“Useful” - a design exhibition in Norway
Redesign: Necessity, morals, fashion and opportunity
Recycling is important in an environmental issue but it is also a creative and exciting approach to the design profession.
In the exhibition “Useful” the museum will emphasize on usable design objects created of readymades and already used objects. "Redesign", which this type of design often is called, has become an important trend within the current design field. The museum wants to focus on this trend and look at how and why garbage and readymades has been, and are being used to create new designs, and the motivation factors for this type of design.
Redesign may be a question of lack of materials and necessity. It can be a question about a moral responsibility and a question about sustainability for some, and for others it is mainly a fashion phenomenon. Not least, it may be a creative design approach, which is especially interesting in an Arts perspective.
Although redesign has become a trend in today's design field, it is by no means a new phenomenon. To put the theme into a historical context, we will therefore (also show some) include objects from the Museums historical collection that uses recycled materials.
There will be emphasis on showing the great variety in the field, from design icons that are "accepted" items incorporated into the design history, to objects that can almost go into a "craft tradition", or "street art". The latter are often products that are found in many different variations and designs, and cannot be attributed to a defined person or manufacturer.
The exhibition will be on display in The Art Museums of Bergen dep. Permanenten West Norway Museum of Decorative Arts from 1. of June till 28. of August .