Rooted Design for Routed Living. Alternative Design Strategies.
Exhibition is open until
31 October 2010.
Laboratorium Building
Centre For Contemporary Art.
(CCA) Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw
www.design-in-residence.org
www.csw.art.pl/air
Designers: Maja Ganszyniec, Amy Hunting, Paweł Jasiewicz, Ola Mirecka, Oscar Narud, Trond Nicholas Perry, Tomek Rygalik, StokkeAustad (Jonas Ravlo Stokke & Øystein Austad), Jakub Szczęsny
Curators: Marianna Dobkowska, Ula Siemion, Ika Sienkiewicz-Nowacka
Exhibition Design: Markus Degerman
Admission: free of charge
The exhibition at the Laboratorium Building is the first public presentation of the objects created by 10 young designers from Poland and Norway, which are a part of the project “Rooted Design for Routed Living. Alternative Design Strategies”. The presented objects were created in the course of a two-year process for two artist residence centres: a-i-r laboratory in Warsaw and NKD in Dale, Norway. Both institutions run artist-in-residence programs, however in different conditions. NKD is based in a village on the west coast of Norway, whereas a-i-r functions in the centre of a European metropolis. Artists live and work in both, and it is with them in mind, that the design group has created objects, that, based on a analysis of the two countries’ material culture, are meant to respond, in a universal albeit tradition-rooted fashion, to the resident artists’ needs.
During the project, the designers visited both institutions, becoming their residents for some time in order to experience their specificity “on their own skin.” Today’s artists travel a lot between exhibitions, projects and commissioned jobs. Over the last decade, the model of artists travelling between residences has also become popular. The life of the contemporary artist, always on the move, is characterised by a lack of roots. The fact that both institutions run similar residence projects in different conditions became a common platform for the Exchange of ideas. Both places became a source of inspiration, knowledge and experience for young designers taking into account the possible and impossible ways in which interior spaces can significantly refer to their immediate, local environment. The project allowed both Polish and Norwegian designers to conduct research in the other country.
Is the production of durable objects rooted in specific realities and traditions possible in the contemporary world? Do the present-day living and economy models allow for the conscious creation of designs, that will stand the test of time? Can the objects surrounding us age, like people, but without ceasing to fulfil their intended functions? How is it possible to defend the presence of long-lived, durable objects on the market? Is global design at odds with, that which is rooted in specific cultural realities? Is an alternative approach possible in design and production? These are only some of the questions, that the project’s participants try to answer by travelling and studying the culture of the two countries. The exhibition presents objects created in response to the above questions. After the exhibition the objects will find a place in residence spaces, serving the resident artists’ needs.
More on the Rooted Design for Routed Living project at:
www.design-in-residence.org and www.csw.art.pl/air
For further information please contact: air [at] csw.art.pl
Supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.