PLATform and SemiDomesticated are proud to introduce the exhibition High-Risk/Low-Tech, as part of DMY Long Night of Design Studios at Berlin’s new art house, The W YE.
Necessity as the author of change — design in a time of crisis
At times of financial and political crisis, young and independent designers make use of their creativity to conceive alternative ways of working, living and consuming. By developing new social networks and ways of collaborating, by reusing and transforming everyday objects into valuable design pieces and by constructing original practices, they propose new ways of appreciating and interacting with objects. Simultaneously our ideas of luxury and necessity are changing. The conscious consumer choses a room through airbnb over a suite at the Hilton Hotel, a concrete vase over expensive crystal and a picnic in the park over dinner at a five star restaurant — and not necessarily because he can’t afford the latter. The current political and financial climate has forced us to revisit how and what we consume and from that a new aesthetic has risen. This “crisis-aesthetic” might stem from necessity, but is slowly becoming the new status signifier. Essentially, we’re moving forward while going back to our roots.
Dominik Hehl Rohlingtisch A part of the Rohling collection of products, which are all produced locally in Berlin, this table is made out of raw wood and using the minimal amount of actions possible. The evolution of each object stays visible, and the simplicity in production translates into a contemporary processconscious object. 860 € Rohlinglicht These lamps are metal spinned aluminium shade that have been 3D cut and then bent open, which creates this one flat seamless surface on which you only see the imprint of the wood that was part of the casting process of the metal. Dominik has made two versions of these lamps, one whitecoated version and the raw metal one leaving you with an open-ended problematic: Which one to choose and bring home? Raw: 250 € White: 242 €
Joao Gonçalves Maraca Money Bank In a time of crisis one needs to count every penny to survive. Being conscious of the financial crisis many are living in, Joao has created a money bank that allows you to save your money whilst creating music. The ironic spin is that the fuller it gets the less musical it becomes — and then, like all money banks one needs to break it to access its content — making the object disposable, just like the coins you have put into it. Winner of competition POPs 2011: Portuguese Original Products, awarded by the Serralves Foundation. 29 €
Jesper Jensen New wine in old bottles Focusing on recycling and minimal fossil fuel waste, Jesper’s fire-polished wine and beer tumblers are made from discarded wine bottles found outside the tango school around the corner from his studio. Jesper’s focus on reuse is also evident through his packaging — a set of six glasses comes in a wooden box, re-built from fruit boxes, which acts as a storage container and display case when not in use. Set of six 50 €
Past Perfekt Kelly Tivnan
Past Perfekt is a design duo based in Berlin. The name is a puerile wordplay combining and describing a grammatical tense with the pieces they use as the foundation for each series. The work and the main element in each series stems from those old, discarded objects found anywhere and everywhere. They aim to transform discarded objects into something new and, in the process, use recycled materials. The pieces in general retain anamorphic elements, and a strong humanistic bond with whomever comes into contact with them. Leonard & Press+Play Senior For this exhibition we have selected four pieces that have been divided into two series, with the approval of the designers. One is this more sculptural set of lights, that bear architectural qualities informed by the sleekness of 60’s designs, from a two storey high light to a wooden slath holding a massive white bulb. Leonard: 79 € Press+play senior: 86 € Lierhead & Trolly The other two pieces retain anamorphic elements, and a strong humanistic bond with whomever comes into contact with them. Referring to the pieces as “little guy” is something common in the vocabulary used to describe these pieces. Lierhead: 71 € Trolly: 100 €
Ahnieszka Lasota Furniture with memory 2/5 This table is part of a series of five produced in 2008. The piece consists of a hollow clear glass table through which you can see the remnants of older an antique table inside the piece’s own structure. By sing a language bordering on design and the new media, Agnieszka gives a multi-level diagnosis of contemporary consumer society. The central, almost obsessively recurring theme of her work, is the object regarded as a material trace of artificially generated human needs. 22.240 ₏
Onkto Katuh
Christian & Susanne Pade Tetriplug These 8-pound cement blocks are made in 7 different shapes, which are rotated in 90 degree steps. Tetriplugs reminds one to look at these normally inconspicuous wall components through (Gameboy shifting block game) new eyes and see plugs as a 3D structure that can stand on it’s own. Tetriplug Z and J: 205 € Plug 3 Plug 3 is a concrte cube holding a vintage socket. Square, practical and beautiful, the material of the weighty cement permits you to use it as a plug, of course, but it can also double as a door stopper, a replacement furniture leg or as a paperweight on those particularly windy days. 107 € Plug 3 woodition The beautiful pieces of oak used to create these cubes comes from a old barn. They were a part of that barn for 400 years and tells stories of cattle and cows, war and peace, monarchy and communism. The 10 cm oak cube have a 3 meter long cable which allows you to place the plug at far reaching distances from the actual wall either as a functional plug or as a decoration. 107 €
Komat
