The role that designers played in this economy was not just to create the wireframe templates but to coach people in how to express themselves through objects. Essentially, the designer became a kind of teacher, helping people create artefacts that “personified” them. In some ways this digital agora was the technical manifestation of what Guy Debord termed the “spectacle”. When Debord said that “everything that was directly lived has moved away into representation,” he accurately predicted the virtual design economy. There was one key difference, however. This was no longer an economy of brands – except in as much as people were brands. And people were, exemplified by the way in which they hired design consultants to advise on their “image interfaces”, customising their social media pages for the user experience that was pure you. Where previously the most common way of defining your individuality was to exercise choice when consuming branded goods and media, now the most creative members of society could actively shape it. A few contemporary commentators rashly chose to interpret this creative economy as a new utopia. Certainly the rules of consumer exchange had changed. In the 20th century corporations had deployed design to consolidate their power over the consumer in a mass market. But in the second decade of the 21st century that global market fractured into millions of personal ones. The virtual images that consumers created were no longer feeding the annual turnovers of corporations directly, in the way that products had once done. The corporations were after deeper code – after the systems that governed experience and exchange. Apple and Google chose not to control the wire-frame models but the clouds within which people traded them, within which people advertised their perfect ideas of themselves. Apple and Google – alpha and omega – owned the very digital territory, the network of all information. Amazingly, people didn’t seem to mind. As we know, it would take another decade – and another revolution – to come to terms with just how insidious and pernicious that control had become. Justin McGuirk is a design critic of the Guardian newspaper, and was formally the editor of Icon, the international architecture and design magazine.
Dutch Design Week in het Van Abbemuseum 20.10.2012 – 28.10.2012 Het Van Abbemuseum presenteert tijdens de Dutch Design Week twee kunstenaars: Piero Gilardi (Turijn 1942), en David Maljkovic (Zagreb, 1973). Kunst? Design? – Publiek gesprek met Annie Fletcher en Armand Mevis (van Mevis & Van Deursen vormgevers, Amsterdam). Za 27/10, 14:00
Dutch Design Week in the Van Abbemuseum 20.10.2012 – 28.10.2012
Vestito sassi – Dansperformance met Gilardi jurken. Zo 28/10, 14:00
During Dutch Design Week the Van Abbemuseum will present two artists: Piero Gilardi (Turin 1942), David Maljkovic (Zagreb, 1973).
Enjoy getting lost! – Rondleiding door tentoonstelling Maljkovic, dagelijks 14:00 Not for sale! – Rondleiding door tentoonstelling Gilardi, dagelijks 15:00 Woensel West – Open dag wijkproject. Ma 22/10, aanmelden via 040-2381031. Voor een gedetailleerd programma, kijk op www.vanabbemuseum.nl
DOEN I Materiaalprijs Verbeter de wereld van vandaag en bouw aan de bestendige samenleving van morgen. Dat is de uitdaging die de DOEN I Materiaalprijs jaarlijks stelt aan architecten, vormgevers, modeontwerpers en beeldend kunstenaars. Uit de 77 inzendingen die dit jaar werden ontvangen selecteerde een commissie van deskundigen achttien ontwerpen, die tijdens de Dutch Design Week getoond worden in het Van Abbemuseum. Op de openingsdag van Dutch Design Week maakt een vakjury de winnende ontwerpen bekend.
Art? Design? – Public talk with Annie Fletcher and Armand Mevis (Mevis & Van Deursen designers, Amsterdam). Sa 27/10, 14:00 Vestito sassi – Dance performance with Gilardi dresses. Su 28/10, 14:00 Enjoy getting lost! – Guided tour in Maljkovic exhibition, daily 14:00 Not for sale! – Guided tour in Gilardi exhibition, daily 15:00 Woensel West – Open day neighbourhoud project. Mo 22/10, register via 040-2381031. For a detailed programme, see www.vanabbemuseum.nl
DOEN I Materiaalprijs Can you make our world a better place? And contribute to designing a sustainable future? Each year, the DOEN I Materiaalprijs challenges visual artists, designers, fashion designers and architects to develop innovative, sustainable materials. From the 77 submissions received this year, an expert committee selected eighteen design ideas. The projects go on display at the Van Abbemuseum during Dutch Design Week. An expert jury will announce the winning designs on the opening day.