Museum Manager 2010, the precursor of Museum Manager 2011

It will have been in 1995 that I managed to get my hands on my first copy of Championship Manager 2. CM2 was a computer game in which you could be manager of any of the big (and small) teams in the English, Spanish and Italian football competitions. The first edition appeared in 1992, and by the time its name was changed to Football Manager (FM) in 2005, the game had grown to become the ultimate sport management game, with football competitions and associated players from every continent.

You begin the game by creating a profile and selecting a team from one of the world’s many football leagues. Let us, for example, take FC Barcelona, the most successful team in 2009, with such famous players as Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. When you make up your profile, you are asked to do more than just fill in your name and age. You also make a choice about how you join the team as a manager: as a former worldclass player (a Rijkaard type), a successful manager (a Van Gaal type), or as an unknown rookie with no experience at all (a Van ’t Zelfde type). Let us begin as an unknown trainer: Juha van ’t Zelfde, 30 years old, half Dutch, half Finnish.

The next step is that you are welcomed to the team by Chairman Joan Laporta, Johan Cruijff’s famous friend. On behalf of the Board, Laporta expresses their faith in your appointment and their expectation that you will make their team the champions. With the likes of Messi, Henry and Ibrahimovic in your selection, this of course has to be possible, but should you need a little extra support, you have a transfer budget of €15 million at your disposal. Barcelona has a stadium that seats 98,000 spectators, world-class training facilities, state-of-the-art training for young players and a total budget of €664 million. You also have a staff, including an assistant-manager, coaches, youth coaches, physios and scouts. In short, everything is just as it is in real life, and you feel responsible for the future of the team.

What makes the experience of playing FM so exceptional is the dizzying array of statistics and data that come your way. Players have more than 30 different characteristics, divided into technical, mental and physical qualities that are valued by a number from 1 to 20. The lightweight World Footballer of the Year, Lionel Messi, for example, scores 20 for flair and technique, but only 9 for strength and 10 for aggressiveness. The managers, trainers and scouts also have statistics to chart their qualities. All of these figures fluctuate. They can go up or down, depending on how you deal with the players, how you employ your staff, the shape you give to the training, which tactics you use in the games, whether you win the games, how you respond to the press and how the public responds to you. If you improve, the players improve, and vice versa. The result of all this is that you really get the feeling that you are leading the team, that your choices are deciding factors in the club’s success.

After this, football is never the same again. The first time you go watch a real football game, you see it all through the eyes of an FM manager. Worse, you want the real managers to play FM as well, so that they too can make their clubs better.
When I recently played Football Manager 2010, it occurred to me how wonderful it would be to translate this to the museum world, so that you could become manager of the Tate Modern, or to bring it closer to home, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Alexander Ribbink would welcome you, express his faith in you and entrust the collection, the museum building and the staff to you. At the same time, he would make a budget available that you could use as you see fit. Suddenly, you would have to choose between purchasing a new work by Olafur Eliasson, appointing a new head of marketing, or developing the museum’s strategy in the field of Internet and new media. That new work of Eliasson’s is expensive, but it would bring in new visitors and generate a lot of international attention. A new head of marketing could mean an in-depth investment for the organization and make all of the museum’s departments more transparent. The online strategy would make the museum more approachable and accessible, but it would consume a great deal of time and require considerable external (and expensive) expertise.

Just as in FM, Museum Manager – which is of course what this game would be called – would let you begin with a smaller organisation and work your way up to the higher ‘divisions’. In the footsteps of Willem Sandberg, you could make the Stedelijk a unique museum with an exceptional collection that is squarely in the middle of society and actively seek collaborations with other disciplines. This would have consequences for relationships with the city, sponsors and other partners. If you are a success, New York’s MoMA will ask you to become manager of their museum, just as happens in the football world. Suddenly, you are in charge of an immense collection and astronomical budgets and have an international network of experts at your fingertips. But you are expected to produce results. Can you handle the pressure?

