Zwupp  The design studio Zwupp has been the genius behind Forward Festival's design for years now. These guys know exactly how to turn our inspiration overflow into the festival design we had in mind but didn't know we did. This year, they did it again.

DIGITAL EYES 2020

Discover "The Pleasure of Empathy" from the 10th of January until the 28th of February at Heitsch Gallery in Munich. 

Every month, the Forward Magazine brings you a selection of musical pearls hand-picked by friends, musicians, speakers of the Forward Festival and many more. The 21th edition is curated by Forward Festival speakers Kim & David of DVTK.

What happens when you make an algorithm hallucinate? Forward Festival speaker Refik Anadol's latest audiovisual exhibition features the mind of a machine that generates AI Hallucinations by using realtime tracking data from the audience, making them the ones feeding and steering the machine. In addition to the movements of the visitors, the deep-learning algorithm has been fed 9 million photographic memories of Berlin, which it uses to create a collective unconscious of the city and its people. As a pioneer on the field, Refik Anadol explores the possibilities of AI aesthetics and questions the relationship between artificial intelligence and human engagement. Instead of trying to make humans more machine-like, he finds it more interesting to make machines more human. Learn more about Refik's approach at Forward Festival Vienna on the 16th - 17th of April, where he will be sharing his studio’s unique journey with light as a material and architecture as a canvas. Do not miss his talk and get your tickets now!

What seems like pictures from another decade turn out to be pictures from not even two months ago. As one of the last European countries, Austria has finally introduced its indoor smoking ban by the 1st of November 2019.   The atmosphere of the last few nights in Vienna's most popular bars and cafés offered images the city won't ever see again - images that Mickey Manakas and Iris Writze decided to capture on film.   "We arrived at the bar with a drink in one hand, camera in the other. It took some courage to approach people that way but as soon as we explained the idea of capturing the last moments united as indoor smokers, a sudden feeling of community arose and strangers welcomed us at their table like friends. By the end of the night, we were talking to so many people and having conversations we would have never had when going for a drink as a non-smoker. Let's see if that sense of connection remains now that smokers will mostly share one experience: freezing"  

A few years back, Berlin was famous for it's thriving and diverse club scene. But times and politics changed and now the city is marked by the closing of numerous clubs and other cultural establishments. Over a quite long period Berlin experienced the last party, the last event or the last happening at a location almost every weekend.     Lack of space, noise abatement and club mortality are a huge problem, not only for Berlin's party scene, but also for creatives. Therefore the three artists Milan, Kat and Johannes founded the collective Culturama. In spring 2019 they joined forces and are now persuing the same goal: the restoration of a vintage double-decker bus for hosting social and cultural projects.     Their goal is to create a new place of gathering. A location that remains changeable and mobile. As versatile as the former guests of the double-decker – so versatile are its future projects. The collective wants to create a piece of culture that no one can tear down, build on or buy up.     They want to tackle problems, to prevent the last cultural institutions from disappearing due to the selling-out of Berlin. The ideas for happenings are diverse: from live concerts, parties and open-air cinemas to workshops, exhibitions and readings.     To be able to realize all this the three have started a crowdfunding campaign. Their first crowdfunding goal helps to restore the roadworthiness of the vintage bus that was built in 1965. If they manage to collect more than 15,000 euros, the interior of the bus will be completed. This includes the installation of a light and sound system, comfortable seating and of course the decoration and redesign of the interior.     Help them by contributing to their campaign and maybe we'll see the Culturama Bus rolling around at Forward Festival Berlin!  

In early November, artist Helmut Smits launched his latest project: Screen Time – and no, that's not your next app to track the time you spend in front of your display.     Helmut describes the project as a community clock. Participants are invited to take part by making a screenshot of their mobile device lock screen and submitting it to the allocated time slot on the projects website.     The result is an online clock that displays another screen every minute. This way users get a glimpse into someone else's life. And the screen backrounds are diverse: from best friends to lovers, from cute pets to picturesque wildlife, from funny snaps to artsy photographs.     The idea behind it is to bring strangers a little bit closer and to connect them through their screens. By looking through the screenshots you might also realize how intimate the look on a personalized background can be.     Helmut Smits is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Straightforward, critical and witty, Smits is a ceaseless producer of ideas that comment on society and situations in a frank and often humorous way.     Do you want to be part of Screen Time? Then upload your screenshot here.  

