DIE KUNSTAKADEMIE STUTTGART FEIERT, Grusswort, BYD / Mercedes Benz, Sabine Maier
Stuttgart, June 2011
THE ART ACADEMY STUTTGART CELEBRATES, GREETING, BYD / Mercedes Benz, Sabine Maier
video is in the making
see video
This intervention was performed as part of the official program to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Academy of Fine Arts, Stuttgart , June 2011. The minister of culture, the mayor of Stuttgart and other dignitaries attended the event in the Neue Schloss, the castle of the governing president.
For this event, I wrote a fictional sponsor talk presented in Chinese by a German woman fluent in Mandarin. The lady, Sabine Maier, (Laura Sturm) introduces herself - in Chinese only - as a representative of BYD / Mercedes-Benz. Behind the presentation in Chinese as a company language stands the fictional takeover of Mercedes-Benz by BYD which stands for Build Your Dreams. The moment the unexpected Chinese presentation began, a translation was handed out in English language, most German people are fluent in. English is quite often spoken in public presentation and adopted as company language by transnational companies in Europe. Due to an international student body teaching in German universities and art schools often occures defacto in English.
BYD is an existing companiy and actually has a business relationship with Mercedes-Benz. (just google it or see pdfs below). A (hostile or friendly) takeover of Mercedes-Benz by BYD - which in today's capital markets cannot be totally ruled out - would be considered a provocation and a loss of German national identity. As a reminder of company history: Stuttgart just lost one of its finest and most known company: Porsche to a hostile takeover by Volkswagen. It is not unthinkable that major stakes of Mercedes-Benz could actually be subject to hostile international acquisitions including those by Chinese companies which are bursting with liquidity. So far, the only merger here is between reality and fiction, technology and politics, to represent something really beyond Germany's dreams or nightmares.
In this BYD / Mercedes-Benz presentation the new company talks about itself, its e-mobility department and confirms its commitment to sponsor the Art Academy also in the future. The speaker shows an electric bicycle made by Mercedes-Benz but with the logo of BYD / Mercedes-Benz. The bike is presented here as one of 5 bikes given to the best students of the art school. In reality, Mercedes Benz which is forthcoming with a wonderful e-bike - see at the bottom of the page - refused to sponsor us with a bike. It is very hard to get to get sponsorship for local causes by this Stuttgart headquartered international company.The presented Benz e-bike I purchased on ebay and is a model produced over a decade ago. It still looks good though the new Smart e-bikes look sensentionally much better.
As a fact, Mercedes-Benz has been developing electric cars in conjunction with BYD. - See PDF at the bottom of the page.
see video
<<< BYD MERCEDS BENZ, Sabine Maier
see video
Minister Theresia Baur, MdL, Land Badem Wuerthemberg (photo: Martin Lutz)
music by Olivia Trummer.
The mayor of Stuttgart, Wolfgang Schuster - who told me afterwards that my hypotethical talk wasn't so for from reality. He just visited China and confirmed that in some cities only e-bikes and e-scouters are allowed.
Sabine Maier (Laura Sturm) with BYD / Mercedes-Benz e-bicycle, using Chinese as the official company language of BYD / Mercedes-Benz
Nils Buettner, Professor of art history and Alf Setzer, technical director of the sculpture department followed Sabine Maier's intervention.
the rector of the art academy, Petra von Olschwoski concluded the event.
BYD /MERCEDES TALK
Text was presented by a Laura Sturm, a sinologist fluent in Chinese. -- video coming soon
context:
Today, as a fact, and contrary to what people in the West think, the pace maker of eclectic bicycles and electric technology is China. In fact the entire electric car and e-cycle market is already dominated by China. China has the best medium range electric motor-technology and Chinese companies belong to the best battery makers worldwide. BYD (a company nobody has heard of in the West except experts, so far, - something that is going to change soon) is one of the biggest players and dominates the world market in battery production (for example: most Apple products contain BYD batteries). A company that is barely 15 years old has even out performed Japanese battery makers.
China invests heavily in Green Technology, is leading in research with big pools of talents. Most important China is in possession of nearly all of the world's RARE EARTH production so crucial for wind power, eclectic motor and battery production. China controls nearly 96 % of that market and is about to outperform all non-Chinese competitors in solar panels, wind turbine and electric vehicles . With e-mobility and clean energy production political economics is crucial.
Needless to say, the average European or American has never heard of BYD. They still believe that China does nothing but copying and stealing European and American ideas - when in fact we only can wish that Europe and America is soon waking up to the reality of things. When driving a e-bike here in Stuttgart people ask me every day several times "what is this?" when e-bicycles are ubiquitous in China and nearly every Chinese immigrant drives them already in New York City.
Soon people around the world will realize that BYD, which is said to be standing for BUILD YOUR DREAMS, is going to be a success BEYOND YOUR IMAGINATION.
pdfs supporting this fiction/reality : articles from the New York Times:
a - daimler benz praising BYD, partnering up (fact)
c - BYD - A short history and why Warren Buffet couldn't even purchase as much as he wanted from BYD
b - wind power and Chinese companies - Why China is number one
d - rare earth and green technologies - why China is dominating in Green technologies and why they will increase domination. .
f - on electric bicycles I
g - on electric bicycles II
more references with Chinese language learning
-- "PLEASE, TEACH ME" the Politics of Learning, Columbia University Wallach Gallery, NY 2005
more specific Chinese Learning works:
-- BASIC CHINESE - _ an exhibition at ART COMMUN, Hong Kong,, 2005
-- Please, teach me Chinese - a show in Brussels at Elaine Levy projects, 2009
see also: I wanna be Chinese - video
see also: I WANNA BE CHINESE / DINGHI E-BICYCLES - video
see also: I hate Karl Marx - video
see also: BYD / Mercedenz Benz - video
see also: Teaching a Five Year Old a Chinese Song from the Great Cultural Revolution - video
some text on LEARNING AS MY ART WORK - TRAVELING LINGJUISTICS - text
see also: I wanna be Chinese - bronze sculptures
see also: www.Iwannabechinese.com
see also: www.Pleaseteachmechinese.com
see video