Smart Works: Design and the Handmade
October 10, 2007 | Levent OZLER
Smart works: design and the handmade displays the inspirational work of around 40 Australian and New Zealand designers and makers.
Together with a companion book, and a symposium held in the opening weekend, Smart works looks at the inspirational work of 40 Australian and New Zealand designers and makers.
It explores what "the handmade" means to each of these individuals and partnerships in relation to contemporary design and production.
For these people, their understanding of materials and technologies is essential to the success of their designs.
They value skills and many have made lifelong commitments to a materials-based practice, often making one-off or limited series work for a specialised marketplace at home and overseas.
Audiences who seek their work also want tangible personal associations with objects, through the way they look and feel and through knowing who made them.
However, these designers and makers also like to design objects for production and Smart Works documents the many different ways in which they have researched solutions and made their decisions.
It looks at the ways they are meeting the challenges and opportunities provided by their relatively small local markets, their distant location from others, and the varied manufacturing capabilities of their region.
more: powerhousemuseum.com/smartworks/exhibition.asp (318)
384 impressions - 43,118 clicks
