In the 1880s design in France stood, in many regards, at the threshold of Art Nouveau, with the likes of, and amongst many others, Louis Majorelle, Émile Gallé or Hector Guimard beginning to start to question the production of, the formal expression of and our relationships with, our objects of daily use in context of the early years of the Third Republic and a rapidly rising industrialisation with all the associated social, economic, technical and political et al developments of the age.
And design in 1980s France?
With the exhibition Années 80. Mode, design et graphisme en France the Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, undertake a revue of creativity in that very recent, but somehow very distant, decade…….
In Poetics Aristotle argues poetry arose on account of two intrinsic human instincts: an “instinct for ‘harmony’ and rhythm” and “the instinct of imitation”, as in representation rather than copying, an imitation Aristotle opines is the method via which humans learn, and that “to learn gives the liveliest pleasure”.
Yet while for Aristotle all forms of poetry are “in their general conception modes of imitation”, again as in representation rather than copying, “they differ, however, from one another in three respects – the medium, the objects, the manner or mode of imitation”.1
With the exhibition Mimesis. A Living Design the Centre Pompidou-Metz explores designers as imitators of nature, and the varying, and continually developing, mediums, objects, and manners or modes of that imitation…….
Whereas in years past we would have just blithely stated that January, as ever, saw us in Cologne for IMM
Fate may have been hard on February by abstractly depriving it of its rightful quotient of days, taunting it indeed
A few years ago the (smow) blog telephone rang….. “Good morning is it possible to speak to Philippe Starck please?”
After the strenuous match against Alexander Girard, France decided to rest Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for the match against Eero
You know how it is. You arrive early in the office….. Make a coffee….. Turn the computer on…….. Check out
The undisputed highlight of the Kartell stand at Saloni Milano 2009 was the cat and mouse game with the special
Having sold everything, including our kidneys and the neighbours cat, we can finally afford to pay for a hotel in
There is little doubt as to who the most popular furniture producers with the exhibitors here in Köln are…. Vitra
Italian design is, if we all close our eyes for a minute or two and be brutally honest, a lot
Today is World Usability Day. We do admit to be being more than a touch sceptical about the motivations that
One of the classic rules of furniture design is the product must look good, must look appealing. What, however, if
It’s Dumfries Show on Saturday. That won’t mean much to the most people, but for us it is a sure
Our (smow)twitter recently brought our attention to an article at worldchanging.com about what the author termed “Heirloom Design” In the
Not good As everyone know everything in America is bigger. Everything. From bagels the size of Jupiter to the level
There may be no tables in the press room, but there are plenty to be found at ICFF… Eiermann 1
One of the principle advantages of trade fairs such as Salone or ICFF is the unrivalled access to producers, products
Two days sun and we at the (smow)blog are already trying to convince the (smow)boss to let us work from
Shameless self-congratulation – but what the hey! The current German edition of Cosmopolitan (April 2009) contains a wonderful recommendation for
At smow we have a particular soft spot for Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and so it is especially pleasing that
Last week the (smow)team made their annual pilgrimage to the CeBIT communications and IT trade fair in Hannover – not
Design awards. They’re funny things. Sometimes one has the feeling that behind every tree and round every corner a design
Within the next 48 hours all christmas presents must be bought. Or else it’s back to writing vouchers for your