The Jakarta Post
Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
| Thu, 02/26/2009 12:39 PM | Life
It has a slight modern tone, yet it is colored by an air of nostalgia. It is a collection of imprints taking on new meanings in a world rendered homogenous by globalization and commercialization.
Tangible Traces, a traveling exhibition, has finally arrived here in Jakarta.
At first glance, there seems to be no similarity among the artistic projects of the five Dutch designers – the heart of Tangible Traces. While one designer plays with stylish apparel, another one engages in spatial installations.
However, as soon as you get to the deeper layers of the works and the stories that underlie them, you quickly understand why Tangible Traces choose the five designers as its icons.
It is their underlying philosophy that answers the exhibition’s question: How do architecture and design take on meaning in a world that has become uniform as a result of globalization, standardization and commercialization?
The projects of the designers help us to find the answer by embracing countervailing notions such as craftsmanship, tradition and context.
And it is this idea that links spatial designer Frank Havermans, textile designer Claudy Jongstra, fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe, industrial designer Hella Jongerius and architecture firm Onix.
| Thu, 02/26/2009 12:39 PM | Life
It has a slight modern tone, yet it is colored by an air of nostalgia. It is a collection of imprints taking on new meanings in a world rendered homogenous by globalization and commercialization.
Tangible Traces, a traveling exhibition, has finally arrived here in Jakarta.
At first glance, there seems to be no similarity among the artistic projects of the five Dutch designers – the heart of Tangible Traces. While one designer plays with stylish apparel, another one engages in spatial installations.
However, as soon as you get to the deeper layers of the works and the stories that underlie them, you quickly understand why Tangible Traces choose the five designers as its icons.
It is their underlying philosophy that answers the exhibition’s question: How do architecture and design take on meaning in a world that has become uniform as a result of globalization, standardization and commercialization?
The projects of the designers help us to find the answer by embracing countervailing notions such as craftsmanship, tradition and context.
And it is this idea that links spatial designer Frank Havermans, textile designer Claudy Jongstra, fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe, industrial designer Hella Jongerius and architecture firm Onix.
The five exhibitors have been working, partly out of the limelight, on oeuvres for years, sharing common quest to put together the colors of local culture and context, rediscover traditional crafts and use everyday materials.
Although they look to the past for inspiration, a blend of state-of-the-art technologies and a Dutch identity gives their designs a contemporary touch.
Van Slobbe, for example, was inspired by traditional Dutch fashion while reviving forgotten techniques to produce garments. His label, Orson + Bodil, for women has become a project to free him from the restraint s of the prêt-à-porter fashion industry.
The 50-year-old designer experiments with a 17th century crochet technique, embroidery and felt.
He uses the technique of moulage (modeling the garment on a mannequin) to find the appropriate shapes for his designs. Granting the Dutch identity in its masterpieces, Van Slobbe also ensures the entire production process takes place in the Netherlands.
Another designer weaving Dutch identity into her works is Claudy Jongstra. For almost 15 years, the textile designer has played with traditional felting techniques and production processes.
She combines wool from various animal breeds to create felt, which she mixes with other materials, such as silk and metal.
Jongstra, 49, owns her own flock of rare Drenthe Heath sheep, allowing her to contribute to the survival of this age-old breed in the Netherlands.
Splashing dye onto her works, Jongstra uses natural colors rather than synthetic ones. The result is an extraordinary palette of textiles; felt is completely stripped of its traditionally frumpy image. No wonder her pieces are loved by many fashion and interior designers.
Another exhibitor is Hella Jongerius, a highly respected designer. She is always stunning the world with her original and “outside of the box” designs.
Finding a new balance between mass production and craft techniques has overshadowed the work of Jongerius. She tries to find a symbiosis between the flawlessness of mass production and the idiosyncrasies that come with manually crafted work.
For Tangible Traces, Jongerius displays a long, asymmetrical sofa which is brightly colored. It looks like two sofas combined.
The masterpiece will keep your eyebrows raised and your brain ticking about how funny and unconventional it is.
Working in a different field to Jongerius, Jongstra and van Slobbe is architecture firm Onix.
Established in 1994 by Alex van de Beld and Haiko Meijer, Onix incorporates human experience in its architectural work. Unlike other contemporary firms that are dominated by concepts and images, Onix shifts its focus to the essence of architecture itself: relationships with local ecosystems.
The firm used this logic to work on a residential complex in Zwolle, the Netherlands, where they kept an apartment there for six months, inviting dozens of visitors from various backgrounds to sleep over for one night each. The guests were then asked to jot down their experience of neighbors, surrounding businesses, public transportation and the apartment space itself.
Also working with buildings and spaces is Frank Havermans, who is also part of the exhibition in Jakarta.
Making various types of installations and buildings, Havermans, however, refused to be called an architect. He says he is a designer simply because he designs. Believe it or not, he designs using nothing more than models, or miniatures of the objects in scales.
