START_UP: Designers’ New Projects
Firing Cells – About Having a Moment
24 February – 28 March 2010
MAK, Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art

Historical relevance for new design

In Vienna living architect and designer Gregor Eichinger (born 1956) is the curator of the exhibition 'START_UP: Designers’ New Projects' about contemporary design with classics from the own collection of the MAK which was founded as art and crafts museum in 1863.

The exhibition's subtitle 'Firing Cells' references the neuronal storm in the cells of the brain. According to Eichinger, the neuronal storm is evoked by qualitative characteristics and consistencies of design. But the architect does not distinguish between the design disciplines; probably the neuronal storm that fires the cells by looking at fashion design is more intense than lovers of furniture or tableware experience.

Gregor Eichinger, who is known for creating minimalistic structured spaces in historical buildings like the Palmenhaus in Vienna - a Jugendstil palmhouse from 1901 which stands in the Viennese Hofburg palace garden, has selected for this exhibition design pieces with historical relevance and has searched for correlations between old and new design - even by the analysis of the production.

Part of the architect's selection are the erotic fashion accessories such as on this page from the collection 'Wiener Chic' (2003) which are made of porcelain in Augarten style (Augarten is an Austrian procelain manufacturer) by fashion designer Susanne Bisovsky in cooperation with Joseph Gerger. Bisovsky has already worked for Swarovski, Ogilvy&Mather, Sportalm / Kitzbühel, Kathleen Madden, Fa.Gössl / Salzburg, Helmut Lang, etc.

fig.: Bisovsky Schuhe: Joseph Gerger 2003 Porzellanshirt, Porzellanslip: Susanne Bisovsky 2003 © Foto: Wolfgang Zajc 2003.


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