20 Designers at Biologiska; Eye, Sigga Heimis
During Stockholm Design week, February 09-12 2011, the city’s Biologiska Museum plays host to 20 upcoming designers, both from Sweden and around the world. ARTS THREAD previews a small selection, but the work is so fabulous, we’ll be bringing you a second glimpse later this week.
The Biologiska Museum contains collections of Scandinavian mammals and birds in their natural, ecological habitat, now set off by new work chosen and curated by French-born designer Emma Marga Blanche and Swedish designer Fredrik Färg and Hanna Nova Beatrice from Plaza Magazine.
20 Designers at Biologiska; Biologiska Museum
The project came about when Emma visited the Biologiska Museum for the first time at Christmas 2009 and later met with the head of the museum Lars-Erik Larsson. Although the museum is lit by natural light, the curators decided to engage with lighting companies Cardi and Elektroskandia Belysning to create new dramatic effects.
Striking visuals created using the work of the 20 designers play on the museum’s wildlife heritage, with vases and cutlery transformed into birds and wooden stools scaled down to look like rows of tiny penguins.
The Mora clock, Karin Auran Frankenstein; 20 Designers at Biologiska
All the pieces have a link with nature, whether direct, such as Swedish designer Karin Auran Frankenstein’s clocks made from adobe made from Mongolian papier-mâché with welded metal or more abstract, as with Icelandic designer Sigga Heimis’ Eye, made during a workshop at the Vitra Design Museum last summer. Sigga notes, ‘We wanted to make the eyes big to make them more impressive and what I wanted to point out is that almost all eyes are the same, no matter if they come from a human, or an animal. The scale just changes and the colours.’
Ausgebrannt, Kaspar Hamacher; Clock: The House of Possibilities; Karin Auran Frankenstein
Distressed and burnt materials are also seen, as in Belgian designer Kaspar Hamacher’s series of low stool/tables entitled Ausgebrannt, made from tree trunks which have been shaped by use of fire. Ausgebrannt, meaning ‘burned out’ in German, is created by cutting a tree trunk into segments varying in length. All the bark is stripped from the exterior and fire is then used to hollow out parts of the trunk to create legs.
Mywood, Florian Hauswirth; Bear's Coat, Katrin Greiling
Traditional textiles are include also, such as the Bear’s Coat by Swedish/German designer Katrin Greiling. A blanket made out of wool and silk inspired by the traditional cloaks worn by Arabs in the Middle East, this oversized coat – huge like a one man tent – has small gaps on both side for your hands.
Scoop, part of a series called Mywood by Swiss designer Florian Hauswirth refers to a strong trend for the ultra-local. Florian says, ‘The wood used for this scoop was made from from a plum tree that grew next to the house where I was raised. Nutrition and cooking is very important to me. Not only should we strive for local and organic foods, our everyday objects should live up to the same sustainable expectations.’
Image credits: 20 Designers at Biologiska styled images photographed by Patrik Engström/PlazaDeco.
20 Designers at Biologiska
Biologiska Museum
Emma Marga Blanche
Fredrik Färg
Karin Auran Frankenstein
Sigga Heimis
Kaspar Hamacher
Katrin Greiling
Florian Hauswirth
