Into the green: diving for the art in the VELTINS Design Lounge

As if diving into green air: upon entering the VELTINS Design Lounge visitors were absorbed by the green light that virtually coated everything and everyone inside CONTAIN Gallery. For one week’s time during Koelner Passagen it hosted the installation by product and interior designers Mathias Witte and Fabian von Spreckelsen – winners of the VELTINS Design Lounge contest.

Transformation complete, the whole make-up of the lounge conceptually displayed the VELTINS design bottle in a setting that seamlessly matched the feel of the product on offer – which, by the way, was on the house throughout opening hours for the entire week. For rather than to sell, VELTINS sought to have its guests play with the brand, to literally get in touch with the product, and, most of all, to enjoy!

The green lighting, seemingly unreal as it diffused out of the lounge and on Aaachener Straße, drew inside invited guests, design aficionados and passers-by – around 1.200 in number, opting for a beer and an unusual lounge, yet finding more than that: while everywhere else during the Passagen event they were merely spectators of design, the cooperation of VELTINS, CONTAIN Gallery and DESIGNSPOTTER provided them the opportunity to become a part of it.

The pixel wall was where it all happened: at the heart of the exhibition space Fabian von Spreckelsen and Mathias Witte had set up a magnetic wall with a primed pixel pattern and more than 3.000 dyed crown caps. Essentially, the crown caps were also magnetic, thus free to move on the wall. For one part, the two originators had composed a typo and several motifs out of them. For the most part though, the wall was left to the visitors of the lounge to play with and to concertedly generate a distinctive pattern.

As for the diversity of the messages found in the course of the week, the creations on the wall ranged from political appeals to greetings, icons and signatures, the wall taking on the spirit of the individuals visiting and reflecting their mindsets, respectively. Then again, others who got to the place would change the look of the wall altogether, re-arrange, re-compose and build their art from scratch.

For more impressions: www.facebook.com/veltins