T Magazine: A Complete Guide to This Year’s London Design Festival
The Brits are in a reflective mood, and not just because of the Scottish referendum on independence. A series of installations created for the London Design Festival, which begins Saturday, aim to provoke onlookers to reexamine their surroundings.
View the original article here
The first, by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby (perhaps best known for their 2012 Olympic torch design), is “Double Space for BMW – Precision & Poetry in Motion.” Set in the mammoth Raphael Gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the 30-foot-wide contraption will consist of two gigantic, polished aluminum fins suspended and spun above visitors’ heads: “Imagine a chicken on a spit,” Barber jokes. The work will reflect the serene, cathedral-like architecture, the milling crowds and the huge 16th-century paintings the space is known for. The movements will be constantly adjusted via computer so that they sometimes run at parallel speeds, sometimes stand still and sometimes run in opposite directions. “You’ll have no idea whatsoever how the movement is going to change or what’s going to happen next,” says Osgerby. “At times, it will feel like the actual building is moving, rather than the object, because your mind will play tricks on you. The expanse of the mirrors will be so wide that you’ll forget you’re not looking at the building.”
Nearby, in the museum’s John Madejski Garden, the architect Zaha Hadid is installing “Crest,” an arch-like structure of pre-pressed aluminum assembled flat and bent into shape on site. The swooping creation will straddle and reflect the courtyard’s oval pool. And in the museum’s British Galleries, the London-based designer Michael Anastassiades is partnering with the Italian lighting company Flos, a longtime collaborator, on Ama, an iridescent lighting sculpture inspired by traditional Japanese female divers.
The V&A also hosts “The Wish List,” an exhibition sponsored by the American Hardwood Export Council. Ten legendary designers, including Norman Foster and Paul Smith, each asked their favorite emerging talents to create an object they’ve always longed for but could never find — out of American hardwoods, naturally. And for the Airbnb-sponsored installation “A Place Called Home” in Trafalgar Square, designers such as Jasper Morrison and Ilse Crawford will create idiosyncratic interiors that communicate their personal ideas of home.
Elsewhere, the LDF remains a hive of gallery shows, trade fairs and showcases of emerging and conceptual talent. At this year’s Designjunction exhibition, the Milanese design district Ventura Lambrate will inhabit its own floor of London exhibitors. At Tent London, the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland will exhibit Weathering, a show of handmade, rugged yet delicate objects by the country’s native talents. Not to be outdone, the U.K.’s Crafts Council hosts “Crafting Narrative: Storytelling Through Objects and Making,” a collection of works by artist-designers such as El Ultimo Grito and Hilda Hellstrom.
The recently opened Ace Hotel in Shoreditch hosts Extra-Ordinary Gallery, an exhibition by the Italian research workshop Fabrica. Installations in the hotel curated by new magazine Modern Design Review, under the banner of Super Stimuli, will feature work by Martino Gamper and Bethan Laura Wood.
The design galleries will be busy: Libby Sellers will exhibit works by Peter Marigold from his Wooden Table series; David Gill will present chandeliers by legends like Hadid, the Campana brothers and Gaetano Pesce; Fumi will show hand-blown lights from Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert, who is also showing specially commissioned pieces at the V&A. At the storied antique dealer Mallett, the lighting brand Bocci has installed a three-story-high chandelier made from globular mirrored-glass pendants.
There’s also shopping to be done, of course. The Dutch brand Hay and its younger sister brand Wrong for Hay will create two initiatives to open wallets, includingDesign and Dine, a series of dinners prepared by the Helsinki-based chef Antto Melasniemi featuring Hay’s ultra-contemporary products. Those who can’t secure a reservation can visit the Hay Mini Market at the department store Selfridges, which is selling the products. Finally, the gallery Twentytwentyone will be hosting “At Home With the Days,” a selling exhibition and online auction of the personal collections of the influential 20th-century British design duo Robin and Lucienne Day, with proceeds benefitting the late couple’s trust to establish a digital archive.
The London Design Festival runs September 13-21, londondesignfestival.com.
View the original article here
No comments :
Post a Comment