Seed on the ground sprouts creative concepts
"Ceramic" by Atelier Fevrier is 90 percent wool, 10 percent silk.
The fusion of design and art is a new trend in Shanghai.
The exhibition "Seed on the Ground" has opened at Dest Gallery, a design gallery in a newly renovated historical building on Shaanxi Road N.
It features the works of seven groups of European design artists and their creative concepts, in diverse cultural backgrounds and styles. The participating artists appreciate design as an optional means to express their own needs, identity and personality.
For example, Florian Pretet and Isha Mukhia Pretet, founders of Atelier Fevrier, come from two entirely different cultures with different upbringings.
"Growing up between Darjeeling and Kathmandu, traditional hand-knotted rugs are a part of our culture," Isha said. "Many of my close friends had small ateliers at home where their mothers were making hand knotted rugs.
"Both of us have a deep respect and love for traditional crafts and we wanted to do something that would keep us connected to Nepal, home for me, and France, home for Florian.
"We wanted to create something that would never be out of trend. Something that would be valued over time and something that could pass through generations. Hand knotted rugs was the obvious choice."
Their pieces are actually the epitome of contemporary art fused with traditional craftsmanship.
"Elements of Time" (AM1800) by Nynke Koster
One of the highlight of the exhibition "Elements of Time" was created by Nynke Koster, a young designer who has won many design awards since graduation.
Koster believes that stylized interior design decorations can reflect that aesthetic and character of the era. Her materials are mostly rubber, foam and wood. The process is to choose a suitable location in a historic building, apply on a panel, make a rubber mold, cast and foam it to reorganize the parts.
The artist tries to soften the cold and complex architecture and give it a new definition.
"Elements of Time" focuses on architectural fragments from various periods including Baroque, Am1800, Art Nouveau and Neoclassism.
Koster transforms space, time and place into soft elements through careful study of architectural decoration from all eras. Bringing a decoration from another place with a story from the past here, coexisting as a place here and now, which also gives a new identity to the existing world around.
It is interesting that visitors can sit on the Baroque ceiling or touch one of the neoclassical style structures at the exhibit.
Exhibition info:
Date: Through September 25, 10am-12:30am, 1-6pm (Tuesdays-Sundays)
Venue: Dest Gallery
Address: Bldg 8, Shan Kang Li, 808 Shaanxi Rd N.