I cannot wait to play Museum Manager. Then, the first time I go back to visit a museum, I will observe it through the eyes of an MM manager. Moreover, I will want real museum managers to play MM, so they too can improve their museums.

Juha van ’t Zelfde is half Finnish, half DJ and half co-founder of Non-fiction, VURB and Viral Radio.
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This article has been published in Dutch art magazine Metropolis M. It was translated from Dutch by Mari Shields. Follow Metropolis M on Twitter.

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Already after the first time I give up writing a weekly update. I admit, I’m not disciplined enough. I will now rename it “randomly timed update of current affairs.” See, much better.

What happened this time? Apart from discovering that it is possible to garden on a balcony on the 4th floor, and by doing so becoming a Foursquare mayor of my local garden supply store, I have spent most of my time on finishing my proposal for this year’s North Sea Jazz Festival. Although I have a background mostly in beat driven electronic music, playing jungle, dubstep and other asymmetric electronic music as DJ at festivals and club nights, in the years of working for Kadir Selçuk and Huub van Riel in Lantaren/Venster and the Bimhuis since 2005, I have developed an interest in electroacoustic improvised music. Early concerts I did were with Jacob Kirkegaard, Christian Fennesz, Philip Jeck and BJ Nilsen, who are all part of the unsurpassed London music label Touch. Later on I collaborated with Yuri Boselie on inviting abstract beat  producers like Flying Lotus and Hudson Mohawke to the Bimhuis on the Beat Dimensions nights. And in between I worked with Alog, Stephen O’Malley and Icarus.

These experiences have led to the invitation by the North Sea Jazz Festival, to programme two stages: one with beat-driven music (Yukon), and one with electroacoustic improvisation (Volga). It’s a great honour to bring my favourite musicians to my old hometown, and I find it incredibly encouraging that such a big and respected festival is open to new developments, and reserves an important part of its line up to these cutting-edge musics. We are in the midst of booking the musicians, and hopefully within a few weeks we can present an allstar line up of stellar artists. The Yukon stage on Friday 9 July will present a new generation of beat makers, the Volga on Sunday 11 July multiple generations of electronically aided improvisors.

As for the garden, it looks stunning. I just hope the grass and bamboo will survive the heavy winds. At least there’s a Moomin looking after them.

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We had quite a crazy weekend to start with. Michiel hosted the Future Of Classical Music marathon in The Hague on Friday and Saturday. Here he invited numerous interesting musicians, journalists and artistic directors, to discuss the future of their profession; premiered our first documentary, on Rem Koolhaas, Casa da Musica and the relationship between architecture and music; and interviewed Ellen van Loon, partner of Rem Koolhaas at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture.

My weekend was’t a quiet one either. First, on Friday, the Glasgow edition of Viral Radio. Some of my favourite musicians came to Amsterdam for this musical city exhibition. In the ever-changing world of electronic music, cities have always had strong identities. From the Vienna school of Schönberg, Webern and Berg, to the Detroit movement of Underground Resistance, Carl Craig and Derric May. The idea to organise events around cities was inspired by our hero Willem Sandberg, who created exhibitions at the Stedelijk in this way. Simple and clear. Glasgow is one of those cities that is currently carving out its own space in sound, with such stellar talents as Hudson Mohawke,Rustie and American Men. For this evening, Warp-prodigy Rustie was joined by Irishman Mike Slott (he lived in Glasgow with the LuckyMe family and helped define this scene) and the now fairly but soon to be no longer unkown producer Loops Haunt. It was a lovely night full of scifi wooshes and brain-tingling bleeps, although one would wish more people could have enjoyed it – the competition with the 5 Days Off Festival proved to be too stiff for a sold out event.

