by Julie D. Andrews
It hangs from the ceiling like a black spider robot. The Dear Ingo chandelier, designed by Ron Gilad, comprises no fewer than 16 task lamps, each placed at the tip of a bendable metal leg that expands and contracts.
Look up again and check out the shiny floral bursts sprouting overhead. The Cherry Blossom Canopy, designed by David Wiseman, uses porcelain and plaster to push ceiling murals beyond classic, flat pastoral paintings to contemporary, three-dimensional outcroppings.
And, you couldn’t miss the Electroland-designed panel of light that runs along the stairwell to the second floor. It sounds like R2-D2, emitting ultra-modern digital beeps and beams of light, as a person moves past.
See these and more of the innovative designs developed in the past three years at Design Life Now, the National Design Triennial Exhibition that opened on December 8 at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum at Two East 91st Street. The show highlights the cutting-edge works of 87 designers and spreads across three floors of exhibition space.
“This is our biggest Triennial ever,” says Ellen Lupton, curator of contemporary design at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. “The Triennial is always great fun, but this show is especially rich, given its scale as well as the people and projects on view.”
It’s a look at how designers – with one eye on creation, one eye on function — improve the way in which we interact with the world around us. View the center of American culture from 2003 to 2006 as shown through unveilings in the fields of animation, architecture, new media, fashion, products, robotics, and graphic design.
Design, as seen here, affects everything we do – from easier-to-read prescription-bottle labels that facilitate the way patients understand and take their medications to virtual snowscapes that reduce the pain felt by severe burn-wound victims.
The themes presented in the show emerged when four curators got together to discuss what had transpired in the world – in terms of design and the media – over the past three years. Through these talks, topics evolved that later formed the exhibition themes: Design and community (how design builds social networks and connects people); Design and nature (how design emulates and is inspired by life); Design as transformation (how materials are used in design to make new objects that shape or enhance function).
“There is no other museum in the country that represents such an overview of design from the last few years,” says Matilda McQuaid, deputy curatorial director at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, “A timeframe that is both long and short enough to see change. And, this exhibition encompasses areas that many people may not think of in terms of design.”
This Triennial differs from the last in that it is outward-looking. The previous Triennial, “Inside Design Now,” reflected the inward turn of design and society that occurred after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
“The current exhibit studies how design connects people through public spaces, blogging, publishing, do-it-yourself design movements, and more” says Lupton.
Get up-to-speed with the latest design experiments and developments at The Triennial Exhibition: Design Life Now which runs now through July 29, 2007.
Tip: There are a set of free audio interviews available on the Cooper-Hewitt Web site. Download one or a few to your iPod ahead of time and listen to the podcast(s) while you tour the Triennial Exhibition.
Upcoming Public Program Tied to the Triennial Exhibit:
January 11: Tech on Your Terms—Indie Publishing - The first of the Triennial workshop series celebrates the spirit of do-it-yourself creativity. When: Thursday 6:30pm ... How Much: $50 (students and seniors $40).
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