This exhibition presented an overview of ten leading Dutch designers, curated by Aad Krol and Saskia Copper (Stichting Vivid Vormgeving), as a follow-up to their much-discussed international showcase of Dutch Design at the Milk Gallery in New York.
One aspect of the international Dutch Design show was remarkable: all the designers shown lived or worked in Rotterdam. And almost everyone knows an object by one of them. The Treetrunk Bench by Jurgen Bey, the No sign of design furniture by Richard Hutten, the Bone Chair by Joris Laarman and the furniture by Atelier van Lieshout – they are all 'Made in Rotterdam' and have become iconic for Dutch Design.
The Light Shade Shade from Jurgen Bey is a baroque chandelier wrapped in a shade of semi-transparent mirrored foil, which only becomes visible when the light is switched on. Bey: 'by doing ordinary things just a little differently, you make them special'. This is how a series of cabinets came into being, which can be transformed into something else after a few interventions. The starting point is always an antique table for which a suitable chest of cheap pinewood is made. The table can be transported or stored in this chest; if you take the table out and place it on top of the chest, a new possibility arises, a workplace, a place to sleep.
Judith de Graauw, Joep Verhoeven and Jeroen Verhoeven have been working together since 2004 under the name ThemakersofTheir 'impossible' table Cinderella is included in the collections of MoMA, New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. For the production they used a high-tech cutting machine with which they assembled the table from 57 layers of birch plywood. Demakersvan consider themselves storytellers with a link to the past. And yet their products are innovative, such as the ceramic tableware whose parts are connected by a chain. Ready to use, but first the chain has to be broken!
Simon Heijdens' best-known product is Tree, a projection of an eight-meter-high tree that moves with the current wind data and is influenced by passers-by. Fascinated by nature and the fact that we spend most of the day in an artificial environment, Simon Heijdens investigated how to bring nature back into our daily lives. One of the projects that resulted from this is Reed, a light installation that works on wind sensors and moves with every breath of wind.
Joris Laarman shows with his rococo radiator Heatwave that decoration and functionality go well together. After meeting a German professor who researched the principles of bone growth, Laarman developed his Bone Chair. By imitating the smartest growth principle in nature, a chair was created that handles material and weight more efficiently than most modern, geometrically shaped furniture.
"Designs," says Richard Hutten, 'is a thought process that works best in places where I cannot be disturbed, preferably on my bike or in my car.' This is how the stackable chair with a wooden shell came into being. A concept for which the stackable Butterfly Chair by Arne Jacobson is still the benchmark. After much technical research, Hutten developed a chair with a complex but elegant shape, without any straight lines and so light that it is on the edge of what is possible with the material.
Hella Jongerius immediately attracted international attention in 1993 with her graduation project, a collection of soft vases. At the invitation of Ikea, she designed Jonsberg, a series of four vases that are sold worldwide. 'As a designer, I want to explore new paths. To do that, you have to immerse yourself in the customers.' This also applies to the assignments from the German porcelain factory Nymphenburg, a company that has existed for 250 years. 'I chose existing designs from the company archives and added my own signature, so that they still became contemporary pieces.'
Shady Lace from Chris Kabel is a parasol that casts shadows from branches and leaves on a sunny day, giving the user the impression of sitting under a tree. 'My products must have a logical minimalism and radiate that the way they are made is the only way.'
Bertjan Pot says about his work: 'Almost all my designs originate from experiments with materials. I also like to fantasize about production processes. I like to hold up a mirror to the industry: you can do this already, but turn it around. Or I come up with something for which no machine exists yet.' Such as for Random Light, a spherical pendant lamp that consists of wires randomly wound around a mold. Due to the high demand, a machine was developed to make the lamp.
The most famous product of Studio Wieki Somers is Bathboat, a bath in the shape of an inside-out rowing boat. Wieki Somers creates works that you want to cherish and that stimulate the imagination. This also applies to her design High Tea Pot, a porcelain pig skull with a rat fur hat. In all products, the interaction between function, content and a great love for the material is paramount.
The Board Room by Atelier van Lieshout
TENT added the new installation Board Room by Atelier Van Lieshout to the exhibition. It is the boardroom of the multi-year project SlaveCity, an experiment in social and ecological autarky. This business and administrative centre makes the activities of the board clear. The richly decorated tableware shows the activities that belong to the various departments and services of SlaveCity, a personal place setting for each of the twenty directors, such as those of the departments Selection, Security, Organ Transplantation, Slaughterhouse, Recycling, the department Art and Culture, etc. Models of the Welcoming Center, the Gas Circuit, the Generator, the Female Brothel and a map of the Call Center, should remove any possible doubt about the nature of this future city.
(This text is an adaptation of the text by Arjen Ribbens in the publication Dutch Design Port, Milk Gallery New York, May 2007.)
Thanks to:
The World of the White de With
Vivid Design