Matthias Kothe Beton Licht Poured into a simple, compact form, the Beton light reminds one of a sculpture. Thanks to concrete’s sustainable, recyclable substance the mixture produces further structures. Because of this, the table and wall light is able to come alive and each light is unique. Beton is manufactured in co-operation with a Berlin-based workshop for the disabled. 400 € Landluft benches Landluft is normally a part of a dining table but for this exhibition these solid oak benches will become individual pieces. They are reminiscent of rural areas and oiled with black pigments — this makes the grain of the wood even richer in contrast. The legs of the bench are anchored in the solid wood surfaces without any additional screwed connections or auxiliary means. The dainty-looking bench seats two people. 400 €
Matthew Appleby Swan Beton Mathew Appleby has created quite a lot of different light designs always intermingling scrap materials with sleek production methods. Each piece is an imprint of his vision between highly delicate to imposingly weighty. His Swan Beton proves this point perfectly from the sleek line of the neck to the cement shade. 140 â‚Ź The Bialee The Bialee is a percolator turned upside down, from the surface used as the bulb holder, perforated to let the light disperse through the bottom onto whichever surface 175 â‚Ź
Little Pop Machine 2cl These two wonderfully animated designers, artists and philosophers, have created a series of porcelain handworked crumpled plastic cups, standing or hanging lights, with a variety of different colored wires. They are a humoristic take on the trash found on the streets but also on the toxic packaging trend that people consume even when conscious of all the surrounding ecological problems These reference a past time and action, but also engage the individual in noticing the mark left by an individuals’ hand who consumed and discarded these ephemeral common beverage carriers. 37 ₏
El Reinventor Daniel Kroh
For Daniel Kroh the materials used in the making of every one of his pieces, are found in the city he lives and produces in. Round Horn trumpet lamp & Trumpet Lamp with Nimm Errotol switch Daniel is currently working on his first collection of lamps where only the energy saving lightbulb is new, the rest is recycled, sustainable, unique and made to last. The heads of these lamps, which have become a weekly endeavor, are composed of different kinds of old clarinets and trumpets. Round Horn trumpet lamp: 357 € Trumpet Lamp – Nimm Errotol Switch: 286 € School Love Part of another new series of wooden benches, which are composed of two intermingling chairs, School Love is built so that two people are forced to face one another and put in an irregular situation when sitting facing each other in very close proximity. 260 €
Micheal Wolke Beute Lamps Based in Cologne, Michael works in his Studio — an office, research and development laboratory space for free and applied object design — where he investigates the countless possibilities of reuse of found materials and their transformation into objects of everyday use. Micheal Wolke is a multitasker in his field designing anything from prototypes for public and private customers to concepts in cooperation with varying creative talents from different fields of design. For this exhibition, the lamps shown are made with cardboard strips and are sure to keep one mesmerized at the use of this simple material. 680 €
Naty Moskovich Light with orange plastic & Light with twigs Naty creates objects that are sleek and minimal in their use of materials. Capturing the essence of a child’s woodshop project but adding a grown up sensitivity by scavenging to find the perfect ‘rock’ to go with the right object. His pieces come to us from Israel, and will be showing as of Friday. Each: 500 €
Michel David The Coffee machine The Coffee Machine is a part of an ongoing series of fully functional, self built coffee machines, assembled using only locally found parts. In the case of this machine, Michel went to second hand markets and coffee machine repair shops to find unused parts. Despite it’s seemingly haphazerd construction and the nature of its materials, the quality of the coffee it makes is superb and easily beats the Berlin standard for coffee. Not intended for sale. Please contact SemiDomesticated and/or PLATform for further details. The Plant The Plant is part of a series investigating relations between natural and mechanical beauty. Michel’s love for machinery and mechanics led him to try to bring out nature’s beauty in machines, and to create machines that provoke the feeling of seeing a natural thing. The Plant: 650 € The Untitled Creature The Untitled Creature appeared after Michel found the main car part it is made out of. In this case he let the found parts guide the building of the object instead of intending or planing something from the beginning. 585 €
Antje Kratzing Antje creates these fragile looking lights which dimly illuminates their surrounding areas. They pull the spectator in, to realize that what they are actually looking at are collections of multilayered amalgamations of disposed objects such as common plastic bottles. Harder and rarer to find are the pear wrapper she meticulously puts together to create this delicate mass. These pieces are constant reminders that individually produced, hand-crafted objects are still the ones who can capture your attention. One-of-a-kind objects. Please contact SemiDomesticated and/or PLATform for further details
Eduardo Borém The Pentz The Pentz is an unusual dish drainer made out of a series of combs. This fun and functional rendering of an archaic kitchen accessory makes The Pentz a delightfully compact piece that is easily transferable from space to space. Eduardo’s concept serves to bring awareness to the idea that an object only becomes commonplace as we get used to it. His pieces are always charming — sometimes through their form and proportion, sometimes through their function and sometimes through the ideas they carry, and — for some special objects — as is the case of Pentz, all of these are true. 115 €
talia mukmel bowls Talia Mukmel makes objects out of compounds that can be found around ones backyard. The ingredients are simple — flour, sand and water. The bowls are reminiscent of bread, growing polyps, encased by simple, thin and twisted metal wire. These organic creations can serve as functional objects as well as decoration. Please contact SemiDomesticated and/or PLATform for pricing details.