Last week Berlin saw the second European edition of the No Commission international series of events by music producer Swizz Beatz’ The Dean Collection and BACARDÍ. For three days the mega event took over the Kraftwerk Rummelsburg with a large scale exhibition of over 30 artists from all over the world and big parties with international and local acts such as Major Lazer, Alicia Keys, and Noah Becker’s band Bakery playing live.
I had the chance to go to the opening last Thursday and I have to admit that I was pretty blown away by the size of it. I hadn’t been in the location before, nor could I really picture how the mix of art and music event would really play out. But the set-up looked great. It was so grand, and despite the apocalyptic rain on that day the huge venue was packed.
The exhibition took up the first half of the space with huge black and red walls set up at different angles giving the huge artworks a perfect background to shine. I liked the art that I saw, very expressive and colorful, different genres, different media. A really wild and stimulating mix. In the lower level there was also a smaller exhibition with limited edition prints for art fans with smaller budgets. So far, over 3 Million Dollars have been generated from the sales of the art in all of the other editions that happened since last year, all of which go directly to the artists, without any commission to the organizers or agents. I sure hope the Berlin edition has also added a bit to that proud sum.
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by Frank | Art, Party
Imagine an art fair or an exhibition where all the proceeds of the sales go directly to the artists themselves without any commission for a gallery or agent. What sounds a bit like a utopia for artists is the reality of the international event series No Commission (linked to website) that will come to Europe for the second time during their world tour to make a stop at the Kraftwerk Rummelsburg in Berlin. And we have reason to be excited about this as the opening event on June 29 is going to be quite spectacular with Major Laser playing live and tickets available for free!
But who is behind No Commission? The initiative was founded 18 months ago by Bacardi and music producer Kasseem Dean, a.k.a. Swizz Beatz, as a platform to support upcoming and young artists. In this short amount of time they could generate sales for the artists of over 3 Million Dollars during various exhibitions all over the world. That’s quite the amount – and apparently that’s only the beginning. With each edition a new set of artists will be introduced into the No Commission family creating an ever-growing network of creative minds and incredible talents.
The support of upcoming artists has been on Dean’s agenda for a long time now which is why he started The Dean Collection in 2014 which is not just a private collection but a platform to discover and experience amazing art.
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by Frank | Art, Events
Yesterday, like most other Saturdays and Sundays, I spent most of the day in bed sleeping out last night’s party. By the time I left the house it was already dark and raining. And while I was rushing through the cold, wet and dirty city I just hated it for being in the completely wrong climate zone.
So I wondered what could I do to get out of this uncomfortable mess that is the winter in Berlin. The answer came in the form of a cheerfully formulated eMail by Bacardi: A trip through the Caribbean. On a yacht. For one week. With 9 of your friends. How fucking amazing would that be, huh? Of course you can’t just sign up for it. You have to win a creative challange called Bacardi Ten4 where you have to submit some short films that you upload to YouTube. Learn more about it after the jump.
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by Frank | Misc.
