(smow) blog compact Milan 2014 Special: Source Material @ Kaleidoscope Project Space

Exhibitions in which designers present objects that inspire them are nothing new. But are by their very nature exhibitions that are always new. No two being the same. A fact that always makes them worth visiting.

During Milan Design Week the Kaleidoscope Project Space is showing “Source Material”, the latest such exhibition.

Presenting objects submitted by 45 creatives from across a range of genres, Source Material claims to be an exploration of how the creative process is both “informed by the legacy of material culture that surrounds us” and at the same time an “affirmation of the potential of an object to reflect and nurture the human spirit”

That the exhibition has been organised by Jasper Morrison and Jonathan Olivares in cooperation with art director/publisher Marco Velardi the list of participating creatives is suitably A list, and so we learn, for example, that Naoto Fukasawa first understood beauty through the rolls of vinyl friction tape his electrician father used, that Richard Sapper finds inspiration in Romano Guardini’s Lettere dal lago di Como or that Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon carries his songs, cigarettes, computer and camera in a handmade leather briefcase bought in 2009 in Japan. And how the idea of longevity inherent in the briefcase inspires him to strive for the same in his music.

All very interesting, entertaining and insightful individual stories.

But nothing more.

We all have objects that tell stories, yet simply telling the story behind a collection of unrelated objects from unrelated individuals is too little for an exhibition.

For us the basic problem is that curatorial aim of Source Material is too easy.

We all know that personal objects can cause us to reflect and can inspire us. That’s why we keep them, often in the face of bitter opposition from a loved one who simply cannot understand our infatuation with some, invariably, broken object. Or a cellar full of boxes from which we can’t be parted.

The stories of objects belonging to successful people we may have heard of, assuming we have the correct cultural interests and references, are however no more interesting than those of people we’ve not heard of. And never will hear of.

Unless that is all the objects presented have played some role in the success of the individual. Have directly inspired their work. Helped build the career. Are, so to say, biographically relevant.

With Source Material, despite the implicit intention in the exhibitions name, that is not the case. Or not always. Occasionally it is. Too occasionally.

Or put another way, had the curators focussed more attention on the objects rather than the contributors they could have created a much more coherent and useful exhibition.

However, if you simply want to know what an old pair of yellow industrial earmuffs mean to Konstantin Grcic, embroidery frames to Klaus Hackl or what his spurtle means to chef Fergus Henderson, your definitely in the right place.

Source Material can be viewed at Kaleidoscope Project Space, Via Macedonio Melloni 33, Milan until Saturday April 12th

There is also an accompanying book by Kaleidoscope Press.

Full details can be found at www.source-material.net