As we alluded to in our post from Vienna based design studio chmara.rosinke's Passionswege 2013 project with Wäscheflott, we've not always been the biggest fans of the work of chmara.rosinke.
Or better put Ania Rosinke and Maciej Chmara a.k.a. chmara.rosinke have regularly produced projects which have, in one way or another, caused us to roll our eyes helplessly skywards.
On the other hand chmara.rosinke have also regularly impressed us. The aforementioned project with Wäscheflott being one excellent example, or their Vienna Design Week 2012 exhibition "Spaces tell stories", an exhibition which not only presented a wider impression of the studio's work than that which we had been exposed to until that point, but which also nicely explained and clarified how chmara.rosinke understand their responsibilities and obligations as designers.
And so it was with a little trepidation that we climbed the stairs to Sotheby's Vienna and the exhibition "Private Room"
The principle focus of the exhibition is two projects chmara.rosinke developed for the 2014 Prix Émile Hermès: "Moment for oneself" and "A space to think"
With an unmistakable Japanese modernist aesthetic "A space to think" is a day bed composed of simple pine blocks and rods complimented by a light mattress and three individually positionable textile screen. According to Ania Rosinke the idea with the screens is to allow one the feeling of being cocooned, protected; but for all a chance to withdraw and find time and space for yourself.
A theme continued in "Moment for oneself". At first glance nothing more complicated than a simple wooden backpack "Moment for oneself" unpacks to reveal everything one needs for a day out fishing. And we mean everything. Aside from fishing line, a stool, cooking facilities and utensils, "Moment for oneself" also includes salt, pepper, fish cleaning tools and the one thing everyone always forgets on such a trip: matches. Essentially a concept piece, for us "Moment for oneself" takes the pair's previous "Wanderstab" project and develops it by giving it a specific focus: the freedom, peace and regeneration that can arise from a days solitary fishing.
And while "Moment for oneself" may appear to be a further chmara.rosinke project to be lazy placed in the "nomad" drawer, that would be foolhardy. Yes its a rucksack, yes its mobile, but as the name suggests it's about taking time out from our modern performance orientated society and rediscovering the important things in life. And they, as we recently noted, are always but always analogue. Mobile Gastfreundschaft didn't do anything that different. But everyone was far to busy betting excited about urban nomadicity and trying to create an unnecessary, unhelpful and, technically impossible, tr**d to understand. Or care.
In addition "Private Room" features a collection of vases especially developed for the exhibition. Inspired by the marble fireplace in Sotheby's exhibition room the vases mix concrete and marble with a range of industrial materials to create a family of abstract vases which, despite their accessible form and pleasing proportions, challenge conventional interpretations of beauty, and which for us mark a new direction of the chmara.rosinke oeuvre. A view supported by the crockery and cutlery the pair are developing for a Michelin star chef whose name we forget to note - sorry! - and which similarly is aesthetically more challenging than accessible. Or at least the set on display is. For the commission chmara.rosinke will produce a series of crockery and cutlery sets, each situation specific and so, we assume, each radically different.
And by way of an added bonus visitors to Private Room also get a further chance to see the vanity stand and chandelier chmara.rosinke created in context of the Wäscheflott project.
chmara.rosinke's previous exhibition "Spaces tell stories" included sketches by the pair and "Private Room" also includes drawings, although this time of a much more abstract variety that the clearly defined cartoons and observations from 2012.
The studio's work however continues to be defined by the same clarity, the same concentration on sustainability, same reminder of individual responsibility in our global culture and for all the same passion for and interest in high-quality work that seeks to challenge, inspire and educate.
And so it was somewhat relived that we climbed back down Sotheby's stairs and out into the Vienna sunlight.
