Truth in Form/ Reason for Being is an exhibition curated by Volume Gallery representing design now. It features excerpts of contemporary culture from American designers, Brian Anderson, Stephen Burks, Cmmnwlth, Andy Coolquitt, Felicia Ferrone, Sung Jang, Jonathan Nesci, Snarkitecture, Rich Brilliant Willing, and ROLU.
Finding it difficult to discuss the meaning of a moment without reflection, we utilize the lens of “truth” and “reason” in order to better provide a snapshot of contemporary objects. With the idea that designed objects and art are the visual representation of progress, the objects in this exhibit are meant to continue asking questions over time and provide a glimpse of where we are.
Truth in Form/ Reason for Being examines two components of creation – the concept and the realization of that concept. Truth in Form is an elusive, rarely ever accomplished solution, an intangible utopic ideal, whereas Reason for Being is comprised of qualities that are rational, definable, of the moment and tangible.
The first component, Truth in Form, is related to the intention of form and the likeness of that form to the concept of the author. In this regard, nothing is accidental or appropriated; each object is purposeful and concise in measure. Enzo Mari states this best, “Form is what is there – not what seems to be there; therefore we must speak in terms of the work that brings it into being. The original power of design to create a utopia must be recovered. If this is the allegory of the potential transformation, the message must reach as many people as possible.”
In an effort to create an honest form, “truth” is integral to the object. Truth in form does not dictate or prescribe style or adornment nor is it a Brutalist thought or a Victorian ideal. Rather, “truth” is the unending endeavor to create an ultimately unattainable piece of utopic quality. Though stylistically different, both Felicia Ferrone’s Unir and Andy Coolquitt’s gen. mdse present new ways of looking at familiar forms. Each of the works in this exhibition challenge the limitations imposed by our preconceived notions of form.
With Stool T, Sung Jang is working in the reductive school of Brancusi and Noguchi – not just with form, but with material and function as well. By tying these threads together, we are given the essence of the piece, which is to simplify and remove any extraneous elements. Doing so leaves both the viewer and user with a form that is striving for honesty.
The second component of the exhibition, Reason for Being connects to the needs, forms, materials and technologies utilized today. With this information one can dissect what it means to be truly of the moment. These bits of information are the elements that make up the arguments for choices, decisions and processes that reconcile the idea of the artist or designer versus the piece that the world sees – the experiential evidence of an idea.
As the state of technology rapidly increases, the development of new materials nearly eclipses our ability to explore their uses to the fullest potential before a new material is thrust upon us. Contemporary Futurist, Ray Kurweil once suggested that, within forty years “the pace of change is going to be so astonishingly quick, [that we] won’t be able to follow it–unless [we] enhance [our] own intelligence by merging with the intelligent technology we are creating.”
With new technologies and materials there is inevitably the creation of new needs and desires as a culture. ROLU’s approach to technology in After U.R. (a magnetic superbox) takes a different turn. ROLU explains “These cabinets represent a continuation of ROLU’s exploration of the way that forms emerge from photos and images encountered on the internet. The generally fleeting experience of jumping from aggregator site to blog to tumblr, experiencing image after image of art, architecture, design and fashion.” ROLU dissects how they consume and encounter their inspirations and the abundance of information co-mingles and blurs together without context regarding scale or place.
New forms can include new typologies or new appropriations and metaphors representing paradigm shifts. Stephen Burks’s Vase Combinations are the result of hybrid practices that develop organically around different disciplines, all collaborating together to solve community-based problems from first-world architecture and urbanism to developing world product development and distribution. Representing this hybrid strategy for creation, the Vase Combinations become a commentary on the relevance of “high and low” cultural influences and the need to look beyond our self-imposed borders of design consciousness.
With this exhibition we haven’t set parameters for the artists and designers, instead we seek to assist in understanding “now”. By gathering visual cues and analyzing them, we can begin to reflect on a moment in a society where a century of technological developments are compressed into a decade. By illuminating a brief portion of time, Truth in Form/Reason for Being is a microcosm of art, design and textile presented in a sociological context.
By VOLUME GALLERY (Claire Warner and Sam Vinz)
