Marco Siebertz and a guest in front of the 100 CUPS. Photo: Carsten Fork

Last Sunday the exhibition “100 CUPS” as part of the “new talents 2008 – the junge biennale koeln” closed its doors. Marco Siebertz must have been happy with the result of those 9 days in the Cologne docklands “Rheinauhafen”. Especially on the weekends hundreds of visitors strolled in and got fascinated by the 100 paper cups that strung orderly on the CUPboard.

The designer, who was invited to show his talent on this new interdisciplinary biennale, is interested in objects of everyday life and was always wondering where all those paper cup come from and why it is such a growing trend. Involving the psychologist Darina Barooah, he did an analysis about the social implications of “paper cupping”. He found out that the paper cup e.g. is a strong symbol for our performance society: “The cup is a strong symbol. It says: look here! I got not time to sit and relax in a café. I’m already heading towards my next appointment. I’m important.” Moreover Marco Siebertz thinks that the paper cup will be an ersatz (replacement) for the more and more outlawed cigarette. “There are certain similarities in the attributes: as a cigarette, the Coffee To Go is made of paper, becomes warm, it gives you access to a druglike substance, you can grab hold of it and most important: you can suck it!”

As the design researcher did not want to strain the visitors with too much analytical input, he decided to give the exhibition a visual centre that was meant to attract interest to the visitors – what it did indeed! Siebertz produced 100 variations of paper cups that partly refered to the analytical part, but also where connected to completely different (e.g. political or social) contexts. Those mostly satirical designs opened the chance to the viewer spending more time with an object that is usually a mere transient good: you drink the coffee and throw it away.

Some CUPS: the LoC(k)-UP, War-on-Terror-CUP, Social-CUP, Free CUP and Tele-CUP - Photo: Carsten Fork

There is for example the ”Hurry-(C)UP” – a paper cup with a hole at the lower part that is closed by a removable strip. When you follow the instructions saying “open here” and you remove the strip there’s not much time left to empty the cup without spilling most of your coffee. “This cup is a reference to our accelerated lifestyle”, says the designer. Or there is the “Pay-Attention-CUP” which has ten holes that the user has to concentrated upon keeping them closed with his fingers for not pouring the coffee.”T(w)o-Coffee-Go” however is a more satirical one: two cups with legs that walk together.

A bit sterile, but chique: the freshly inaugurated Rheinauhafen. - Photo: Carsten Fork

The exhibition received a lot of feedback. Many visitors drafted and designed their own ideas on blank paper cups, newspapers reported about it, e.g. the “Kölner Stadtanzeiger“, newspaper of the Cologne region. As also many asked for pictures of the exhibition, ROGER LiVE will continue publishing one cup a day from the exhibition.

A big thank you goes to Carsten Fork for providing the pictures. There is also an audio guide description in German that explains the exhibition.

A cup in your hands, a plug in your ear and a top on your laps – »cocooning« is a common social behaviour, e. g. in the commuter trains. To immerse yourself even more into your own ego – this CUP idea can help you.

*Part of the exhibition “100 CUPS” showing 100 transformed paper cups.

A “Coffee To Go” can warm our hands in cold times. Anyhow, usually in direct contact with the skin, the cup is too hot – so we need additional paper wraps. With these attachable gloves you avoid getting burnt and you are keeping also the backs of your hands cozy and tender.

This paper cup is part of the exhibition “100 CUPS” showing 100 transformed paper cups.

A double for the weekend: When you’re walking round the city with a »Coffee To Go« – ever thought about that your paper cup might want to have the same rights? Allow him to make friends!

This paper cup is part of the exhibition “100 CUPS” showing 100 transformed paper cups.

Surely there is a broad range of different types of designers: there the graphic designer, product designer, interaction designer, interface designer, social designer, illustrator, web designer… .

But in ROGER issue no. 2 the editors already found out that designers can be classified in the way they design themselves: there are the NAKED (e. g. Starck, Sagmeister), the COLOURFUL (e. g. Karim Rashid, Esslinger), the WHITE (Colani) and of course first of all the BLACK (endless list).

There’s one stereotypical item that connects all of them: their black framed eyeglasses.

This paper cup is part of the exhibition “100 CUPS” showing 100 transformed paper cups.

A coffee specialty that was invented by Starbucks… no, the Italians, I mean. But some even say it was brought to Italy by Austrian soldiers that wanted to drink their local coffee specialty “Kapuziner”. Anyhow, it’s probably a visual reference to the costumes of the Capuchin monks – wherever they came from.

