Parallel Designs
Spirit of Innovation featuring Metal Sherwal Bench (2010) by Hozan Zangana, Tube Light (1927) by Eileen Gray and chairs (circa 1920) by Gerrit Rietveld.
Time is a flat circle. Or at least it’s displayed on one at The Roaring Twenties, an exhibition teasing out the creative parallels between the 1920s and the 2020s that’s currently on at Museum Kranenburgh in Bergen, The Netherlands. Our current decade is already serving us another pandemic a century on, but for curators Studio Wieki Somers it’s not just a case of highlighting how history repeats itself, but finding constant themes and mirrors hidden away in these chronological folds.
Dutch design duo, Dylan Van Den Berg and Wieki Somers, took charge of the design parts of the exhibition, with art curation by Colin Huizing, fashion by Liesbeth in t Hout. The team at Museum Kranenburgh approached Studio Wieki Somers as the new decade dawned, so they were working on the project when coronavirus hit. With the warp and weft of history on the making around them, they dug into the archives to research some themes from the 1920s that they felt resonated today.
Pianostoel (1923-1924) by Gerrit Rietveld in front with modular mobile phone (2016) by Dave Hakkens.
They’re big themes. Spirit of Innovation, Women’s Emancipation, Empowered Nature, Radical Form, Social Engagement and Utopia – the studio hasn’t shied away from some weighty topics. Luckily, for those of us who spent our own lockdown rotting our brains with Netflix binges instead of writing the Great Pandemic Novel, Studio Wieki Somers has presented their themed research in an easy-to-grasp and visually pleasing format. There are pieces on display from Alvar Aalto, Isamu Noguchi, Eileen Gray and Gerrit Rietveld set alongside work from contemporary makers including Formafantasma, Dave Hakkens, Nendo and Studio Swine.
Each theme for The Roaring Twenties is represented by a sets of objects, some from the past and some from the now, marooned together on an island of bespoke textiles. These rugs, created by the designer’s in response to each pairing and tie them together as a room. It’s a neat, almost bubble-like effect. Looking at each curated arrangement, it’s harder to guess which piece is modern and which is midcentury. It’s a nice visual aide to help the viewer think about design history in a non-linear fashion without getting a headache.
Charlotte Perriand’s ball-bearing necklace (1927) inside Man Machine cabinet (2014) by Konstantin Grcic.
It’s not just about an aesthetic match, although that does help. Somers and Van Den Berg have set the objects up in conversation with each other. Take, for example, the Spirit of Innovation. A replica of Charlotte Perriand’s ball-bearing necklace, made out of magnets, rests on a glass cabinet by Konstantin Grcic from his Man Machine collection. Both are made from industrial materials pressed into the service of design. Perriand used materials from the burgeoning automotive industry to reimagine feminine decoration; 100 years later, Grcic used gas pistons to hold together plates of tempered glass to create delicate-looking yet highly engineered furniture.
Pieces slot together or layer up nicely from across the decades, tracing a current of creative energy. Sometimes it diverges – the 1920s preoccupation with new plastics has done an abrupt volte-face as designers try to work with more sustainable materials. The context – our knowledge about environmental fragility and the crimes of the petrochemical industry – has changed, but the desire to innovate remains. To find out more, Disegno spoke to Somers over email about curating The Roaring Twenties.
Disegno You spent the first pandemic lockdown researching history and looking for patterns between the 1920s and the coming decade. What forms did your research take?
