Artist Franck Bragigand has launched The Living Museum, a selection of painted actions realised around the world by the artist. It is an on-going museum, new performances will be added in the future.

Amongst works realized in Japan, Canada, Russia, United States, Morocco and elsewhere in Europe, seven videos feature projects with Droog.

The conference (Open talks, Pioneers of Change)

Paintings to auction

Continue reading “The Living Museum” »

Droog Las Vegas opened on December 15th. We asked the designer, Marcel Schmalgemeijer a few questions.

What inspired the design?

I had to think of the room with the light floor that is in the Stanley Kubrick movie ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968). The floor visually elevates the furniture that is placed onto it and you get an enstranging atmosphere when you walk on it.

Can you tell us about the concept?

The key aspect is a strong gesture that is simple, basic and white. It is in stark contrast to Las Vegas, where as I see it, everything is a bit too much. Here the whiteness of the space gives space to the products. They have to do the show…

How do you think the design relates to Droog?

The white and basic aspect relates a bit to Droog. But especially I think the design gives very much space to the products. They have to do the show.

How does this store relate to your body of work?

Simple, basic, a big gesture, and a strong atmosphere.

Though Droog Las Vegas is officially Marcel’s first store design, he designed the 100 dollars or less pop-up store at Pioneers of Change, a festival of Dutch design, fashion and architecture curated by Renny Ramakers in September 2009.

This week Bottoms up doorbell is back in stock after an improved production. We asked the designer, Peter van der Jagt about the design, which he came up with as a student at Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Arnhem.

Here’s what he said:

When I was studying, a strange thing happened. I actually became tired of design. And I was not the only one.

What’s the use after all, when fashion creeps in? What’s the use in assigning a colour when, before you know it, it is “so last year”? What’s the use in designing a shape if, within two years, it reminds you of something from way back when?

We thought we had the solution: we simply didn’t design anymore. We just had a good idea and prototyped it, without sketching or deciding on colour, shape or other aesthetic characteristics. The prototype thus became the product instantly. After all, if it can be made once by a student, it could be made many times by anyone, right? (Admittedly, in hindsight, this turns out to be a bit naïve).

This kind of thinking drove the design of Bottoms up doorbell. We were concerned with how the product could tell a story—not a fairy tale or a multi-layered, symbol-ridden social statement—but the story of the product itself.

What is a doorbell? Every single doorbell is a collection of electric parts that release a hammer so it hits two objects emitting a two-tone sound, in order to announce the arrival of company at the door.

Most doorbells are white plastic cubes that say nothing. Nothing about the technique, nothing about how they work, nothing about what a pleasant sound is, or how hospitality is expressed.

I designed the Bottoms up doorbell in 1994. 16 years later, the product is still current. Perhaps as a classic, but not out of nostalgia. Of course design, and the thoughts driving design have evolved, and I think for the better. Nevertheless, not wanting to design wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

The Bottoms up doorbell is available here.

Christophe Coppens has newly been appointed as purveyor to the Court of Belgium.

According to a long established tradition, the list of people whom His Majesty King Albert II appoints as purveyors to the Court of Belgium is determined once a year. In 2010, Coppens was one of the three establishments appointed to the services of the Court. What an honour!

Visit Droog Amsterdam to see the Christophe Coppens 2010-2011 Winter Collection.

This week we are releasing ‘What you see is not’ by Fernando Brízio. A playful combination of function and illusion, a cabinet has been reduced to its two-dimensional image, leaving only one three-dimensional detail intact—an open drawer, perfect for a book or two. A playful combination of function and illusion that saves material too. Here’s our interview with the Lisbon-based designer, Fernando.

What drew you to work with illusion?
In the Buster Keaton short film, The High Sign, Buster takes a can of paint and a brush, draws a hanger, and hangs his hat on it. When I saw the film, I immediately pictured myself doing that exact same gesture. In that scene, Buster performs what designers do—he makes a drawing that becomes a “useable” object.

