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Beckmans School of Design

Tipping Points: Beckmans x Svenskt Tenn x the Beijer Institute – 8 September 2020

September 3, 2020
Arched shop window at Svenskt Tenn with the text "Tipping Points" and red dots, a collaboration with Beckmans and the Beijer Institute.
Graphic reading "Tipping Points" in blue decorative type with sweeping lines and red dots, a collaboration between Svenskt Tenn, Beckmans and the Beijer Institute.
The "Tipping Points" exhibition with works on white plinths, including an arcade game and a tower of wooden blocks, beside a wall of text.
Work on a white plinth in the exhibition, a colourful dish or model below a yellow and brown panel, with an information stand beside it.
White plinth with headphones by the arched shop window, and red canisters on a shelf beside a patterned curtain.
Aquarium with green plants on a grey plinth in the exhibition, with screens and red canisters in the background.
Clear panel printed with symbols like currency signs and flowers, like a leaded window, in front of a tower of wooden blocks.
Three works on white plinths in the exhibition: the arcade game "Köttspelet", a framed image and an interactive screen with a round opening.
Visitor in a blue shirt stands in front of a large vertical screen showing a digital ocean scene in the exhibition.
Close-up of a cube-shaped aquarium with green and red aquatic plants on a white plinth, below a lamp.
Visitor leans their face against a white box with a phone and buttons on top, an interactive work in the exhibition.
White round robot on a low grey platform, connected by tubes and pipes to a small screen on the wall, by a window.
The exhibition runs from 8 to 21 September at the Svenskt Tenn store, Strandvägen 5, Stockholm. Photo: Lisa Åsberg

Exhibition at Svenskt Tenn, 8–21 September

For the fourth consecutive year, Beckmans College of Design is collaborating with Svenskt Tenn and the Beijer Institute on an exhibition in which Visual Communication students interpret important research on the Earth’s ecosystems—this year focusing specifically on tipping points.

Design, humour, imagination and empathy create a bridge to the timely environmental research conducted by the Beijer Institute.

Visitors can explore proposals for new warning labels on everyday products that draw attention to their climate impact, visit a museum of materialism and take part in a collective farewell to it, and engage with a range of digital and analogue games that invite reflection on the wider consequences of individual actions.

The exhibition is on view at the Svenskt Tenn store from 8 to 21 September.

Tipping points – when nature shifts into a new state

Nature is often exposed to gradual environmental pressures, but ecosystems do not always respond through gradual change. Instead, they become more vulnerable to sudden events such as storms, floods and wildfires, which can abruptly push them into an entirely new state—one that may be extremely difficult and costly, or even impossible, to reverse. The consequences can be far-reaching for ecosystems, human life and society. By understanding what leads to a tipping point, we can recognise the warning signs early and take action to prevent it from being reached.

Visual Communication as Research Communication

“It is incredibly inspiring to be part of the creative process as the students take on the brief. They bring a depth of knowledge in design and visual expression that we in the research community simply do not have. We hope their ingenious, beautiful and thought-provoking work will deepen understanding of complex environmental issues, spark wider interest and reach new audiences through this remarkable opportunity to exhibit at Svenskt Tenn,” says Agneta Sundin, Communications Manager at the Beijer Institute.

For students, the course explores how visual communication can help make research accessible.

“For the students, this is both an exercise in research—in engaging with complex material—and in visual communication: finding ways to give form to aspects of that material. For us, it is a valuable opportunity to work with such timely and important content, directly alongside the researchers themselves. This year, the students and researchers have worked even more closely together. Visitors can see this in a series of films in which the researchers respond to the students’ work—a feedback loop, to borrow one of the concepts we have learned,” says Samira Bouabana, Programme Director for Visual Communication at Beckmans.

Participating students and tutors

Students: Almir Jasarevic, Astrid Askert, Elisabet Lindén Calatayud, Erik Karlsson Malinen, Filip Kwang-Ho Svensson, Isabelle Sjö, Isak Hultström, Ivan Gedin, Lisa Åsberg, Lova Nyblom, Rebecka Hoffmann, Saba Mehrabanfar, Sofia Hjortberg & Viktor Nilsson.

Supervisors: Anne-Sophie Crépin, Deputy Director and Researcher, the Beijer Institute; Johan Gars, Researcher, the Beijer Institute; Steven Lade, Researcher, the Beijer Institute and Stockholm Resilience Centre; Juan Rocha, Researcher, Stockholm Resilience Centre (formerly at the Beijer Institute); Agneta Sundin, Communications Officer, the Beijer Institute; Eric Ericson, Designer. Course Director: Samira Bouabana. Svenskt Tenn: Thommy Bindefeld, Marketing Director and Creative Director; Karin Södergren, Curator; Åsa Brenner Toris, Curator; Ulrika Nilsson, Project Coordinator.

About Svenskt Tenn & the Beijer Institute

Svenskt Tenn is owned by the Kjell and Märta Beijer Foundation, and all profits generated by the company support research and the preservation of Swedish craftsmanship. One of the institutes funded through the foundation is the Beijer Institute at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which works to deepen our understanding of the interplay between ecological systems and social and economic development. Its aim is to identify pathways towards sustainable development.