On Saturday I teamed up with Michiel in The Hague for the second part of the marathon at the Haagse Muziek Driedaagse. I particularly enjoyed the contribution of our young friend Shane Burmania, who as a student of music programming, employee of the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ and kaleidoscopic music listener, aired a buoyancy and optimism about the next steps of the concert halls. His idea of Concert Night, where venues would collaborate with each other and programmes would change places, was welcomed by the director of the Dr. Anton Philipszaal Saskia Kriekhaus. Museumnacht director Radna Rumping added that the sector should try to open up its language and references more, if it wants to engage with a broader audience that might not be in the know of the linear history of classical music. I agree with her emphatically: we can introduce so many new listeners to the concert halls via smart and personal connections. The Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead) and London Sinfonietta collaboration is still a great example of this approach (it got me hooked on Ligeti for one), and the underlying principle of a social network as Last FM another. (Thanks Florian for helping out with the festival!)

After the Hague, I rushed to Zwolle for another Viral Radio event with Rustie, Loops Haunt and my musical partner Yuri. I really love playing outside of Amsterdam. Don’t get me wrong, Amsterdam is lovely. But the thing about doing these kind of shows outside of the Randstad is the contagious energy of an audience that hears a certain music for the first time. This has happened in Nijmegen with Nosaj Thing and the Gaslamp Killer, with just Yuri and myself in Eindhoven, and now again with this group of musicians in Zwolle. A great night, organised by a sweet group of people connected to the Fakkelbrigade scene.

My tea has gone now, but I still have to tell you about North Sea Jazz, The Great Dictators, Leve de Leegstand, Museum Manager 2011, and some thoughts on e-culture, social networking, ecosystems and value chains of arts, urbanode, Visible Cities, and our new t-shirts. This new rhythm is getting out of control, sorry about that. If you managed to read to here you are in need of some rest, and a stiff gin and tonic. So I will continue when you are either rested, or drunk.

Have a good weekend.

Juha

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On this month’s edition Viral Radio presents two artists it has been following for years and years: Dimlite and Jamie Vex’d. Swiss born Dimlite (Dimitri Grimm, 1980) is a master of mosaic textures and imaginative drum patterns. He is one of the most admired artists of his generation and a distinguished performer. His concerts at the Bimhuis in 2008 and 2009 rank among the best given there in the past few years. Englishman Jamie Vex’d (Jamie Teasdale, 1979) has gained critical acclaim as experimental dubstep duo Vex’d. They released the album Degenerate on Planet Mu in 2005, a prescient example of forward thinking bass music. Jamie has released solo works that are closer related to the video game and science fiction cartoons aesthetic of Hudson Mohawke and Rustie. He has created the new avatar Kuedo, that will release its first tracks within weeks.It is one of the most anticipated releases of the year.

The evening starts at 22:30, and tickets are 12 euros. As always, Viral Radio hosts Juha and Cinnaman will play their music straight out of the package. We look forward to welcoming you there.

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Viral Radio on Nalden.net

Friday 8 January 2010 will be the first Viral Radio of the new decade. In the new year, the Amsterdam vehicle for well tempered drum machines will investigate the musical identities of 6 cities that are part of the viral networks of experimental bass and beat music creation and distribution.

Theses cities are: 1. Amsterdam (January); 2. Glasgow (March); 3. Bristol (May); 4. London (August); 5. Sydney (October); 6. Los Angeles (December).

On the Amsterdam Edition local wonderboys of bleep hop Zwart Licht will perform live, with the support of their producers FS Green and Sir OJ. Viral Radio veteran Aardvarck – DNA testing should one day prove the theory he is the father of the Gaslamp Killer – will join hosts Juha & Cinnaman to cover the spectrum of bleeps and bass in Amsterdam.

Viral Radio will continue to do regular events in the months in between, and radio shows every two weeks on VPRO’s 3voor12, bringing the next level in computated acoustic stimulants.

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Doug Aitken's Sleepwalker was projected on the exterior walls of the MoMA

This Saturday the 10th annual museumnacht (museum night) will be organised in our hometown Amsterdam. Non-fiction will take part with a special marathon on museums and the city, in their basecamp De Verdieping. A wide group of institutions, designers and thinkers will join us at the table to discuss how pervasive urban museums are, and how the city can become a interactive museosphere.