“The models are the spatial and structural research; a proof of the project’s structural feasibility,” Havermans said. “Using models, I know whether I’m doing is applicable or not.”
Havermans’ projects are the translation of his fondness for tranquility and contemplation.
“Because I’m an artist, tranquility is what I need to find inspiration.”
One of his extraordinary projects is “Tree Hut”, a small cabin installed like a cradle in two trees in a small forest. The feeling of being in a faraway place is what is offered
by this hut. Its contemporary design, a simple curvy silhouette and black in color, is a contrary notion from the natural landscape of where it’s located.
Havermans did not bring the hut to Jakarta. He is displaying his “Cinema for Two”, a removable compartment designed for two people watching movies on a big screen.
Through the project, Havermans want to send a message that even the ritual of watching a loud movie requires tranquility and privacy.
Havermans and the other four exhibitors embrace quintessential traditional Dutch philosophy, although with different faces, representing and important part of Dutch architecture and design.
Tangible Traces runs until March 27 at Erasmus Huis Jakarta.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/02/26/%E2%80%98tangible-traces%E2%80%99-other-faces-dutch-design.html
Although they look to the past for inspiration, a blend of state-of-the-art technologies and a Dutch identity gives their designs a contemporary touch.
Van Slobbe, for example, was inspired by traditional Dutch fashion while reviving forgotten techniques to produce garments. His label, Orson + Bodil, for women has become a project to free him from the restraint s of the prêt-à-porter fashion industry.
The 50-year-old designer experiments with a 17th century crochet technique, embroidery and felt.
He uses the technique of moulage (modeling the garment on a mannequin) to find the appropriate shapes for his designs. Granting the Dutch identity in its masterpieces, Van Slobbe also ensures the entire production process takes place in the Netherlands.
Another designer weaving Dutch identity into her works is Claudy Jongstra. For almost 15 years, the textile designer has played with traditional felting techniques and production processes.
She combines wool from various animal breeds to create felt, which she mixes with other materials, such as silk and metal.
Jongstra, 49, owns her own flock of rare Drenthe Heath sheep, allowing her to contribute to the survival of this age-old breed in the Netherlands.
Splashing dye onto her works, Jongstra uses natural colors rather than synthetic ones. The result is an extraordinary palette of textiles; felt is completely stripped of its traditionally frumpy image. No wonder her pieces are loved by many fashion and interior designers.
Another exhibitor is Hella Jongerius, a highly respected designer. She is always stunning the world with her original and “outside of the box” designs.
Finding a new balance between mass production and craft techniques has overshadowed the work of Jongerius. She tries to find a symbiosis between the flawlessness of mass production and the idiosyncrasies that come with manually crafted work.
For Tangible Traces, Jongerius displays a long, asymmetrical sofa which is brightly colored. It looks like two sofas combined.
The masterpiece will keep your eyebrows raised and your brain ticking about how funny and unconventional it is.
Working in a different field to Jongerius, Jongstra and van Slobbe is architecture firm Onix.
Established in 1994 by Alex van de Beld and Haiko Meijer, Onix incorporates human experience in its architectural work. Unlike other contemporary firms that are dominated by concepts and images, Onix shifts its focus to the essence of architecture itself: relationships with local ecosystems.
The firm used this logic to work on a residential complex in Zwolle, the Netherlands, where they kept an apartment there for six months, inviting dozens of visitors from various backgrounds to sleep over for one night each. The guests were then asked to jot down their experience of neighbors, surrounding businesses, public transportation and the apartment space itself.
Also working with buildings and spaces is Frank Havermans, who is also part of the exhibition in Jakarta.
Making various types of installations and buildings, Havermans, however, refused to be called an architect. He says he is a designer simply because he designs. Believe it or not, he designs using nothing more than models, or miniatures of the objects in scales.
“The models are the spatial and structural research; a proof of the project’s structural feasibility,” Havermans said. “Using models, I know whether I’m doing is applicable or not.”
Havermans’ projects are the translation of his fondness for tranquility and contemplation.
“Because I’m an artist, tranquility is what I need to find inspiration.”
One of his extraordinary projects is “Tree Hut”, a small cabin installed like a cradle in two trees in a small forest. The feeling of being in a faraway place is what is offered
by this hut. Its contemporary design, a simple curvy silhouette and black in color, is a contrary notion from the natural landscape of where it’s located.
Havermans did not bring the hut to Jakarta. He is displaying his “Cinema for Two”, a removable compartment designed for two people watching movies on a big screen.
Through the project, Havermans want to send a message that even the ritual of watching a loud movie requires tranquility and privacy.
Havermans and the other four exhibitors embrace quintessential traditional Dutch philosophy, although with different faces, representing and important part of Dutch architecture and design.
Tangible Traces runs until March 27 at Erasmus Huis Jakarta.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/02/26/%E2%80%98tangible-traces%E2%80%99-other-faces-dutch-design.html