This paper cup is part of the exhibition “100 CUPS” showing 100 transformed paper cups.

Adam and Eve have already been tempted through an apple – both were thrown out of paradise because of this frailty and have the responsibility for humankind to exist. As the malheur already happened, today we can enjoy our Apple(s) without remorse.

This paper cup is part of the exhibition “100 CUPS” showing 100 transformed paper cups.

On August 16th the new Cologne docklands “Rheinauhafen” will officially be inaugurated by the Lord Mayor of Cologne and other more or less important people. More important – and probably much more interesting – however could be the exhibition “new talents 2008 – die junge biennale köln” that opens its doors on the same day and happens more than one week from 16 August till 24 August 2008 on the whole dockland area.

The Kunstverein Fuhrwerkswaage had the clever idea to select about 10 graduates of each of the 4 art and design schools in Cologne (plus one in Düsseldorf) and open the opportunity to the young artists and designers to show their talent in the pleasant architecture of the refurbished docklands – a stylish new business and living area, where companies like Vitra, Microsoft or Electronic Arts and many architects and galleries found new quarters.

ROGER is presenting one of the exhibitions: 100 CUPS. The exhibition focuses attention on the paper cup which has, in the last few years, experienced the same kind of growth as the mp3 player or mobile phone. Anyone wishing to sport a modern image to go with the image of a modern city needs, besides an iPod, and a mobile phone, ‘a coffee to go’, the acquisition of which does not require a huge investment or a long-term contract obligation.The paper cup with the favourite hot drink can easily be bought at kiosks, bakeries, cafès, fast food restaurants, railway stations or cafeterias. The next ‘coffee to go’ is no more than a few meters aways.

The otherwise straightforward, simple cup involves the dynamics of large-scale distribution which impacts society, and raises various concerns. Where does the cup come from? What material is it made of? How did it enter the market? What is it that makes is so popular? Why did its shape or looks not change over the years? What society developments does the coffee cup reflect as a symbol? Do we need the steady supply of coffeine to cope with our daily stress and strains and our daily performance at work? What has Togo got to do with it?

At the core of the exhibition are a hundred variations of the coffee cups that have passed through different processes of transformation to give them a new symbolism. The coffee cup could be diverted from its intended use, polemised, extrapolated, exaggerated, tuned, philosophised, critizised, experimented, optimised, painted black, copied – but above all there will be experiment.

Accompanying to the show, ROGER LiVE will show one cup a day from the hundred that are on show at Rheinauhafen. Exhibition at the Rheinauhafen starts on August 16th at 4 p.m. and goes till August 24th. 100 Cups is hosted in the offices of Detlef Stephan Architekten in the so called Siebengebirge building. Here you can download a detailed plan (look for No. 24 – “Marco Siebertz / Stephan Architekten”.

The logo of the new talents 2008 - junge biennale koeln

From 16 to 24 August 2008 new talents – die junge biennale köln presents rising artists from the fields of media, art, film, music and design in the unique architectural ensemble of the Rheinauhafen in Cologne.

Due to its academies of outstanding reputation both at home and abroad and unlike other cities in Germany, Cologne has evolved into a stronghold of artistic and creative education. new talents sets an example, presenting for the first time jointly selected graduates of the following academies.

Kunsthochschule für Medien,
Hochschule für Musik Köln,
ifs internationale filmschule köln,
Köln International School of Design und der
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.

A total of more than 50 graduates of the last four years have been selected. In this connection the Biennale senses an upwarding trend toward the crossover of fields where clear classifications disappear. The graduates concerned often completed a second interdisciplinary degree.

The newly designed Rheinauhafen provides a unique platform for the project, hosted by the FUHRWERKSWAAGE Kunstraum e.V. and the Media Kultur Köln GmbH. With an appealing mixture of heritage listed architecture and new urbanistic highlights, the Rheinauhafen evolves into a creative economic centre in Cologne. With its unprecedented exhibition concept new talents 2008 therefore represents a prelude to the inauguration of the Rheinauhafen, corresponding to the innovative character of the area.

Along the boulevard, the passages and interiors the area allows the visitor to discover new possibilities of artistic presentation and communication. Multifaceted accompanying events such as stage programmes, long film nights, live performances as well as symposia and technical discussions invite to a collective exchange.