Swatch has teamed up with MTV to launch a new art and design programme: Swatch MTV Playground.
The cross-platform effort showcases the work of aspiring artists working in 2D and 3D animation, illustration, graphic art, motion design, film and music. The showcased work is available to view online with the website functioning as an interactive web gallery. The accessible and diverse online site is available in 19 languages and targeted at artistic communities worldwide and of course the devoted MTV viewers. Both Swatch and MTV have also been busy promoting Swatch MTV Playground through a digital seeding promotion across all parts of Europe and Asia, targeting industry creatives, students and MTV spectators. Moreover, MTV is set to produce a sequence of vignettes branded ‘Talk @ the Playground’ later this year. The scheme will couple up musicians with well-known artists from the world of design, fashion, fine arts and film to converse about the joys of creativity.
Over the years Swatch has been recognised for its musical collaborations, working with contemporary pop artists in a variety of ways. Swatch Art Specials have been crafted by the likes of Keith Haring, Akira Kurosawa, Sam Francis, and Pedro Almodóvar. Even the Blue Man Group has been a recent collaborator. In addition to these collaborative relationships, Swatch this year invited a young contemporary artist to help stage the live art spectacle ‘CreArt by Swatch’ in the Piazza San Marco during the Venice Biennale, to celebrate the brand and The Swatch 2009 CreArt Collection. Speaking on the brand, Klaus Peter Mager, who heads Events International Swatch noted, “Swatch has always had a very democratic sense of contemporary art… Art is an important pillar of our brand’s identity”.
The campaign was kick-started with an artistic challenge to interpret the theme: ‘Imagine Time in The Future’. Each competition offers a range of prizes such as tuition grants, internships and cash awards. The result so far has been phenomenal as students and professional artists worldwide have offered snapshots into their own imagined ‘time in the future’. All of the entries are available to view online, including the recently revealed winners and runner-ups.
