| >this is a lamp 2001 isn't it romantic? It's not a readymade, but a READYDESIGNED. Unlike Duchamp's urinal-turned-fountain, the design success of this lamp relies not on its original state as a chair, but on the credentials it carries as a famous design piece. Once it has been recognized as such (in this case, the Bubble Club Chair by Philippe Starck), it will become just as effective and convincing as the fountain. If not, it will remain a cliche. this is a lamp debuted at terminal-nyc INTRANIST show 2001 the opening was one evening prior to Starck's american debut of the chair at Kartell NYC it is currently on show at Fellissimo NYC and will travel to Paris in the fall of 2002 |
| For Immediate Release: THIS IS A LAMP (isn't it romantic?) > Designers are usually considered clever if they are "original" - but after a while, even "original" sounds boring. << Once upon a time, a man named Marcel Duchamp signed a urinal "R.Mutt," hung it upside down in an Art Gallery, and called it a fountain. His "readymade" became a piece of Art History trivia that is no longer shocking, revolutionary, or pretentious. It happened, things changed, and people wrote books about it. >> The year is 2001, and we are still making designs that look like what people in the 1960's and early 80's predicted we'd make. We are struck in a nostalgia for the futuristic. We have too much stuff, and it all looks like the stuff we already wanted. Our desires and consumer goods are "READYDESIGNED". II The only way to cope with the flood of "originals" that look like fantasies from forty years ago is to consume every new design put on the market. For many, that means replacing the furniture or kitchen appliances every few years. My intention is to make consumerism the design rather than a shopping strategy. I consume a Philippe Starck chair and produce a lamp. The process can make even an "original" piece glow with light and romance. > The only way to overcome our alienation is to go shopping. The only way out of boredom as a designer is the READYDESIGNED. This piece is the first of many. 05.12.01 |
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