Parallel to the exhibition MAD ABOUT LIVING – 24 Designers from Brussels, Cologne is hosting an exhibition which nicely highlights one of the major differences between Belgian designers and their Dutch colleagues in terms of designing furniture and other domestic products
Whereas Belgian designers simply produce furniture, Dutch designers produce concepts.
OK we're generalising, and to be fair we do know a lot, a few, some, Dutch designers who produce perfectly "normal" furniture. But for the majority of the Dutch designers we know there invariably exists a concept and/or a philosophy behind their furniture.
A state of affairs that is beautifully illustrated in the exhibition Domestic Affairs - New Voices in Dutch Design.
Organised by Bureau Europa, Dutch Design Exchange, and the design practice Institute of Relevant Studies, Domestic Affairs - New Voices in Dutch Design features 57 works by Dutch designers through which the organisers aim to present an exploration of the current state of the design profession, the design process and ultimately the designer, as exemplified by designing for interiors and domestic situations, or to quote the organisers the exhibition "explores the house as an interface to our social, economic, and political lives"
While you will find pieces of furniture in the exhibition, you will have to look quite hard.
Much more you will find objects which explore not only the future of domesticity but also the future meaning and role of domesticity; objects such as My Knitted Boyfriend by Noortje de Keijzer, the Wind Knitting Factory by Merel Karhof or Studio Makkink & Bey's Vacuum Cleaner Chair from 2004.
Objects which tackle questions such as, what role will technology play in the future? 3D printing? How will data be used to help or hinder? Will a house be a home or a hub? A permanent base or a temporary refuge in an ongoing journey? How much individuality will the future offer? How much privacy? What is valuable? What is important?
You will also find an awful lot of Eindhoven Design Academy Graduation projects, including numerous from this year. That's not a criticism: that they are not marked as such is a criticism, as we feel it is important visitors know if one particular institute can be seen as "leading" any of the developments on show. If we as lays are to be able to make informed decisions about our future we need accurate information and need to know how the networks behind the information streams function.
Divided into four sections exploring Opacity - Transparency, Self Producer - Hoarder, Adapt with us and Global Dataist, Domestic Affairs is a remarkably accessible exhibition given the nature of the subject material and the diversity of the objects on show.
Consequently Domestic Affairs is an excellent place to begin understanding not only how our domestic lives - and by extrapolation our professional, economic and social lives - may and will change, but also to understand how much responsibility each and everyone of us should, must, take for the creation of our collective future.
Most of us won't, but as with the future discussed in Matter of Life. Growing new Bio Art & Design at MU Gallery Eindhoven, no one can say they weren't warned.
Domestic Affairs - New Voices in Dutch Design runs at Kunsthaus Rhenania, Bayenstrasse 28, 50678 Cologne until Sunday January 25th
