On Wednesday October 22nd the exhibition "Martino Gamper - design is a state of mind" opens at the Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin.
Curated by London based, Italian born designer Martino Gamper, design is a state of mind premièred at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery London over the summer of 2014 and is in effect two exhibitions in one.
In the first Martino Gamper presents a series of shelving systems dating from the 1930s to the 21st century; a collection of shelving systems that not only present a concise history of furniture design but also make clear that no one "design" is better than any other, and that ultimately all "designs" compliment each other and augment design as a cultural force. Individual preferences for one era or genre arising from subjective, personal choices rather than an objective understanding.
A position underlined by the second exhibition in which an invited selection of Martino Gamper's colleagues and friends make use of the shelving systems to present collections of objects which mean something personal to them.
And so, for example, publisher Simon Prosser uses Dieter Rams' 606 Universal Shelving System to display a collection of second-hand books he has purchased during his lunch hour, British artist Richard Wentworth presents a collection of tools in an IKEA Ivar, while photographer Jason Evans juxtapositions an international collection of wooden spoons with the powder coated steel grace of a USM Haller unit. Thus the installation seeks to explain that those things which mean the most to us aren't necessarily the most expensive or most outlandish. They're the things with which we have a relationship and with which we concern ourself on a regular basis and which inspire us.
As such Martino Gamper - design is a state of mind can clearly be understood as a further member of the current "spate" of design exhibitions devoted to collecting, a spate that includes, amongst others Okolo Offline Two – Collecting at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden and Source Material which premièred at Milan 2014 and will soon be re-appearing at the Vitra Design Museum Gallery.
And which we opined was too easy, too unfocussed and seemed more impressed with the "celebrities" who had donated objects rather than the significance of the objects themselves.
Design is a state of mind avoids such by showcasing collections rather than individual objects, thus presenting a self-contained narrative which needs no explanation or further intonation; rather than an object which is supposed to represent the "source" of something. And which may be. Or not.
Martino Gamper - design is a state of mind opens at the Pinacoteca Agnelli, via Nizza 230/103, 10126 Torino on Wednesday October 22nd and runs until Sunday February 22nd.
Full details can be found at http://pinacoteca-agnelli.it
