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IcerocketChannels: European Design
Join R. Craig Miller, Senior Curator of Design Arts and Director of Design Initiatives at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Penny Spark, design scholar of Kingston University in the U.K., as they discuss objects from the upcoming exhibition, European Design since 1985, at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. In this discussion, we see the Pipe Dreams Watering Can by Jerszy Seymour, and Soundsation Radio Alarm Clock by matali crasset and Philippe Starck.
So, we are wearing gloves, because our hands have oil and acids on them and we don’t want to put, get that on any of the objects, because it would leave fingerprints on them. And it’s very difficult, on this, sort of, beautiful surface, to maintain them. So, we are not being formal, like a butler....
No... no....
And we have two objects here, one by Jerszy Seymour, this wonderful watering can, made by Magis in Italy. And then, a prototypal design by Matali Crasset,
which she did when she was working with Philippe Starck, in Paris, when she was just starting out as a designer.
Yes, and they are very, very different, aren’t they? I mean, this has got a lots of 60s in it, hasn't it? That sort of fun, plastic, youthful sort of feel to it.
This, to me, it's clearly a woman’s object. That pink is very, very feminine, I think. You can just see that there, that, sort of, wonderful, fleshy, kind of pink at the front.
And it, to me, is a kind of object that came out to that generation of designers who didn’t want to do any more than they had to, they just wanted to take basic functionality of an object
and give it to you, in as simple of a way as possible, reducing things right down to that kind of basic function, I think.
I think also, for it being a radio, it's interesting that the back panel is here, to also support the cone which is, sort of, symbolic of the sound
coming out..
[It does have a speaker feel to it.]
but then, it also becomes this beautiful, minimal, geometric composition.
Indeed... indeed... It’s a very clever use of taking functional components, putting them together, and creating something more than the sum of the parts, isn’t it?
Yeah, and also to the back, I think, you know, for this to have the, sort of, concave surface here, which is a beautiful, soft texture...
[It is... ]
with the speaker, and then this beautiful, soft, metal cone and the panel and then this, sort of, as you were talking about, the pink here,
it’s really quite almost flesh-like.
It is, it’s very fleshy, isn’t it? As opposed to the much more metallic feel at the other side, you have got a kind of technology-human interface going on.... very clever choice of color, I think.
And this, I think, is also really quite wonderful, with Seymour taking basically a sort of little mushroom form, one of them is the spout, one is the handle, where you also put the water in,
but you can use it, you know, to water flowers and whatever.
It’s got that feel of a little, being a little household pet that a number of designers got very interested in in the 90s, things not just being there to use, but actually having a kind of affectation
and you getting fond of them... that quality.
There are also quite beautiful, too, when you do them in clusters, with different colors.
[Group them together.]
They become almost like little sculptures, you know, to go in your kitchen or in the potting shed or whatever.
Yeah, they're kind of like little friends, aren’t they?
Yeah, so, I think it’s one of Seymour’s most interesting designs, even though it’s a very, sort of, utilitarian object.
The simplicity of it is what makes it, I think, yeah.
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