Two Very Different Collectible Design Experiences
Sydney Contemporary‘s first Offsite program proved that Sydney’s power is in satellites and offsites.
For instance, an apartment in Surry Hills placed collectible design in avant-garde domestic living settings. Meanwhile, a hotel room where the soap was cake.
These vastly different experiences showcased one-off and edition designs alongside art, with a touch of fashion. Together, they delivered meaningful engagement to a national audience.
HŌLUS-BŌLUS: not a gallery, not a home
The Second is the Iain Halliday-designed apartment in the landmark Edwards and Co. building on Foster Street, Surry Hills. There, Emma Elizabeth of LOCAL DESIGN and gallerist Cassandra Bird built a show around a simple idea. Instead, nothing here was hung for viewing; it was hung for living with. The show was HŌLUS-BŌLUS.
Leather atelier A-ESQUE‘s Amanda Rettig showed The Bag in Braid. Also, the pieces blurred the line between furniture, sculpture and something you’d actually live alongside. The show landed as “not a gallery, not a home, something in between.” So that’s proof collectible design doesn’t need a white cube to make its case.
Featured Designers:
Adam Goodrum, Adam Cornish, Edward Linacre with Danielle Brustman, ACV Studio, A-ESQUE, Ash Allen, Ben McCarthy Studio, Bernabeifreeman, Charles Wilson with Andrew C Simpson, Clementine Blackman, Korban/Flaubert, Jon Goulder, Kate Banazi, Lightly, Dean Norton, OKU Space, Ross Gardam, Shilo Engelbrecht, Thomas Maxam Studio, Tom Skeehan and Tom Fereday.
Also, Saturday morning featured a talk about light in art and architecture. Lighting designer Siobahn McNabb and her architect/designer sister, Pascale Gomes McNabb.
The Object Show: Six Rooms, Six Worlds, at The EVE Hotel
Arts-Matter‘s Michelle Grey and Susan Armstrong partnered with The EVE Hotel to open six themed hotel rooms for guided tours. Each immersive interior was unexpected, with an edit from a different curatorial team. The Object Show followed themes: Play, Botanical, Edible, Collectible, Interior and Light.
Valentine Fodor of Vege Mamma curated EDIBLE, hyper-realistic sculptures made entirely of cake. Meanwhile, Rainbow Studios curated INTERIORS, forty objects with a shoppable site attached.
Work across the six rooms spanned objects, art, sculpture, lighting and furnishings. Contributors included Marlo Lyda, Ashley Corbert Smith, Amy Vidler, Objects for Thought, Jacquiline Kaytar, Martyn Thompson, and Mash Studios.
The Marriage of Design & Art
Australian designers are often referenced as ‘artists’. Few claim the title themselves. Whatever the name, the work by these designers is driving the rise in the collectible design sphere.
Back in February, Melbourne Art Fair (MAF) debuted FutureObjekt. A 600-square-metre salon showcase of limited-edition and one-off works by Australian designers and brands.
Paying exhibitors at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) included Christopher Boots, Volker Haug, Adam Goodrum and Adam Cornish. Dean Norton, Don Cameron, Tom Fereday, Cordon Salon, Jordan Flemming with Rosanna Caravelo, and Studio Brud also exhibited.
Broached Commissions’ Lou Weiss curated the design-led VIP bar space. Designer Anna Varendorff received the MAF major commission.
Not a Gallery, an Immersive Space
Overall, September’s collectible events were an undoubted triumph. Integrating design works into domestic-type settings truly showcased them.
An observation: to fairly reward the contributors, future editions might include a clear sales model. That kind of model would help grow the one-off, edition-design and functional-object sector commercially. The hotel rooms already had one; the apartment would benefit from one too.
FutureObjekt at Melbourne Art Fair
