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The American Design Challenge: David Shearer's
group show of seven American industrial design studios
Check out the G7 mini site
The Second Annual G7 Furniture Exhibit
Totem,
New York's leading showcase for contemporary design, has teamed up with Surface
Magazine and Bombay Sapphire
to challenge the notion that good design and the meaning of "modern" must
necessarily be dictated by European designers and manufacturers.
Coming straight from an off-site showing during the Salone Internationale
del Mobile in Milan 2000, G7, comprised of seven American upstarts,
now present their latest work together for a second time during
the ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) in New York.
Offering an alternative design paradigm
to the one dominant at the large fairs, G7 proposes to steal
some thunder away from the old standards in furniture and industrial
design. Last year's G7 event garnered an enthusiastic response
from the international lifestyle press, validating the power
of a sophisticated new American consumer.
G7
is a varied group of award-winning proteges and prodigies - including
immigrants eager to chase the fusion
of art and commerce in the United States. Visitors can see the
biological theme in the works of Dutch-Chilean trio Once (Marre
Moerrel, Harry Paul Van Iersel and Camila Vega); the less-is-more
ethos of San Francisco-based CCD (Christopher
C. Deam); the savoir-faire-technological
forms of French auto-didactic Pierre
Bouguennec's Boum Design;
the cool-headed approach of Prototype & Production (Chris
Bundy and Ross Menuez); the science-fiction inspired, near-future
geometric shapes of Worx (Michael Solis); the reductionist and
multi-functional furniture of Comma (David
Khouri and Roberto
Guzman); and the utilitarian chic designs of Dinersan, Inc. (Nick
Dine).
Besides a sportsmanlike spirit of competition,
G7 is fueled by elements of spontaneity and surprise. Built with
the intention to deflate the solitude of the chat-room era, these
designs are built with as much levity and humor as they are streamlined
for form and function. Sexy lines, unlikely materials and renegade
constructions will fill the exhibition space.
Totem's
founder David Shearer believes that G7 represents the beginning
of a true American design movement,
the likes of which we haven't seen for the past thirty or forty
years. "It's incredibly rewarding to see the designers we've
been nurturing for several years finally getting the recognition
that they deserve."
Paola
Antonelli, curator of architecture and design at the MoMA, echoes
Shearer's sentiments. "A
new generation of American designers has recently come to the
forefront and will soon move the balance of creativity toward
this side of the world," she said. "New York has at
last embraced furniture and product design with the same proud
passion with which it has celebrated its own local artists, interior
and graphic designers, architects, art directors and multimedia
mavericks. It is a great moment for American design."
Special thanks to Bombay Sapphire. |
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