In the Mix

The Buzz! —10-8-2021

Design Miami

Design Miami’s biweekly, can't-miss roundup of design world news and inspiration

Welcome to The Buzz, a biweekly roundup of design world news and inspiration for Design Miami’s discerning community of creatives and collectors. Enjoy!

 

Ettore Sottsass: The Magical Object at Centre Pompidou

Grand Altare by Ettore Sottsass (1969) in red ceramic. For Sottsass, ceramics were associatedwith the primordial gesture linking man to the cosmos.Thestacked ceramic disks resemble tumuli, shamanic totems or primitive architectures. Photo © Adagp, Paris 2021 /Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Documentation service photographic of MNAM/ Dist. RMN-GP

Next week, the Centre Pompidou opens a major show dedicated to iconic Italian designer and Memphis founder Ettore Sottsass. The Magical Object will feature over 400 important historical works across design, paintings, and drawings, as well as hundreds of photographs and other original documents from the archives. The presentation will also include the partial reconstruction of a 1969 exhibition at the National Museum in Stockholm spotlighting Sottsass's ceramics and his approach to “Magical Design.” Cumulatively, the exhibition reinforces the idea that throughout his prolific career, Sottsass championed an emotional relationship to objects, perceiving design as a path to weave new connections between humans and their environment. The show runs through 3 Jan 2022 in Paris.

 

“I have always thought that design begins where rational processes end and magic begins.” —Ettore Sottsass

 

Sean Gerstley: Tile Block at Superhouse Vitrine

Console Table by Sean Gerstley, 2021. Made of glazed ceramic and epoxy resin. Photo © Superhouse and Sean Gerstley

Today, Superhouse—the New York-based nomadic gallery and digital platform launched in 2019 by Stephen Markos—debuts its latest iteration: Superhouse Vitrine, a new, glass-walled, 10 x 10-foot exhibition space in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Superhouse Vitrine kicks things off with Tile Block, a solo show featuring new work by Philadelphia-based ceramic artist and designer Sean Gerstley. With Tile Block, the RISD grad explores how ceramics might be integrated into living spaces at a larger scale, beyond the medium’s traditional use in decorative objects and tableware. Tile Block is Gerstley’s first solo show and his second time exhibiting with Superhouse. The exhibition runs through November 14th.

 

Gaetano Pesce: No More Silent Objects at Salon 94

Gaetano Pesce's No More Silent Objects show at Salon 94 in at New York. Photos © Sean Davidson; courtesy of Salon 94 Design

There are just a few weeks left to explore the standout Gaetano Pesce exhibition No More Silent Objects at Salon 94 Design’s new space in Manhattan. If you’re in town and have not yet been—go, and enjoy the legendary, octogenarian designer’s spirited resin works in all their glory, at once playful, irreverent, celebratory, and masterful. Open through October 30th.

 

“Long gone is the time of mute objects and decorative architecture. Today they should express the places where they are built on, the identity, culture, geography, and should no longer transport ‘the same’ to different locations.”
“Today objects are no longer minimalist and thoughtless, they are works that express the diversity of the world and its different values. Perhaps we are facing a great revolution where even contemporary art will have to deal with the urgent need for the ‘unique’ and the different.” —Gaetano Pesce

 

Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven

Objects for a New Kind of Society campaign. Photos © Anke Sondi; courtesy of Dutch Invertuals

Dutch Design Week launches October 16th in Eindhoven. The fair’s future-facing content is always intriguing, and this year promises plenty of inspiration. We’re eager to see the latest Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Show, as well as new works by Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk and Studio Nienke Hoogvliet + Tim Jongerius. We’re especially curious about Dutch Invertuals’ exhibition, Objects for a New Kind of Society. The experimental collective has partnered with The Future Laboratory this year on a presentation of works exploring how design can foster more equitable future cities.

 

“We need to rethink our relationship with objects and our role as designers within our society.” —Wendy Plomp, Design Director of Dutch Invertuals

 

The Roaring Twenties at Museum Kranenburgh

Promotional Posters for The Roaring Twenties beside a detail on a new rug by Studio Wieki Somers. Photos courtesy of Studio Wieki Somers

Next week, Museum Kranenburgh in Bergen launches The Roaring Twenties, an exhibition exploring parallel themes between the 1920s and 2020s in design, art, and fashion. The former went down in history as the Roaring Twenties, animated by a euphoric drive for change and growth. This new show asks: What will the artists and designers of this decade be remembered for?

Three curators have been tapped to collaborate on the project: Studio Wieki Somers for design, Colin Huizing for art, and Liesbeth in t’Hout for fashion. The show’s design focus features works by several historic and contemporary greats paired in conversation, including pieces by Alvar Aalto, Anni Albers, Formafantasma, Eileen Gray, Julia Lohmann, Nendo, and Isamu Noguchi. Somers has also created a collection of five rugs, inspired by Bauhaus textiles of the 1920s, from which to present her curatorial themes. On view through April 2022.

 

“We don’t know exactly what the future will hold, but we can recognize patterns and speculate about the future. We know that turbulent times are fertile ground for thinking, and that is a powerful creative source.” —Wieki Somers

 

Lake Como Design Festival

Ridotto del Teatro Sociale, one of the settings for Lake Como Design Week. Photo © Lake Como Design Festival | Gemmazione by Cristina Celestino. Photo © Mattia Balsamini; courtesy of Lake Como Design Festival

On view now through the 10th: The third annual Lake Como Design Festival also explores links between past and present through a series of presentations set in gorgeous locations throughout the city center. Topics range from re-editions and contemporary works inspired by the past century to this year’s title exhibition: History Repeating: How Designers Look at History, curated by Marco Sammicheli. The latter includes historical works by the likes of Andrea Branzi, Le Corbusier, Angelo Mangiarotti, Gino Sarfatti, and Gianni Versace, as well as contemporary pieces by designers like Patricia Urquiola and Cristina Celestino, among others. 

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