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Bauhaus #allesistdesign - exhibition to 28.
February 2016 by Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein |
Release: Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein |
With
the major exhibition »The Bauhaus #itsalldesign« the Vitra Design Museum
presents a comprehensive overview of design at the Bauhaus for the first
time. The exhibition encompasses a multiplicity of rare, in some cases
neverbefore- seen exhibits from the fields of design, architecture, art,
film and photography. At the same time, it confronts the design of the
Bauhaus with current debates and tendencies in design and with the works
of contemporary designers, artists and architects.
In this way, »The Bauhaus #itsalldesign« reveals the surprising
present-day relevance of a legendary cultural institution. Bauhaus
artists and designers featured in the exhibition include Marianne
Brandt, Marcel Breuer, Lyonel Feininger, Walter Gropius, Wassily
Kandinsky and many more. Contemporary participants include the works of
Olaf Nicolai, Adrian Sauer, Enzo Mari, Lord Norman Foster, Opendesk,
Konstantin Grcic, Hella Jongerius, Alberto Meda and Jerszy Seymour.
The mission of the »Staatliches Bauhaus«, founded by Walter Gropius in
Weimar in 1919, was to educate a new type of designer. Students at the
Bauhaus were to acquire artisanal and artistic foundations as well as
knowledge of the human psyche, the process of perception, ergonomics and
technology – a profile that continues to define the occupation of the
designer to this day. Yet the concept of design at the Bauhaus also gave
designers a comprehensive creative mandate: they were not to merely
fabricate objects of daily use, but should take an active role in the
transformation of society. With this approach, the Bauhaus sketched out
an all-encompassing understanding of design, one that today finds itself
embraced with new vigour.
With such keywords as social design, open design or »design thinking«,
we now see renewed discussions of how designers can place their work in
a larger context and help shape society. Viewed from this present-day
perspective, the exhibition regards the Bauhaus as a complex,
multi-dimensional «laboratory of modernism» with close links to current
design tendencies.
The exhibition is divided into four thematic groups, beginning with a
look at the historical and social context of the Bauhaus. A second
section examines iconic but also lesser-known design objects from the
Bauhaus, as well as the history of their origins at the junction of art,
craft, technology and industry. A further area of the exhibition
investigates the theme of space and demonstrates how many different
designers were involved in formulating the understanding of design at
the Bauhaus – including stage artists, architects with their
deliberations on minimum dwellings and artists who developed colour
theories and spatial models. In this regard, the Bauhaus reveals itself
as likely to be the first artistic »total experiment« of the modernist
period, exploring the dissemination of design in all areas of life. The
last section considers the communication of the Bauhaus, from typography
and exhibitions to experimental film art and photography as well as the
– often systematically planned – creation of myths and clichés that
continue to surround the Bauhaus to the present day.
The current perspective on the Bauhaus is achieved by confronting
historical exhibits from the Bauhaus era with works by contemporary
designers throughout the exhibition. These include digitally produced
furniture by Minale Maeda and Front, Van Bo Le-Mentzel’s »Hartz IV
furniture« as well as manifestos by such designers as Hella Jongerius
and Opendesk, interviews with creative figures like Lord Norman Foster,
Enzo Mari, Sauerbruch Hutton and Boss Womenswear Artistic Director Jason
Wu, as well as homages to the Bauhaus by Mike Meiré, Studio Miro, Dokter
and Misses and other designers. These contemporary contributions
highlight the broad spectrum of influence that the Bauhaus continues to
exert – from automotive design at Mercedes-Benz to the furniture series
Pipe (2009) by Konstantin Grcic for Muji and Thonet, which was inspired
by Marcel Breuer. Among these current works featured in the show, a
special role is played by four projects commissioned especially for the
exhibition from the Leipzig-based artist Adrian Sauer, the concept
artist Olaf Nicolai as well as Joseph Grima and Philipp Oswalt, who are
both architects and authors.
The juxtaposition of historical and current exhibits yields a new, more
differentiated picture of design at the Bauhaus. It does away with the
cliché that so-called Bauhaus design was primarily minimalistic, cool
and geometric, showing the great interest of Bauhaus designers in social
interconnections, experiments and processes. With its open concept of
design, the Bauhaus has played a decisive role in the omnipresence of
design today. The exhibition reveals surprising parallels between many
current debates in design and those that played a central role at the
Bauhaus – such as the discussions about the possibilities of new
production methods and materials, as well as the role of the designer in
society or the advantages of interdisciplinary collaboration. This is
also reflected in the exhibition’s subtitle, which invites visitors and
readers to share their own views on this topic.
»The Bauhaus #itsalldesign« is accompanied by an over 400-page
publication, which contains an extensive illustrated catalogue section
as well as essays by renowned authors such as Arthur Rüegg and Patrick
Rössler along with a glossary of key concepts and terms relating to
design at the Bauhaus. The contemporary outlook on the Bauhaus is
further extended and elaborated through numerous short contributions by
renowned designers, artists and architects from all over the world –
including Lord Norman Foster, Tobias Rehberger, Arik Levy and Hella
Jongerius – whose ideas, projects and theses reflect the present-day
relevance of the Bauhaus.
»The Bauhaus #itsalldesign« is an exhibition of the Vitra Design Museum
and the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany
(Bundeskunsthalle). Following its debut at the Vitra Design Museum, the
exhibition will open at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn in spring 2016.
The curator of the exhibition is Jolanthe Kugler. Facts Curators:
Jolanthe Kugler Curator Linda Novotny Curatorial Assistant
Duration of exhibition: 26 September 2015 – 28 February 2016
Exhibition tour: Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, 25 March – 14 August 2016
Opening hours: Daily from 10am – 6pm Admission: 10.00 €, reduced price
8.00 €, children under 12 free of charge Public guided tours: Every
Saturday and Sunday and on public holidays at 11 am
Catalogue: The Bauhaus #itsalldesign Eds.: Mateo Kries, Jolanthe Kugler
Flexcover, 250 x 190 mm, 464 pages Approx. 500 illustrations, mostly
colour English edition, 978-3-945852-02-6
www.design-museum.de
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