The programme starts at 7 pm and goes on to 12, after which Viral Radio will take over with wall-surpassing bass and rhythm collections compiled by Juha & Cinnaman with Mamiko Motto. Outside, the facade of the building will be used as an urban screen for the duration of the museumnacht by students of MediaLAB Amsterdam. Inside, artists Amie Dicke and Sarah van Sonsbeeck will host the workshop ‘Build your own mobile museum’.

Tickets are available through n8.nl, make sure you get them soon: the previous 7 editions sold out before the start.

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Programme:

19 – 00 Interview Marathon >> with Michiel van Iersel and Juha van ‘t Zelfde
We will navigate through the night together with our guests, visitors, Hyvers and Twitterati, to try to articulate the future of museums in the city.

19 – 20 MyMuseum >> Blikopeners, Zichtbaar Afwezig and Urban Screens
Students of the Rietveld, Sandberg, UvA and HvA will talk about appropriating, editing and remixing the museum.

20 – 21 Museums And The City >> Stedelijk Museum
Curators Bart Rutten, Leontine Coelewij and Marten Jongema will look back at Stedelijk in de Stad and will look ahead towards a new Stedelijk Museum.

21 – 2 The Mobile Museum >> De Appel, Platform21/Supermaker, NIMk, Mediamatic
Representatives of various art institutions in Amsterdam will talk about their transient adventures in pop-up structures and mobile pavillions.

22 – 23 The Digital City >> VURB, The Mobile City, Nationaal Historisch Museum, Habbekrats
Now things will get unphysical, with VURB and The Mobile City talking about urban informatics and the city as an interaction platform. The Nationaal Historisch Museum will talk about being a distributed museum, and design firm Habbekrats will elaborate on how cities are embedded in (music) videos on YouTube.

23 – 00 Museum = City >> everybody everywhere
How will the museums in the future inhabit the city? How can it go beyond its walls? What is a museum without a building? How can visitors become users and producers of a museum? Can a city be a museum? These questions will be addressed in the round-up discussion with all logged in.

00 – 05 Viral Radio x Beat Dimensions >> Juha & Cinnaman and Mamiko Motto.
Rhythmculture, bass experimentation and computer improvisation to ground the night after such abstraction. With Amsterdam’s digital duo Juha & Cinnaman, and the one-woman social music revolution Mamiko Motto.

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Mark Pritchard, aka Harmonic 313

According to Time Out Amsterdam, Viral Radio is ‘the most cutting-edge event in Amsterdam, hands down.’ The electronic music vehicle of Non-fiction’s Juha van ‘t Zelfde, in close harmony with DJ/producer/Beat Dimensions architect Cinnaman (Yuri Boselie), has been gathering momentum in 2009. The nights have featured lords of the underground Kode9 & the Spaceape, Flying Lotus and Joker, and many more in their slipstream.

The coming month, the carrier of freight train bass weight will present another stellar compendium of contemporary studio explorations:

02 October >> Harmonic 313 and Juha & Cinnaman
21 October >> Knalpot, Gaslamp Killer, Clark, Bibio, Martyn, Aardvarck, Pete Concrete and Juha & Cinnaman
06 November >> Hudson Mohawke, Lorn, Ras G and Juha & Cinnaman

We would like to thank the artists for their participation, TrouwAmsterdam for the inspiring collaboration, and you – the visitor and listener – for your support. We hope to see you tonight.

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Update: a new episode of Viral Radio on VPRO 3voor12 will be recorded today, with special guest Harmonic 313.

