Thirteen students are participating in Konstfack's exhibition Design for a Liquid Society in Milan. During International Design Week in April, these new talents will get an opportunity to display their work. The world of design turns its attention to Milan.
For the seventh consecutive year, Konstfack is attending International Design Week in Milan. This year's exhibition is the largest so far, with 13 participating students. The exhibition will take place in the prestigious Rossana Orlandi gallery in central Milan.
The theme of the exhibition is drawn from sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, who coined the phrase liquid modernity - which means that individuals are more and more involved in planning their lives and careers through short-term projects and episodes.
Ivar Björkman, the president of Konstfack, thinks that design for a liquid society is design for a global culture. He says:
- This year’s exhibition reveals student works that act both like navigators and commentators in a liquid society. Some of the works respond to the basic needs of this type of society. Other works are more about exploring the dreams that we have - which our global society has been giving us. Design for a liquid society is design for a global culture in which the objects become transformative vehicles for us to navigate in.
More information and press images: www.konstfack.se/milano
Participating students:
• Charlotte Ackemar (MA, InSpace - Interior Architecture & Furniture Design): Allure
The lamp Allure is the result of a course which examined the heart of a company’s philosophy and transformed it into a new product. The well-known establishment Svenskt Tenn was Ackemar’s assignment. It inspired her to use a glass sphere as a tool to look at the world — one is invited on a journey between reality and an upside-down, magical universe.
• Åsa Agerstam (MA, InSpace - Interior Architecture & Furniture Design): San Francisco
San Francisco is a set of stools inspired by the drink of the same name as well as the 1980s style of living. The stools are visually strong and playful, creating a great accent piece which suits both home and public spaces.
• Andreas Farkas (MA, InSpace - Interior Architecture & Furniture Design): Dexter
A stylish and robust multifunctional stool which brings to mind both nostalgia and the standard quality design found in personal and public spaces of Sweden. The Dexter is created in collaboration with the Swedish company Lammhults.
• Sofie Fischer (BA, Textile): Eclecticism and Electricity
In her exclusive textile cushion collection Sofie Fischer started with comprehensive research on her sources of inspiration and the cultural perspectives on pattern, tactility and expression. The result has become a new hybrid — a “post-modernistic inspired mess”.
• Lisa Högberg (BA, Interior Architecture & Furniture Design): Variety
A humorous chair family which depicts individual needs based on a variety of body sizes. The aesthetic, simple shape offers a multifunctional object which can be used as a side table or display surface.
• Anita Johannessen (MA, InSpace - Interior Architecture & Furniture Design): Fold
Fold is an acoustic panel system. Origami-like, sound absolving materials accented with aluminum edges are able to flip around individually to create an endless pattern.
• Sara Persson (BA, Interior Architecture & Furniture Design): Armadillo Stool
Sara Persson has investigated the material’s tactility and expressive transformation. The result borders on the fine line between design and art, yet this ambiguity interests Sara who purposefully shaped the stool as an “armadillo”— a metaphor of transformation and camouflage.
• Nic Ross (MA, InSpace - Interior Architecture & Furniture Design): Confession
There is an issue with finding small intimate areas which take you away from the noise of open spaces. To resolve this, designers have started creating furniture which creates micro environments. Confession is a furniture archetype for a quick meeting or a quiet place to read the paper. This prototype of Confession is made by the Swedish company Blåstation.
• Oscar Sintring (BA, Interior Architecture & Furniture Design): Warp
The shelf and hanger system Warp respects the logic and patience associated with handcrafted processes. Through fascination with the beauty of weaving tools and warps, Oscar Sintring has created an endless construction system made with simple mechanisms of wood and yarn.
• Alexander Tallén (BA, Ceramics & Glass): Tellus Vehiculum
A pile of miniature ceramic vehicles questions the current socio-political situation of mass production. Alexander Tallén uses colorful, yet traditional glazes giving a handmade quality to hundreds of non-functional ceramic vehicles and his use of decoration represents a nostalgic encounter with complex issues.
• Tove Thambert (Alumni, MA, Formgiving Intelligence – Industrial Design): Objects in disguise
A series of objects inspired by camouflage. While elucidating questions about functionality and gender, these designs exemplify the perfect union of both concept and high-quality craftsmanship.
The dumbbells Light & Heavy are available in three different weights and produced by Skeppshult, Scandinavia’s last foundry located in Sweden.
• Ploypan Theerachai (MA, InSpace - Interior Architecture & Furniture Design): CONST
The main idea behind the desk lamp CONST are three basic components; base, body and shade. Keeping in mind these elements and their role, Ploypan Theerachai playfully combines expression with function.
• Saran Yen Panya (Alumni, MA, Storytelling - Graphic Design & Illustration)
Early Morning Life
An animated film told through the eyes of a middle class son about his parents' poor childhood. The film is a critique on modern Thai society where the gap between the rich and the poor is extremely vast.
Cheap Ass Elites
Chairs that sarcastically illustrate and question what society's indoctrination is really built on. The chairs are comprised of "low" common household plastic objects, the lower part is a simplified version of stereotypical "upper" class chairs made out of wood.
MA = Master
BA = Bachelor
Design for a Liquid Society, April 17-22, 2012
Spazio Rossana Orlandi, www.rossanaorlandi.com
Address: Via Matteo Bandello 14, 201 23 MILAN, Italy
Opening hours: 9:00 – 20:00
Curator: Ikko Yokoyama
Graphic design: Maryam Fanni (BA, Graphic Design & Illustration) & Rikard Heberling (MA Storytelling - Graphic Design & Illustration).
Pictures from the exhibition at Rossana Orlandi's
Photo: Ivar Johansson