Robin Schuldenfrei

Konstantin Grcic

Friedrich Meschede

In devising a concept for the Abbildungen exhibition, Konstantin Grcic thought back to one of his earliest designs, an additional pedestal for a sculpture by Constantin Brancusi. This became the leitmotif of his staging of twenty-one selected objects. The exhibition is the underpinning for the conception of this publication, which turns its gaze on the media-framing of Grcic s design objects. First researched in early magazines, company prospectuses, flyers and other print media, the selected pieces are presented here as reproductions of reproductions. The publication is accompanied by an in-depth analysis by Robin Schuldenfrei, Professor at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, who, in presenting Konstantin Grcic s oeuvre to the German-speaking world, examines it from a historical perspective for the first time. Finally, the staged gallery spaces at Kunsthalle Bielefeld are documented in photographs by Wolfgang Gunzel, Offenbach."

Abbildungen / Figures

Published to accompany the ground breaking presentation of contemporary design at the Serpentine Gallery London (November 2009 - February 2010), curated by the influential German product designer Konstantin Grcic. Grcic's selection for Design Real focuses on 'real' items all conceived in the last decade: mass-produced products that have a practical function in everyday life. 'What interests me about industrial design is how these things are made, in what material, and how this has affected their language and their quality,' explains Grcic. 'Some objects are very technically-driven; the function really determines the object. Other objects have much more of a signature or an authorship; you see the handwriting of the designer who made it and that's what makes it so special.' The publication presents a wide range of products with different styles and functions, from furniture and household products to technical and industrial innovations. With objects from well-known designers, such as a chair by Jasper Morrison, luggage by Ross Lovegrove and waterproof shoes by Zaha Hadid, as well as products by anonymous designers, including a wheel-shaped water container, a municipal recycling bin and a Volvo tail light, the exhibition provides new perspectives from which to look at the material world around us, encouraging new insights into design. English text.

Konstantin Grcic

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