Features on design and ideas

By Penny Craswell

Sydney gallerist, philanthropist and scholar Dr Gene Sherman is notable for her incredible eye for contemporary art, rigorous approach to curation and generosity as a modern-day patron. Her remarkable life and collections of art, fashion, jewellery, architecture and design have come together in a new book The Spoken Object: A collector’s journey in fashion, jewellery, design and architecture.

The book is a fantastic size – somewhere between a biography and a large-format art book – and is the perfect choice for this mix of the written word and sumptuous imagery. As editor, Sherman has limited her own writing to a short preface, instead choosing to hand the baton to other writers, including friends, former employees and collaborators, all of whom are talented and many of whom are powerful figures in their own right, including museum directors and academics.

The first section, written by respected curator Dolla Merrillees, is part personal essay and part short biography of Gene, charting the key milestones in her life. Joni Waka, another long-time collaborator has written his own portrait of Gene, splitting his short text into five descriptions of “Dr G” – the teacher, the friend, the phoenix, the persona, the catalyst. From here, the book is split into four main sections: Fashion, Jewellery, Design and Architecture, with between two and four short essays per section. Each writer has brought their own flavour to the essays, while focusing on the subject of the book – Sherman’s collections.

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By Penny Craswell

“Air” is the second exhibition by Brisbane’s QAGOMA in a series – the first, “Water” opened at the beginning of 2020, when Australia was in terrible drought with devastating bushfires that were a daily reminder of the climate crisis. As it turned out, the smoke of those bushfires – and the way they turned the sky red and black – is also the subject of the next exhibition in the series, “Air”.

Air is ubiquitous, often invisible, able to burn and be polluted, and also vital to life and health. The theme is malleable, and also timely due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has dominated our lives since 2020. In the exhibition catalogue, curator Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow writes: “At this moment in history, we are sensitive to air as never before: alert to airborne threats and aware of our shared reliance on it as vital.”

Barlow divides the exhibition into five sections, expanding the meaning of air accordingly: Atmosphere, Shared, Burn, Invisible and Change. Part of the Atmosphere section, Tomás Saraceno’s Drift: A cosmic web of thermodynamic rhythms is an installation of giant silver and transparent balls dotted through the gallery’s main atrium that represents the air itself. Kirrihi Barlow says Saraceno asks us to: “imagine air as it encircles the globe, as a vast invisible highway connecting continents, and as molecules moving within our bodies and bloodstream.”

Saraceno’s companion piece, much smaller, that hangs on the walls beside the installation is We do not all breathe the same air, a framed series of dots on strips of paper. Each dot is the pollution in the air made visible via lighter or darker grey, separated into hours, one strip per day, one hanging per week. A potent reminder that the air we breathe is sometimes poisonous.

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By Penny Craswell

Finding gifts for friends and family that won’t go straight to landfill can be a challenge, and this year I have some great suggestions, from items made from sustainable materials to second-hand options, to things from First Nations-owned businesses.

This is also a great time of year to give to charities helping those who are less fortunate. You can sponsor It’s in the Bag, an initiative of Share the Dignity, gifting bags full of essentials like shampoo, toothpaste and period products to women who are waking up in a domestic violence refuge or homeless shelter on Christmas. Or consider giving to OzHarvest or Foodbank to help those who are struggling to buy food this Christmas.

1. Did you know that Marimekko has a sustainable range out called Marimade? The Oiva bottle is made with part recycled glass and uses cork and bamboo, the Oiva takeaway mug is made from a compostable bio-based material and the Mini Unikko A5 Pouch is made from a cellulose material. marimekko.com

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By Penny Craswell

Having originally studied woodwork at ANU, it is brass that has become a signature material for Sydney designer Henry Wilson. Adding to a variety of different objects he has designed, from table lamps to tape dispensers and oil burners, his latest piece is the Planchart Handle, which is now available in brass or aluminium.

The Planchart has a distinctive curve to it, inspired by Villa Planchart, which was designed by Gio Ponti in the early 1950s. Set on a hill overlooking Caracas in Venezuela, the house now belongs to the Fundacion Anala y Armando Planchart, which has maintained it intact, including furnishings.

