The amazing part of judging The NEW is that the medium basically redefines itself in every iteration. This year we had Emad Tahtouh as Jury President. He is essentially an inventor, so a big part of the discussion had to do with technology. Does The NEW necessarily have to mean technological innovation? Because if it’s pure technology that we’re talking about, then the Blackbird was probably the most incredible invention of the year. But what about The New Rembrandt and Field Trip to Mars, then? What makes them so deeply moving? Giving Humanity a new, unheard of Rembrandt; transforming the school run into a space trip… these ideas use technology to access the human soul in a way that the Blackbird couldn’t dream of. But what about turning the entire population of Sweden into an ad campaign for the country? Technology plays a smaller part in this idea, although they did have to build a humongous switchboard, but who could argue that it’s not NEW and game-changing? And if you think about the ridiculously talented people who were in this jury, you can imagine the unbelievable discussions we had for hours. The best three days of the year hands down.
The amazing part of judging The NEW is that the medium basically redefines itself in every iteration. This year we had Emad Tahtouh as Jury President. He is essentially an inventor, so a big part of the discussion had to do with technology. Does The NEW necessarily have to mean technological innovation? Because if it’s pure technology that we’re talking about, then the Blackbird was probably the most incredible invention of the year. But what about The New Rembrandt and Field Trip to Mars, then? What makes them so deeply moving? Giving Humanity a new, unheard of Rembrandt; transforming the school run into a space trip… these ideas use technology to access the human soul in a way that the Blackbird couldn’t dream of. But what about turning the entire population of Sweden into an ad campaign for the country? Technology plays a smaller part in this idea, although they did have to build a humongous switchboard, but who could argue that it’s not NEW and game-changing? And if you think about the ridiculously talented people who were in this jury, you can imagine the unbelievable discussions we had for hours. The best three days of the year hands down.