Can you explain the concept of this piece?
What you see changes when you move around this object. In a certain position you see a conventional cabinet with an open drawer, but when you move sideways it becomes a flat, somehow deformed image, and the archetypal reference of a cabinet is lost. Is it a cabinet with a drawer? Or is it just a suspended drawer?

What role does illusion play in your work?
The illusion in this piece creates a situation where you observe the object’s form and deform, depending on your position in space. I am interested in this type of interaction between the object and the viewer—what you see is a result of who you are, how you think and how you are mentally and physically constituted.

How do you like to see people interact with this piece?
I like to watch people search for the point of view, when for them, the cupboard seems to be “right,” sometimes covering one eye with their hand to get it perfect. There is a French expression – “ça tape à l’œil”- literally meaning “it hits the eye”. It does not only interest me that my work “hits the eye,” but also that it challenges the mind and our perception of reality.

Woolfiller by Heleen Klopper, the kit for repairing your moth-eaten sweaters, furniture and carpets has been named one of the top 50 Best Inventions of 2010 by TIME Magazine.

When we asked Heleen what she thinks of it being named an “invention” she said, “It’s a small big step. I apply an old technique as a new repair method.”

“Woolfiller invites people to be self-reliant and creative. This meets topical issues such as economy and climate change,” says Heleen.

The kit is available at Droog Amsterdam and right here.

Centraal Museum Utrecht acquired the artist’s proof #1 edition of Red blue Lego chair from our collection. It will be exhibited at Rietveld’s Universe as part of Rietveld Year organized by the Centraal Museum in Utrecht to celebrate the life and heritage of Gerrit Rietveld from October 20^th, 2010 until January 30^th, 2011. Here is our Q&A with Rotterdam-based designer, Mario Minale of Minale-Maeda (pictured with Kuniko Maeda).

What was your starting point for this chair?

There is this expression in the world of theatre, “breaking the fourth wall.” It’s about bringing in something unexpected. It’s about addressing the audience, taking them out of their lull and involving them, even passing the responsibility onto them.

What I don’t like about icons is that we just accept them, and we no longer know what they mean, and then they are copied time and time again. I was looking for something unexpected in making a copy of an icon. I wanted to break the mould and no longer see an icon as something set in stone.

What was “the fourth wall” in your design?

It was the appropriation of two icons in a way that creates something new. I started with Rietveld’s iconic Red blue chair and brought in equally iconic Lego blocks, and I think because the spirit of Rietveld and of Lego aligned, it created a breed that resonates.

Why did you work with Rietveld’s chair?

Rietveld intended his chair to be a blueprint from which anyone could make his own chair out of readily available material. For Rietveld, variations of his design were intended. That is why the construction of his chair is so simple. There are no dovetails or other complicated joinery.

Why did you bring in Lego?

Lego represents the construction material of our age—it is convenient. It makes personal expression easy. It is a material that empowers the unqualified to create by themselves.

For Rietveld, it was boards cut to size at the sawmill that made his design accessible. One no longer had to go to the woods to chop a tree thanks to industry. For us, it is no longer about cutting and sawing, but rather about blocks that snap together, shiny finish included. Rietveld broke the chair into 14 pieces to make it easy. Lego breaks it into 4445 pieces, which makes it even more easy.

Was it in fact easy to make this chair?

Not at all. Lego is a basic toy, but the process of making a chair out of it became so complicated that it questioned the simplicity that Lego promised. The process I went through makes the chair an even more authentic copy. The result of making a copy is not a copy. It’s an authentic act.

Lego has the same tension. It stands for simplicity, but the moulds to make Lego are a best kept secret, and that’s why there are no knock-offs. One cannot get rid of complexity but can only displace it. This chair is a metaphor for that.

What do you think of the copyright laws that prevented a larger production of the Lego chair?

One cannot get the Rietveld chairs anymore. Finding a way to copy it makes it accessible, and this was my intention. The fact that copyright laws prevented us from making a larger production of the Red blue Lego chair intensifies this discussion.

Christophe Coppens’ 2010-2011 Winter collection is on view at Droog Amsterdam until October 17th and at Droog New York until September 25th.