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By Penny Craswell and Paul McInnes

This essay was written for the exhibition ‘Everything you Touch: Design from Denmark’ at The Modern Object in Canberra from 22 September to 22 October 2022, curated by Penny Craswell and Paul McInnes.

Penny:

For me, there is something so classically Danish mid-century about a warm brown teak tapered table leg or sideboard. Danish design from this era is so beautifully balanced in its proportions – not too heavy, nor too flimsy. The materials have a warmth and tactile quality that is missing from the machine aesthetic of the era with its stainless steel angles. I also always love to hear the Danish language as it always reminds me
of my Danish godmother and her husband. What do you love about Danish design?

Paul:

I’m a modernist at heart, but I’ve always been attracted to the warmth and timeless quality of Danish design from the 1950s and 1960s. I think it’s the combination of Bauhaus functionalism and the Scandinavian concept of hygge that has contributed to its enduring popularity.

Australians have always has a strong connection with Danish design. Australian taste was shaped by post- war immigration, and the work of newly resettled European designers. In the 1950s and 1960s, Australia became a major world market for Danish (and Scandinavian) design, and many local furniture companies were quick to embrace the Danish Modern aesthetic.

Hayson furniture in Melbourne is a case in point. Its founders, Cliff & Peggy Hayton started producing Danish inspired designs following a trip to Copenhagen, selling them under the ‘Hans Hayson’ label.

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By Penny Craswell

A florist and cafe is always a wonderful combination, allowing you to consume your hot beverages in amongst some flowers. Based in the Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford, La Fantaisie is especially appealing thanks to a beautiful interior by Bergman & Co.

The interior of La Fantaisie had good bones to start with, located in a two-storey Victorian building with brickwork, arched windows, a gorgeous entry door and generous proportions.

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By Penny Craswell

Sydney designer and jeweller Bic Teieu explores concepts of cultural hybridity and the home by exploding and rearranging floral motifs in a series of metal objects made from sterling silver and precious sheet metal alloys, which was recently exhibited at UNSW Galleries.

Created as part of Tieu’s PhD, this body of work has a strong conceptual and theoretical basis, exploring the designer’s own identity as a Southeast Asian Australian woman living between cultures.

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By Penny Craswell

The design challenge set for Riofrio Carroll Architects by the owners of this house in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton was to combine two long narrow terraces, demolish additions from the 1950s and 1970s, and reuse the bricks to build a new extension.

Each terrace is five metres wide with a heritage facade in patterned brick with decorative plasterwork above. These two facades were retained as a part of the property’s history: “An important aspect of the architectural project was to maintain the layers of history that had made their mark over the decades on the property,” says Nelson Riofrio from Riofrio Carroll Architects.

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By Penny Craswell

I’m excited to announce that ‘Reclaimed: New homes from old materials’ will be on sale in Australia from 30 August and is now available for pre-order from Booktopia Australia. The book will be available for sale in the UK from 2023 and in the US as well (to be confirmed).

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Marisia Lukaszewski of aestheticalliance reviews the ‘Future of Fashion’ exhibition by Stella McCartney and RE-CUT by Toogood x Carhartt, two shows proving fashion is a vital part of Salone del Mobile and Milan Design Week.

Micro dosing the ‘Future of Fashion’ exhibition by Stella McCartney

As one approaches the venue of Caselli 11-12, a 1800s neo-classical tollbooth located near the Turati metro stop in Milan, a collection of resin mushroom statues herald the location for the latest preview of ‘Future of Fashion: An innovation conversation with Stella McCartney’.

Launched originally at the UN’s COP26 climate conference, the evolving and travelling installation aims to leverage UK fashion designer Stella McCartney’s past and present achievements to inspire future action. Salone del Mobile is a ‘laboratory’ for design experimentation, innovation, and cross-pollination, making it a natural platform to introduce the designer’s proposed construction and supply-chain solutions of our shared tomorrow.

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