Over the course of the twenty-first century, the definitions of art and design have been on ever-shifting ground, continually morphing with an increasing number of cross-pollinations between the once exclusive areas.
This in turn has led to the emergence of clunky, albeit apposite terms, such as d esign-art and a rtist-designer coming into circulation to help frame occurrences of such straddling creative practices.
It could be argued that the exquisitely engineered minimal objects by twentieth century sculptors, such as Donald Judd, set this yo-yo effect in motion, but whatever the case may be, there are more and more designers producing small batches or one-off, highly-crafted and often conceptual pieces.
The works on show at Seeds Gallery flit to and fro across the invisible boundaries of the two disciplines with a lightness of touch that is at once both alluring and beguiling. The gallery is creating a very solid reputation for bringing together works of this kind.
However, there are further shared distinguishing characteristics to all of the works on show, and this is born out of a fascination with materials and making processes. Every piece has an attention to detail that derives from the specific characteristics of the materials used.
For Odd Matter that comes in the form of cork and resin terrazzo objects, for Silo Studio it’s delicate blown glass vessels that bare the texture of the textile formers they were created in.
It’s a point that is underlined by a number of collaborations between maker and material supplier, with Alpi veneers featuring on the top surfaces of Francois Dumas’ incredible aluminium structures that quite literally frame and support much of the work on show in the exhibition (hence it’s name, Support Surfaces).
Casone stone has been supplied to a number of the studios involved, including Duccio Maria Gambi, Oeuffice and Giovanni de Francesco with varied and compelling outcomes, whilst the thermoformable properties of LG Hi-Macs has been utilised by OS Δ O OS to create the seemingly homogenous Arc stool, and by Sabine Marcelis for her Filter Lights.
It’s perhaps a relationship that serves both participant – the maker (or artist-designer) has exceptional material with which to make daring new work, whilst the material supplier receives creative insight into the potential for innovation with their own materials.
For more information on the exhibition visit the gallery's website . You can catch Seeds in Milan this week too (we’ll be sure to!)
Some of the exhibitors: Francois Dumas; Jochen Holz, Olivier van Herpt, Daphna Laurens, Studio Furthermore, Oeuffice, Giovanni de Francesco, De Allegri & Fogale, David Derksen, Studio Berg, Apparatus, Odd Matter and Sabine Marcelis.
