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Curator Kathryn Johnson explains the story behind surrealism and its impression on design on this video Dezeen produced for the Design Museum about its newest exhibition.
Titled Objects of Need: Surrealism and Design 1924 – At the moment, the exhibition options nearly 350 surrealist objects spanning style, furnishings and movie.
The exhibition, which was curated by Johnson, explores the conception of the surrealist motion within the Twenties and the impression it has had on the design world ever since.
It options a few of the most recognised surrealist work and sculptures, together with items by Salvador Dalí, Man Ray and Leonora Carrington, in addition to work from up to date artists and designers akin to Dior and Björk.
“Surrealism was born out of the horrors of the primary world warfare, in a interval of battle and uncertainty, and it was a inventive response to that chaos,” Johnson mentioned within the video.
“It noticed within the fracturing of the world a possibility to shake issues up, to do issues in a different way, to suppose in a different way, and to acknowledge the unconscious and its significance for our on a regular basis lives.”
The exhibition explores surrealism’s impression on up to date design, with almost a 3rd of the objects on present courting from the previous 50 years.
“We need to begin a dialog about what surrealism is and why it issues now,” Johnson mentioned.
The title of the exhibition references the significance of the idea of want throughout the motion. Within the video, Johnson defined that the surrealist motion started with poetry, with French poet and creator André Breton penning the primary surrealist manifesto.
Breton described want as “being the only motivating power on the earth” and “the one grasp people ought to recognise.”
The exhibition is segmented into 4 themes. It begins with an introduction to surrealism from the Twenties and explores the affect of the motion on on a regular basis objects, in addition to its pivotal position within the evolution of design all through the 20th century.
One other a part of the exhibition explores surrealism and inside design, since early protagonists of the motion had been eager about capturing the aura or thriller of on a regular basis family objects.
Objects on show embody Marcel Duchamp’s Porte-Bouteilles, a sculpture comprised of bottle racks, and Man Ray’s Cadeau/Audace, a conventional flat iron with a single row of 14 nails.
The exhibition strikes alongside to the Nineteen Forties, the place designers began utilizing surrealist artwork for concepts to create shocking and humorous objects. Gadgets borne from this embody Sella by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Jasper Morrison’s Handlebar Desk.
A key part of the exhibition features a highlight on surrealism’s significance within the UK, documenting the partnership between Salvador Dalí and the British poet and artwork patron Edward James, whose collaboration resulted in a few of the most notable works of surrealism such because the Mae West Lips sofas and the Lobster Phone.
One other part of the exhibition examines surrealism and the physique in relation to the human type, sexuality and want.
Included on this part are Sarah Lucas’ Cigarette Tits, by which the language of tabloids is used to show stereotypes of feminine sexuality, and Najla el Zein’s Hay, which highlights the sensory pleasures offered by on a regular basis supplies.
Images, classic journal covers and style objects are on show to indicate the impression of surrealism on the style trade ranging from the Thirties.
In keeping with Johnson, “surrealism attracted extra girls than another motion since romanticism.” In consequence, she wished to make sure there was a large illustration of feminine artists and designers within the exhibition.
“I believe that was partly due to issues concerning the physique, about sexuality, and the way the home had been key themes of surrealism from the start,” she mentioned.
“However these themes had been approached in a really authentic and important method by the ladies related to the motion – a few of whom wouldn’t have thought of themselves surrealists however had been in dialogue with these concepts.”
The ultimate part of the exhibition appears on the surrealist preoccupation with difficult the inventive course of itself and the way this resulted in authentic artworks and design.
In keeping with Johnson, up to date designers are nonetheless utilizing concepts from early surrealism, akin to welcoming probability into the inventive course of, or utilizing methods like automatism.
“The surrealists attempt to write and draw with out considering, and we see within the exhibitions and research the place they’re drawing in an computerized method. However now, in fact, up to date designers produce other instruments to make use of to attempt to bypass the identified and the standard,” Johnson mentioned.
An instance of this within the exhibition is Sketch Chair by design studio Entrance, which was produced utilizing movement seize know-how to translate the motion of drawing in mid-air right into a 3D-printed type.
“The surrealists knew that altering the thoughts would change the fabric world and we’re now at this scary however thrilling juncture the place we’re making a computerised intelligence that may be inventive,” Johnson mentioned.
Objects of Need: Surrealism and Design 1924 – At the moment opened on the Design Museum on 14 October 2022 and is on present till 19 February 2o23.
Tickets can be found at designmuseum.org/surrealism.
Partnership content material
This video was produced by Dezeen for Design Museum as a part of a partnership. Discover out extra about Dezeen’s partnership content material right here.
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