Wieki Somers Truth is, the 1920s have always fascinated us. So much had happened, especially in the field of design. It’s incredible how much innovation came out of that era. It was a great opportunity to use the time we finally had to look into such a complex and interesting period. We studied, we read, we draw, we took notes and confronted them, we collected pictures and discussed a lot. It was very rewarding as a research and as an overall process. First we researched themes, materials, techniques, motivations and motives of the designers from the 1920s. We needed to narrow down the design themes of the 20s to start the curatorial process and to conceive the design installation. When the themes of the 20s were clear, we moved to contemporary design. We started exploring parallels between the 20s and today, connecting points between the past and the future. The main questions we asked ourselves was: how do contemporary designers relate to the zeitgeist of the 1920s, and what are the themes that connect past and present? How will the post-pandemic affect designers? What is the role of arts during difficult time? What are the designers fighting for, and what will they be remembered for? It’s difficult to predict a world post pandemic but if you look at history to find and recognise patterns, you can start to speculate about the future. We are designers at our core, but in this case we were also curators. Combining the two roles was a new venture and it took us some time to understand exactly what that meant. Designing our rugs also was the result of a research process on the textiles of the 20s. We wanted the rugs to be conceptually and visually unique, but also to be at service of the show. This element brings everything together.
Studio Wieki Somers Frozen Cabinet (2010), with Satellite Lamp (2012) by Dirk van der Koolj and Nendo’s Melt Chair (2019) displayed next to Isamu Noguchi’s Radio Nurse (1937).
Disegno How did you decide upon your five themes for the dialogues?
Wieki We didn’t decide, they manifested while we were researching. The 1920s was a period with a lot of experimentation. We started to look into material studies and how that research got into product applications. Materials and technics are often a key to understand deeply a period in design and in the creative arts. From there, we started to follow those themes and see if they are still important today and they are.
“For some visitors it was hard to understand which pieces are from the 20s and what is from this time. I like this confusion, it’s like a short circuit.”
Disegno Was there anything particularly interesting you discovered in the process of putting the exhibition together?
Wieki Yes, that Charlotte Perriand’s necklace looked amazing inside the Konstantin Grcic cabinet. That our Frozen Cabinet looked like it was made with algae or biomaterials, while it is not. That the passage from bakelite to biomaterials is traceable. That you are not always aware of the weight of your discoveries, that the best innovators are unaware of being innovators. They just do. That if you are a curator and a designer in the show, the full story is bigger than your own pieces. It was also interesting to see that for some visitors it was hard to understand which pieces are from the 20s and what is from this time. I like this confusion, it’s like a short circuit. Of course if you start looking at the materials closely you will figure it out, but some designs from the 20s were so beyond their time that could be easily be conceived and produced today.
Ott/Another Paradigmatic Ceramic Tableware (2019) by Seok-hyeon Yoon on by Step for Dzek by Formafantasma underneath Savoy (1934) by Alvar Aalto.
Disegno What was the concept behind creating the rugs for displaying each pairing of design objects?
Wieki The rugs are the facilitators of the conversations and the main stage for the show. They function as guideline through the exhibition, they bring everything together. Metaphorically, it works perfectly. As designers, we designed the pieces as spaces within a space, and as curators, we use our own pieces at the service of the overall storytelling. The rugs are humble platforms to showcase those vignettes. The scale refers to homely settings, familiar, almost domestic and the rugs are inspired by Bauhaus fabrics and colour studies, thinking about the genius of Anni Albers, for example. Each rug is layered with those encounters but not always the object complement each other, sometimes there is a little friction, and that is what makes those encounters special. Exhibitions are curated with a specific idea in mind but I believe that you need to leave a bit of space to the visitors to make up their own story. I hope our rugs are able to be as visually strong as silent carriers of the overall story. You know what, there is a funny little image that has formed in our heads after all this long research. It’s like we are almost saying: hello masters, hello contemporary designers, please have a seat here and chat.
Disegno Do you have a favourite object or pairing from the show?
Wieki One of my personal favourites is the connection between Oskar Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet and Wang & Söderström. The Bauhaus experimented extensively with form and matter in the field of theatre. A perfect example is Bauhaus tutor Oskar Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet, which he actually performed at the Bauhaus. The robotic and straightforward dance movements are inspired by industrialisation and the machines that increasingly control human life. Using a new, exuberant formal language and dressed in geometric costumes, the dancers challenged the graceful choreography of classical ballet. This experiment, for us, resonates with Wang & Söderstrom’s recent work exploring form, texture and movement in digital materials. Both the works in their own way explore the impact of technology on humans and the use of technology as a tool for sensory experiences.
