May 29, 2009

Birgit Bidder (SE)

Photo by Martin Norberg taken in Gothenburg during Birgit Bidder’s stay at Creators Inn

In november 2008 Birgit Bidder persuaded a relative to take the loan she needed to record her debut album The Life Home. This spring she has started her own indielabel Kerstin Records and the clothing brand B Bidder.

Birgit Bidder stayed at Creators Inn by Elvine recently and we took the chance to ask her some questions about her experience.

Tell us about your stay at Creators Inn by Elvine at LAT. What did you think about it?
It was inspiring! It surprised me that something as nice as this actually exists! I liked every bit of it, from rain-in-glass-art to the very small and nice little cabinlike room I stayed in. Maybe I could have asked for just one more thing – cats! Then perfect.

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May 24, 2009

Help us design the ultimate FREE room for creators!

Photos above courtesy of The Internet

This is your chance to make a difference. We are about to design a new room and need your help in order to improve Creators Inn by Elvine and our services. So we humbly ask if you are willing to give us your thoughts regarding the subjects below:

1. What are the most important needs of a traveling creator? How do they differ from “regular” guests?
2. What would your ultimate room for creators look like? What kind functions, products and services would be provided for the visiting creators?

Start dreaming and help us out by sharing your thoughts, links and ideas with us. Great ideas will be rewarded. Choose one or several ways to interact with us.

FEEDBACK FORUM. We have set up a feedback forum where you can submit ideas and also vote on other peoples ideas.
COMMENTS. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments field below.
FACEBOOK. We have created a Facebook group where you can discuss this and also upload pictures, videos and links.
EMAIL. Or simply send us a mail.

Thanks in advance!

May 17, 2009

A piece of art in the mail

Previous guest Mako Ishizuka (JPN) sent us a regular mail containing a piece of art the other day. We love getting regular mails, and we love art, so this came as a happy surprise.

The piece consist of a sticker and instructions how to put it on a window in order to create the artwork. Mako tells us it’s a personal piece that celebrates the quotidian rather than criticizing the social experience in Sweden. The text below is not an official presentation, but it describes the background of the piece and the inspiration she found during breakfast the day before staying at Creators Inn by Elvine.

Rainbow after my breakfast
2009, photo installation (sticker on window), size variable

[background of the photo itself]
I love having elaborated and slow breakfast; I hate eating meal by myself, especially in a public space.

I ate healthy and colourful breakfast that day. Since I had no company to have conversation with, I needed to reinforce myself to think something between the bites so that I do not finish my breakfast in 10 minutes.

While I refill my glass of orange juice at the buffet area, I passed some empty tables with many leftovers standing in a chaotic manner. Not so nice to look at.

When I finished my breakfast, I looked at my table. I had a couple of peels/skins from fruits left on the plate. Ruby grapefruit, orange, honey melon and galia melon. All cut in slices. Suddenly I could see a small rainbow (with their colours and arches) very close. I took photo of my leftovers with my mobile phone, and shared it with friends by sending MMS. I usually take photo of food before eating and it was first time after eating.

You will find some more pictures after the jump.

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May 15, 2009

Creators Inn on Swedish TV4

A story about the capsule version of Creators Inn by Elvine at LAT was aired on Swedish TV4 the other day. It’s in Swedish but includes an interview in english with previous guest Kevin Doyle (US). For a limited time you can watch it online.

May 10, 2009

The world’s first hotel-in-hotel. Free of charge.

Creators Inn is yet again breaking new ground. This time by opening the world’s first hotel-in-hotel, offering free short-term accommodation for visiting creators. Partnering with the Scandic Malmen Hotel we are also proud to offer the first Creators Inn outside of Gothenburg. This time in the Royal Capital of Sweden, Stockholm.

About the Scandic Malmen hotel
In the heart of Södermalm, where Götgatan meets Medborgarplatsen, stands the Scandic Malmen Hotel. This is the hotel for those who want to be within easy reach of culture, shopping and the buzz of the city. The hotel puts you within walking distance of some of Stockholm’s best live venues – Mosebacke, Södra Teatern and Debaser. The district of SoFo has masses of trendy boutiques offering everything from Swedish fashion and design to vintage stores and stylish home furnishings.