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The August edition of CDR was picked up by Time Out Amsterdam

Create, bounce, and burn. This is the vernacular of a new generation of beat makers around the world. They use software with swanky names as Logic, Reason or Live to contribute to the ever growing architecture of rhythmculture. Forming scenes in Glasgow, Los Angeles, London, Amsterdam, and in many other outskirts, they are the dark metabolism of nightlife and music culture of today. With social networks reaching semantic cruising altitudes, the exchange rate of music is getting more spectacular by the day. Virally communicating and freely sharing through Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, iChat and (even) MySpace, a faceless herd of avatars and monikers roam the digital present in search of a beat.

With CDR, Viral Radio and Beat Dimensions have joined London’s Burntprogress in creating a common ground for these producers to present their music. CDR, which takes place in De Verdieping in the ‘Berlinesque’ Wibaustraat in Amsterdam, acts as a hub and social hive for musicians, music professionals and the general public to exchange new beats. The process is basic: people bring their music on a CDR, hand it in to the DJs of the night, who will play them over the weighty club soundsystem. Each artist name and track title will be projected on the wall. The night will be opened by interviews with the visiting artists from the following Viral Radio night upstairs at TrouwAmsterdam. Entrance for musicians with a CDR is free; 5 euros is charged for other visitors. As a bonus everyone can stay for Viral Radio later on.

The third edition of CDR is about to start tonight at 8.30 PM at De Verdieping. We look forward to seeing you there.

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Air strike one. Tony on the alley.

UK clubnight CDR takes its successful innovative format overseas with the premiere of a new bi-monthly session at De Verdieping in the basement of TrouwAmsterdam. Joining CDR’s Tony Nwachukwu and Gavin Alexander will be local Dutch deejays and producers Cinnaman (Beat Dimensions/Viral Radio) and Juha (Viral Radio/Beat Dimensions), plus special guest Hudson Mohawke (LuckyMe/Warp) bringing his distinct head-moving electronics.

CDR’s open session invites music producers to bring their tracks along on CD, giving those in attendance the opportunity to hear works-in-progress. In addition the night will begin with a conversation with Hudson Mohawke and Cinnaman about their beat-making ways, plus tales from Tony and Gavin about CDR and the burntprogress story so far. Taking over the booth to close the occasion Beat Dimensions and Red Bull Music Academy alumni Hudson Mohawke and Cinnaman join forces showcasing their crowd-pleasing record selecting skills.

Building on CDR London and Midlands residencies (plus past nights in Paris, Berlin and Sydney!) these new Amsterdam sessions will begin a burntprogress partnership between the UK and Netherlands, with local musical artists crossing the North Sea to check out their neighbours. With free entry for all, get set to savour a taste of underground sounds like no other: crossing genres, changing tempos and inspiring all.

Furthermore, Hepcat Radio host Mamiko Motto will present the Friday artists of the Viral Radio Festival from 8-10 PM at Rooms of Redbull. She will play the best tracks of the CDR night, and host exclusive sets by the guests of the festival. The line up of the Viral Radio Festival consists of Daedelus, Hudson Mohawke, Icarus, Furt, Bullion, the Blessings, Cinnaman and Juha.

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Pierre Bastien, Somewhere in the Dark (photo courtesy of the artist)

After the success of Viral Radio and the Brainfeeder attack last Friday, there are two other musicians we would like to present to you tonight at De Verdieping, two of the kindest people of electronic music: Daedelus and Pierre Bastien. The former hails from Santa Monica, played bassoon and clarinet before solitarily enjoying rave music at a young age, and participating in the development of a remarkable music device, the Monome. The latter is a French composer, multi-instrumentalist and literature Phd from Rotterdam, idolised by Squarepusher, Aphex Twin and Icarus, who constructs his own landscapes of automated music machines, forming an orchestra of kinetic instruments.

Bastien will premier new work, while Daedelus will perform with, and talk about the Monome in a sitdown with Juha. This event takes place in De Verdieping, the underground basement of Trouw Amsterdam. Doors open at 8.30 PM, and admission is a mere 8 euros. Cinnaman and Juha will play surrounding music. Here are the links for Last FM and Facebook.

We hope to see you there.

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