DDW23 – The Product Chronicles
During Dutch Design Week, we will be introducing you to the festival’s Hidden Gems. Special locations who we feel are the stand-outs of this edition.
With The Product Chronicles we explore the narrative of things that matter. Consumer society is running at full speed. The more we surround ourselves with products, the less value or meaning they seem to have to us. How can design today lead to products that will still matter tomorrow? The Product Chronicles explores how designers can address and strengthen the connection between user and product. How can design contribute to valuable products in the broadest sense of the word? And thus create a meaningful relationship between people and things? The Product Chronicles is an initiative of design curator Lisa Hardon, presenting new work of the six participating designers.
Christien Meindertsma
FLOCKS wool roving in three dimensions
With FLOCKS, Meindertsma has developed a groundbreaking new technique for processing Dutch wool, which has been labeled as worthless. FLOCKS is a new industrial technique that makes it possible to build threedimensionally with wool, as a ‘print’ or in block form. Thanks to a co-robot, the wool is transformed into a strong three-dimensional material, without the use of water or binding agents. It is the first fully threedimensional wool that can be produced in any desired shape. It gives a new purpose to the 1 million kilo Dutch wool that is thrown away every year, can replace existing polluting materials such as foam rubber, glass wool or rock wool, but is also an aesthetically attractive building block in itself.
Antoine Peters
Hand in hand in hand
With Hand in hand in hand, Peters symbolizes the interaction between generations. His characteristic stretched sleeves are connected by casts of Peters’ own hands, those of his son Alf and those of his father Antoon. Symbolizing that we as people are connected to each other – consciously and unconsciously. For the future of future generations, it is important to handle all the things that are already there more carefully. With his work, Peters reminds us of the emotional value that clothing can represent, and that this deserves a prominent place in the way we make choices about what we wear and use.
Nienke Hoogvliet & Tim Jongerius
Kairos
The belief that time is money is deeply rooted in our current society. In the interactive installation ‘Kairos’, the visitor is invited to forget about clock time and give space to the moment. In our current society we seem to live mainly in ‘Chronos’ time. The Greek god Chronos stands for measurable time and continuity: an experience of time based on the clock. But the Greeks had another god of time: Kairos, the god of the right moment. Peace, attention and care create the opportunity to seize this moment. New ideas and discoveries can arise in a Kairos moment. Through alertness, creativity and amazement, possibilities can be devised in the moment that contribute to a better future.
Noud Sleumer
Wind Pavilions
The Netherlands has a centuries-long relationship with wind energy. Our old windmills were embedded in an economic, technological and social local system. Today’s wind turbines, on the other hand, are anonymous steel towers that, according to many, disfigure the landscape and have no direct social or economic relationship with the local community. With Wind Pavilions, Noud Sleumer asks whether, based on our historical connection with wind turbines, we can re-embed current wind turbines in our social system, so that people feel personally and collectively connected to them again.
Aniela Fidler Wieruszewska
Diamond Makers Lab
With her conceptual Diamond Makers Lab, Fidler Wieruszewska spent a year researching what is really important to people. By having conversations with people from different backgrounds, she came up with a total of 100 precious objects that are ‘diamond-worthy’ for people. Instead of diamonds mined from the earth, people preferred a diamond made from Notre Dame ashes, their mother’s cakes, or a piece of paper signed by Rihanna. In doing so, she urges us to reconsider the true value of diamonds and to think about what truly has eternal value in our lives.
Re—gained
presents: Studio Simone Post x Sparo; Atelier Reservé x Boro Atelier; PTSA x UvA
Re—gained is a R&D label for circular design and aims to spark sustainable development in product design and production. Projects are focused on (re)using, adapting and improving existing products and materials and turning waste into value. Re—gained is showing three new projects based on three design classics; with discarded carpet tiles, unused office cabinets by Friso Kramer and 5,000 old tote bags from Dutch Design Week. The collaborations in these projects are quite diverse and consist of product designer Simone Post, fashion designers Atelier Reserv. and Jan Willem ter Steege from PTSA, and organizations Sparo, Boro Atelier and University of Amsterdam (UvA).
About Lisa Hardon – Zakka Stories
The Product Chronicles is an initiative of Zakka Stories. With her studio Zakka Stories, Lisa Hardon curates exhibitions, writes texts or organizes projects about seeing the beauty and meaning in everyday objects and products. In her work she investigates the value and meaning of design and how value and meaning can be designed. Former/other projects include: Things that Matter (for Dutch Design Week), Color! (for Elle Decoration), BORO x Mobiel (for BORO x Atelier), Museum House Audio Tour (for Van Eesteren Museum), Bounce Back! (for Zagreb Design Week) and Living Looonger (for NEMO Science Museum).
Exhibition ‘The Product Chronicles’
Atelier NL
Bergmannstraat 76, Eindhoven
21 – 29 October, 2023
ddw.nl/theproductchronicles