U.F.O.: Blurring the boundaries between art and design

23 May - 5 July 2009
NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft, Düsseldorf


Have high quality designers today produce an object of utility and address our senses at the same time?

The NRW-Forum in Düsseldorf questions the differences or similarities of contemporary design-art by presenting works by designers/artists like Ron Arad, Hussein Chalayan, Liam Gillick, Marc Newson, Franz West, to name a few, from 23 May until 5 July. On the occasion of the exhibition the NRW-Forum has opened a blog for the public discussion of the theme: Where does design end and art begin?

fig. detail: Ronan und Erwan Bouroullec, Rocs, 2007. Description below.

Design, art, or design-art?
Is contemporary design much more than functional and has the ability to emotionalize? Or in other words: have high quality designers today produce an object of utility and address our senses at the same time? How can the development be explained that the requirements for design objects have changed? Is it because design becomes in a similar fashion unique as art is if it communicates 'content'?

The blog about design/art
Do you think that ‘...there is no longer a clear border between product design and art,’ according to the Spanish designer Jaime Hayon? On the NRW-Forum blog you can find statements by designers, museum directors, design-specialists... opening the discussion about the theme.

The exhibition presents works by artists like the Austrian Franz West who investigates the changing functions of sculpture and in so doing dissolve the borders between art and design, between ‘free’ and ‘applied’ creation, by allowing hybrids from other areas to develop.
Designers like Ron Arad or Marc Newson are working with the sculptural qualities of design. They are distancing themselves from a conditionality of design - namely its function and the inherent possibility of reproducing something any number of times - and are creating unique items or small editions.

Join the discussion on www.nrw-forum.de.

fig.: Ronan und Erwan Bouroullec, Rocs, 2007. Prototyp. Karton und Leinen 150 x 310 x 50 cm. Courtesy Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein. Foto: Hans-Jörg Walter. www.bouroullec.com

These walls are made for deconstructing the space such as work- or sleeping-spaces. The design idea behind comes from 'software': the system allows you to elaborate your taste infinitely by building your own architecture! A special software allows controlling the formative processes. Such as the earth’s surface is in constantly change, the ' rocks' simulate the appearance of earth plates, ripples, caves.

The designers have developed a numerically controlled architecture that makes it easy for the user to create different 'rocks'. By using a computerised programme, the rock can be customized in one file which transports the data to the numerically controlled cutter.

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