American Apple ( 2020) and Sugar Loaf (2018) by Jonathan Trayte with a chair (1924-1925) by Bernhard Hoetger.
Disegno After working on this project, what do think the main similarities – and the major differences – between the 1920s and the 2020s will be?
Wieki Of course there are some similarities, clearly we have entered another eventful decade. In our press release, we summarised the connections as this: frenzied dance parties, women in men’s suits, Josephine Baker and Bauhaus but also: the rise of fascism, the ruins of a war and a worldwide pandemic – the Spanish flu. We are waiting for the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Will there be an ending? New ideas about society seem to be slowly taking root. Black Lives Matter and concern for the environment are topics that have become an integral part of our social discussion. We can see a world that is changing rapidly under the influence of technology, social engagement and a new view on gender. Designers in the 1920s made grateful use of the latest industrial techniques – including aluminium and bakelite – and designed products that contributed to an improved living environment. The industrial process was necessary to produce for a better world. Now, it’s the opposite. The process is a problem, especially the industrial ones. For example, the new synthetic materials from the 1920s, such as Bakelite, were easy to apply and therefore widely used. In the show, we chose Noguchi’s Nurse Speaker to represent this. However, this material also has a downside: the pollution of plastic waste. Contemporary designers are diligently looking for alternatives to environmentally harmful materials. In the Algae Lab, Klarenbeek & Dros use algae to make bioplastics, which they see as a workable alternative to non-degradable plastics. The duo grows algae and processes it into a biodegradable material that can be used for 3D printing. Contemporary designers are concerned with the impact of the processes they choose. So there is still a strong urge for innovation and change, but with different motives. Do designers have the responsibility to save the planet? Whatever your personal answer is to this question, you can’t avoid feeling a certain responsibility. We are a generation that is aware of the potential damages on the future. We design with an agenda.
LC4 chaise lounge (1929) by Charlotte Perriand and Le Corbusier for Cassina separated from Olivier van Herpt’s 3D-printed chair (2010) by a screen (1934) designed by Alvar Alto.
Disegno The 1920s were a time for huge innovation, as you point out, but were followed by recession and war, do you think we can avoid history repeating itself 100 years on? What do you hope the energy for change can achieve this time around?
Wieki That would be a doom scenario. I am not a forecaster, as a designer you have to be critical but positive about future, designers are able to use their creativity to initiate change and come up with solutions, although that is not always easy. Design is a mirror of time and we live in a complex world. But I do believe that turbulent times are often fertile ground for designers and artists so we will remember today's designs as versatile, looking for change, for solutions, for more awareness, more connections. The 2020s will be defined by more awareness; honest materials and local productions, we want to know where raw materials come from and what impact products have on the environment. In addition, the digital world is increasingly intertwined with the real world. Designers use digital production techniques, but now they design digital materials. Living in a digital world is getting closer and closer. How do you deal with that as a designer? How do you keep touch with reality? As a studio we never worked on tons of projects at the same time, we have always be very selective and slow in bringing things to life. Years ago I thought it was our burden, today I think it’s our gift. I hope that the energy for change will achieve a thoughtful wave of creatives designing with longevity in mind and being aware that we need the earth and nature -not the other way around- so we should behave like that, an inclusive world is the only way forward
Disegno Having worked on this exhibition, what lessons do you think designers could learn from the past to apply to the future?
Wieki That the role of art and culture in time of crisis is very important. That creativity can be a powerful agent for innovation and transformation. It was in the 20s - why it wouldn’t be today? That research and interdisciplinary collaborations are extremely valuable and also good schools. That great design is recognised, always. It’s a matter of time but quality stands out, even without social media. Be true to yourself.
Words India Block
The Roaring Twenties is on at Museum Kranenburgh until 3 April 2022