Can you put a price on identity? Well, if you sell it on eBay, yes.   These days, it is hard to define where one’s identity starts and where it ends. We all have multiple facades to ourselves, different social roles and - on top of that - several social media accounts. Self-expression is one of the key topics of our time and, without noticing, we put plenty of time and effort into creating and taking care of our online personas. We tweak our bios, perfect our visual language and make sure our digital ego gets the attention needed.   That being said, this is true for any person. As an artist though, you may have a personal account as well as a professional account for your work. Maybe you even have several ones for different disciplines or projects.   But what happens once you get bored of yourself? When you don’t seem to connect anymore with a part of your own identity; when you grow? You either let it rot, you kill it or - you sell it.     This is what Giuseppe Palmisano did. His Instagram account, @iosonopipo counted 100k followers and he sold it along with its Facebook page, internet domains, eBay account, and the entire photographic archive.   "Therefore, on November 4th, 2019, I leave you Iosonopipo: 123 photos, 1615 certificates, the website, the e-mail, the social accounts. (...) I feel I have a thousand forms and for this reason, I had the courage to put at risk one, the most focused, that supported me in all the senses. There won’t be only one Giuseppe Palmisano, as today there have been several profiles – on instagram for example, one for each project. Some of these will continue and others will surely be born. Everything I have in mind needs a different medium, there will be performances, installations and probably still a little photography.”   Read the full statement here and check out the remaining parts of Giuseppe Palmisano’s identity      

Let us introduce you to the most elegant creatures to ever float in pools: The floating Afghans.     After gifting us with the most lovable calendar since the invention of calendars: "Better Living with Alpacas", the photographer Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek found some new animals to cheer us up every month. Willie, Kimmie, Sierra and Noodles are all rescue dogs. The photographer captured them living their best life floating in the most picturesque swimming pools of California.     At first, Daniel tried to shoot with Dachshunds, but unfortunately they didn't float as well as Afghan greyhounds. "Afghan greyhounds are particularly suitable for this kind of project thanks to their aerodynamic shape and elegance", he told us.     But this elegance also comes with its downsides. The models were quite demanding on set. Just like the alpacas, the afghans couldn't be told anything. Daniel had to adapt his way of working and wait for them to be comfortable to get in position.     Not only us, but also the photographer himself was quite surprised to find such graceful creatures at the animal shelter – but after the shooting when he got to know them and their diva-like allures he knew why! Still the Afghans radiate a certain peace, grandeur and serenity on him.     The calendar is now up for pre-order here. But hurry up, Last year's edition sold out very quickly!  

Celebrating the release of the new Album by Austrian cloud rapper Yung Hurn, we are taking a closer look at the associated campaign for the upcoming tour.     The German designer Tim Lindacher created Posters, Visuals and Merchandise all fitting to the tour's name: Airline.     For this project, Tim drew his inspiration from rather unusual places like suitcases or air like balloons, but also famous logos of national and international airlines.     If you didn't order your t-shirt or stickers already – too bad: everything is sold out.     When Tim isn't redesigning airline logos, he also designs posters. One of his creations is currently exhibited at MAK Vienna at the show 100 beste Plakate 18.     If you want to see more of his artworks full of zeitgeist you best follow him on instagram.

The last week in Vienna was all about the country's biggest tennis event: the ERSTE Bank Open 2019. Besides the triumphant win of the Austrian superstar Dominic Thiem, once again the trophies came into the limelight.     For last year's tournament the Swiss watch manufacturer RADO had the trophy completely redesigned by the Austrian designer Rainer Mutsch, who is known for his highly practical yet playful designs. He attaches great importance to user-friendliness without sacrificing playful elements. This enables him to achieve the full potential of a design piece.     Of course a trophy has no practical requirements compared to the homeware Rainer usually designs, therefore the playful aspect and the aesthetic component are all the more important.     For the trophy's shape, Rainer got inspired by the octagonal handle of a tennis racket which unfolds on the upper side.     But what we like most about the trophy: In order to strengthen the personal relationship to the venue and the tournament, the winning ball is positioned and fixed as a unique memento in the award after the final.     This way the ball mirrors on the inside of the trophy to reflect the dynamic character of the game.  

Graffiti artist Banksy says he has been forced to open his own homeware store following a legal dispute involving a greeting cards company. The new store, called Gross Domestic Product sells art, homewares and disappointment to randomly selected buyers who must answer the question: “Why does art matter?”.     Banksy aims to make people think not only with his artworks. Here, he just asks 1 simple question and gets millions of not that simple answers.     We have collected some answers from our office and friends.   “Because it doesn’t intend to matter.“   „Art is like a therapy, healing and helping but unlike real therapy, it is easier, faster and less stressful. Imagine seeing your therapist and imagine going to the gallery. I choose the therapist but the gallery can be cool for some people.“     “It helps a half decent human beings to understand the world.“   “Art opens the door into the world where we as people can feel freedom. Art develops our thinking, therefore we can create bigger things. Makes our lives better, not that tedious, full of joy.“     “Because the art has no limits and neither do we.“   “Because it’s simply a way to express yourself and at the same time to understand the others.“     Why does art matter? Because it’s limitless, healing, joyful but mainly because it means something different to each one of us. Let Banksy know what you’re thinking on his online shop.     The responses will be judged by English comedian Adam Bloom, who wants customers to make their answer as amusing, informative or enlightening as possible. “We can’t ever weed out all the people who just want to flip for profit, but we can weed out the unfunny ones,” wrote Banksy.