The hotel now has a new restaurant plus the bars Stora Baren and Lilla Hotellbaren, with its stage for live music, making Scandic Malmen an excellent choice for modern guests looking to stay in Stockholm. Wireless Internet access is free, in your room and in the public areas. The organic breakfast buffet is always included – simply put, the perfect choice for any creator.

The Hotel-in-hotel concept
We are happy to present the first hotel-in-hotel in the world. The hotel-in-hotel concept is similar to the shop-in-shop concept in the retail business. One of the rooms at the Scandic Malmen hotel will be re-designed and transformed into Creators Inn by Elvine, a special room optimized for visiting creators and available free of charge.

Limited time only – register today!
The Creators Inn by Elvine at the Scandic Malmen hotel in Stockholm will be open under a limited time only, between August 1 and September 13. People who are interested in free accommodation in Stockholm during this period are welcome to register to stay straight away. Foreign guests and creators from Gothenburg are prioritized.

April 21, 2009

Kevin Doyle (US)

Kevin Doyle filming in Göteborg. Photo by actor Nora Lorek.

Out latest guest Kevin Doyle (New York) was in town to shoot and direct music videos for a couple of local artists. One for the band Pinto and another one for a side project of Tobias Isaksson from Irene. You can view some of Kevin’s previous video work on his Vimeo page.

When he doesn’t direct music videos, he writes plays and sometimes directs them, usually for the Brooklyn-based theatre company Sponsored by Nobody. Other times when he is directing film, other people direct his plays. The difference usually depends on the tides, wind direction and the migration patterns of wild sockeye salmon.

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April 6, 2009

Creators Inn – The capsule version

We are proud to present the capsule hotel version of Creators Inn by Elvine together with creative collective LAT, located at Lindholmen in Gothenburg. When interviewing LAT we realized we had a lot in common in our quest to house visiting creators, so we decided to team up.

The capsule version of Creators Inn by Elvine differs from our previous rooms in some ways. There is only room for one person (or two if you have a very intimate relationship) in the private sleeping quarter, and the toilet and shower is shared with the other guests. On the other hand you get access to a common work space, kitchen, dining area, a music studio, and a work shop in the basement. Besides that you get the usual Creators Inn benefits such as clean sheets, bathrobe, slippers, free wifi and consumables.

We decided to try out the Creators Inn concept in a collective environment since many of our previous guests have listed “meeting other creators” as more important than “luxurious interior” while giving us feedback. Still, we wanted to keep the right to privacy and a high service level.

Please find out more about the creative collective LAT here, or email us if you have any questions or wish to stay in the room.

April 2, 2009

What’s been keeping us busy in March

It’s been a while since we updated this homepage, and we are sorry for that. Everyone who has a homepage of their own knows how easy that can happen. Most of the times you are simply too busy doing other, seemingly more important stuff, and that’s just what happened to us.

In march we have been busy doing radio interviews, giving several presentations about Creators Inn, answering questions for journalists, trend spotters and researchers, but most importantly, we’ve been working on securing the continuation of the Creators Inn project. So far we have partnered with LAT to offer Creators Inn – The capsule version in Gothenburg this spring, and will also open a hotel-in-hotel version of Creators Inn in Stockholm after the summer.

It’s only springtime for Creators Inn, so feel free to email us and keep us busy!

February 16, 2009

LAT – an alternative free alternative

LAT offers a free guest room & work space for visiting creators in Gothenburg. Based on the results of their full scale architectural and social experiments within the Project 1:1 (PDF / Swedish), creative collective LAT has built their own version of a joint work/living space at Lindholmen in Gothenburg. The space contains 4 small sleeping quarters, a big collective workspace, kitchen & dining area, a music studio and an equipped work shop in the basement. Lots of more pics, info, a comparison to Creators Inn by Elvine and contact information after the jump.

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February 14, 2009

Explaining Creators Inn by Elvine (in Swedish)

Here is a short movie we made to explain Creators Inn by Elvine for some ad people in Stockholm. It’s in Swedish, but we hope to get the time to translate it to english soon.