Facebook Pixel

Design is a State of Mind

Martino Gamper - whose designs have been exhibited in The Aram Gallery, including the prototype of his 'Sit Together' bench - has curated a new exhibition at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery: 'Design is a State of Mind'. The exhibition draws together collections of found items belonging to Gamper's own friends, who are also designers and artists, and the shelves on which to display these objects.

USM Haller modular storage
USM Haller modular storage (right) with Jason Evans' wooden spoons

The shelving units represent some of the 20th century’s definitive designs, by Alvar Aalto, Dieter Rams, Charlotte Perriand and Franco Albini et al, including the USM Haller modular storage system and Vico Magistretti's Nuvola Rossa bookcase made by Cassina.

Nuvola Rossa Vico Magistretti
Nuvola Rossa bookcase by Vico Magistretti

The collections themselves are a mixture of the mundane and the curious, found objects that throw light on the things that inspire us and which suggest that design does not exist in a bubble but in the context of a broad spectrum of cultural and personal references. The USM units for example, display photographer Jason Evans' collection of wooden spoons, picked up on his travels and displayed like archeological artefacts. Alvar Aalto's 112B shelves hold designer Fabien Cappello's unintentional collection of bowls.

Aalto 112B Shelf Fabien Cappello
Alvar Aalto's 112B shelves (centre) with Fabien Cappello's bowls

As Gamper says: “There is no perfect design and there is no über-design. Objects talk to us personally. Some might be more functional than others, and the emotional attachment is very individual. This exhibition will showcase a very personal way of collecting and gathering objects – these are pieces that tell a tale.”

The exhibition runs until 21 April 2014.