The design world is a funny one. Each year the international community descends on Milan for the annual furniture festival of Salone del Mobile to unleash, seek out and celebrate the latest innovations and talent. There are a few collaborations here and there, sure, but often it is the success of the individual that is the toast of the town. While the spirit is a happy one, the competitive element is never far off.
Choosing to focus on the friendships behind the hullabaloo are curators Tulga Beyerle and Maria Cristina Didero, who have invited seven designers to visually demonstrate their bonds through projects created especially for 'Friends + Design', at the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) at Pillnitz Palace, Dresden.
‘"Friends [+ Design"] challenges the ultra competitive system of the design world today; it is an honest, anti-sceptical exhibition that shows how another world is possible,’ says Didero defiantly. ‘It is an antidote to the cynicism of commerce, making friendship a creative engine just for the pleasure of working together.’
The seven designers chosen by Didero and Beyerle were grouped off, friends at heart but had crucially never collaborated before. 'We have invited a combination of friends – three groups of people we know are close to each other – to work together on three different commissions,' explain the co-curators. Having to reconcile quite different approaches to work and design, the idea was that this type of collaboration, rather than feeling like a committed work endeavour, would be more akin to a game.
Thus, Dutch designer Richard Hutten, Berlin-born Jerszy Seymour and British industrial designer Michael Young were asked: What would an installation or a collection of pieces look like if it was designed by the three of you together? Says Beyerle, ‘This has originated a piece made with three brains and six hands; the "Together" collection.’
Philippe Malouin and Bethan Laura Wood – both Wallpaper* Power Listers – were asked what would a design would look like if they were in each other's heads. ‘This was a big challenge because they have two totally different languages of expression,’ explains Didero. The result is a rather intimate and special piece: designer beds, titled ‘I’m here for you’.
Last but not least, Swarovski’s 2015 Designer of the Future Tomás Alonso and German-born Mathias Hahn were asked: What would a design look like if it was conceived to be a gift for your friend? ‘We were very touched by their choice, which is the gift of time; they decided to spend time together, which seems the best gift ever in the hectic world we live in today,’ says Didero. For ‘The Tailor-made Gift’, the duo have bought a Mini Cooper, which they will drive from London to Dresden, stopping off at interesting workshops and companies along the way.
In a time of uncertainty and 'cynical consumerism', as Didero puts it, it is refreshing – dare we say encouraging? – to see something being done simply for the pleasure of it.
Richard Hutten, Jerszy Seymour and Michael Young have teamed up to produce a table together – ’one piece made with three brains and six hands’, explains Didero. Tomás Alonso and Mathias Hahn’s project is ongoing, as they travel to Desden together in a Mini Cooper.
Wallpaper* Power Listers Philippe Malouin and Bethan Laura Wood were asked to design something for each other, as if they were in each other’s heads. They chose to create bedrooms for one another. Pictured: Malouin’s room, designed for Wood.
Tomás Alonso and Mathias Hahn documented their journey from the UK to Dresden, stopping along the way to discover special places and companies.
Wood and Malouin completed their bedroom settings by borrowing various pieces from the Museum’s collections.
The one extra decorative element that isn’t taken from the museum is a small black and white figure, standing on the nightstand next to the bed Wood made for Malouin, which symbolises the designer herself.
Although not a product, the exhibition is far from conceptual and features keepsakes from their trip.
Background: co-curators Tulga Beyerle and Maria Cristina Didero. Foreground, from left: Tomás Alonso, Mathias Hahn, Michael Young, Jerszy Seymour, Richard Hutten, Bethan Laura Wood and Philippe Malouin.
INFORMATION
’Friends + Design’ is on view until 1 November. For more information, visit the Museum of Decorative Arts, Dresden’s website
ADDRESS
Museum of Decorative Arts
Schloss Pillnitz
Wasserpalais August-Böckstiegel-Straße 2
Dresden
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