The Blogazine

Treviso-XYZ: Skill To Do Comes Of Doing

By definition, design is meant to enhance and improve the lives of those who interact with it. As per Bauhaus and the Modernism it spawned, it’s also supposed to do this for as many people as possible, with mass production and mass functionality at its core. Today as a result, we’re able to fill our homes and pockets with brilliantly conceived, well constructed objects thanks to the incredible progress of the most industrial of design. Nevertheless, in the century since William Morris (perhaps prophetically) decried design’s obliteration of intimate relationships with our objects, our lives and landfills have become tirelessly filled with assembly-line drivel.

Weeding through the mess it helped to bring about, design seems only recently to have discovered that it should devote more attention to its capacity to create an experience and less on a design’s ability to create that experience for everyone. From Marian Bantjes’ gorgeously constructed, hard-to-come-by graphic books to a clever piece of furniture entirely cut, planed, sanded and painted by its creator, the special power of a something well-designed and then brought to life by the same person is formidable. Especially in a world of grey widgets anonymously produced by the hundreds of thousands each.

Treviso XYZ, having sensed this critical shift have brought together a host of young craftsman innovators, a “niche of tenacious designers” who work their hands alongside their brains to bring ideas to life. The appropriately named “Skill to Do Comes of Doing” hopes to nurture artisanal talent and further the discourse and appreciation of craft in the industry. Its gallery/temporary shop is “enthusiastic praise for the cult of doing,” and sure to be a feast for the senses and a refreshing break from our Ikea chairs. And tables. And lamps. And coffee cups.

Starting the 17th of December at Via Inferiore 31 in Treviso, Italy.

Spazio Rossana Orlandi – JAMESPLUMB Opening

Tucked into a quiet niche just steps away from Milan’s city prison, Spazio Rossana Orlandi is an almost Seussian space in design, packed to the brim with whimsy, imagination and contradiction. In recent years it has become a place of pilgrimage for the design world during Salone, and its labyrinthine space is a veritable crucible of creation. Designers are housed, nurtured and encouraged to create free from the constraints of commerce. The latest of such grand experiments was conducted upon James Russell and Hannah Plumb of England’s JAMESPLUMB, who lived since mid-October among the space’s fractured whimsy of rumpled, multicoloured furniture and imposing Marten Baas masterworks.

In keeping with the nature of the space, the work was carried out in the open over the course of their stay, using a collection of antique and industrial furniture as a starting point. The result is a feast of textures, textiles and subverted forms. From their almost trademark block seats to a wardrobe stuffed with old leather suitcases, skilful artisan hands are evident throughout. In all, the adeptness with with which the two are able to so seamlessly integrate cosiness and imagination into every object is formidable, yet their works never come within miles of the obvious or quaint.

At last night’s opening, The Blogazine brushed elbows with the brilliant designer duo, as well as Ms. Orlandi herself, who spread her good design word to a very pleased crowd. We look forward to the next outing!