Anti-Design?

In response to the admittedly commercial London Design Festival, Neville Brody (of Research Studios and RCA) started the Anti Design Festival. The brochure describes the programme "in constant flux, as projects become more defined, or less, as the time approaches."

I love the idea of unfinished, ever-evolving work. I also love his challenge to the corporate world of design, which I agree in many cases is far too safe and repetitive. However, I'm not completely convinced (as I gathered many weren't) with his vision of anti design. Set up in a warehouse-like space on Redchurch, three rooms exhibited a variety of work by anonymous 'artists'. The 30 creations in 30 days piece was fantastic (best creation: chair consisting of beach balls in a net), as was the wall of manifestos. We really do need to bring the manifesto back..

But other aspects were so typically anti- the 'man' that I couldn't help role my eyes. For example, in one room installed like a bourgeois salon with its walls covered in works, I asked the gallery attendant for the name of one of the artists who's work I really admired. His response was "Oh, well, the point is to remain anonymous. You know, it's not about selling the work, so like, we didn't put names up." To which I replied, "But what if I like the work and want to see more of it?" So he ran off to his boss, got a list of names of exhibitors, and kindly gave me the chap's name. And then I rolled my eyes.

Love the idea of a shake up and wish I had had time to visit an evening programme (themes included "Painting on Music" and "Obsessive Classification Disorder"). Maybe next year!

ps: I would normally give credit to the works pictured above, but in the spirit of the ADF, I'll keep it anonymous.

Matilda

Matilda is a new company that imports Australian design to the UK. I regret not taking photos at the launch party, because the gallery was packed and the guests spilled onto Redchurch Street. Here is a look at the gallery before the madness:

Villajoiosa, Spain

Viaduct: Northern Lights

Curated by Gitta Gschwendnter in Viaduct's new exhibition space in Clerkenwell.

Coolest. Toilets. Ever.

A friend somehow became acquainted with the director of Belgrade Design Week and was invited to their party last week at Sketch on Conduit Street. The party was fun as far as cocktail parties go, but the real highlight were the toilets! That might sound funny, but if you don't believe me go see for yourself! I'm obsessed and will be frequenting those toilets whenever I'm in the Oxford Circus area.

V&A Install

This is Innovation Greenhouse, curated by Pete Collard and Katarzyna Jezowska in the Tunnel entrance of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Although I left once plastic sheet was up, the boys stayed all night to get the installation ready for the morning. The greenhouse tied in with an exhibition in the Sackler Centre next door on the innovative use of plant based material in design.





I must admit, my favourite part of the night was sneaking off with my staff badge to wander the halls of the great museum alone. As much as I encourage public museums, they really are so much better without tourists!

More Venice

Allow me to describe my perfect afternoon in Venice...

London Design Festival

Oh la la where to begin... 9 days of madness took over London last week! There were new exhibitions to see every day, from Tent London to the Tramshed, and endless parties to attend every night. Free champagne at ever turn (thanks to the handy sponsorship of Veuve Clicquot) and a few celeb sittings for design nerds such as myself. Here are some highlights!



This is Paul Cocksedge's 'Drop,' a magnetic coin-like sculpture that appears to have fallen from the sky onto the Southbank Centre. Everyone was invited to stick their coins to the piece, and many started to create fun designs and sayings.



Audi set up a mechanical octopus of sorts. The futuristic-looking robots could write out in the air messages that the public wrote in. Unfortunately the messages could only be viewed at night, but the robots themselves were a sight to behold.



The Photographer's Gallery set up a table with scraps of magazines and photographs and invited passersby to help create a large collage to be hung in the gallery after the Festival. As you can tell, I'm quite interested in public projects rather than private viewings..



So speaking of private viewings, The Tramshed hosted a press preview for the 'premier destination' of the festival and I somehow got in.. Featuring 25 design brands including Benchmark, Decode, and Autoban, the newly renovated, well, shed, in Hoxton was indeed a great exhibition despite the sense of exclusivity it exuded.



Tent London, set up in Brick Lane's Truman Brewery, was completely overwhelming. I could create a whole blog for it, but instead I would recommend you visit their website. The vuvuzela lamp pictured above is an example of the many witty design ideas I came across.

The LDF was a real treat to be a part of.. More specific posts will follow.

Peggy

A brief on Peggy Guggenheim:
You may know her uncle as the founder of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, however Peggy was also a driving force in the avant-garde movement. After moving to Paris in 1920, she became bff with the likes of Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp. She began to collect and then exhibit little-known artists like Wassily Kandinsky. Following her divorce from the artist Max Ernst, she moved to Venice where she took up a palazzo on the Grand Canal, now the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. She is now buried in the sculpture garden, along with her dogs.

Bits of Venice