Upbeat but underwhelming

Events / Product design

Despite its most impressive program to date and a healthy increase in sales, the content of this year's Design Miami/ Basel was slightly underwhelming - even with 40,000 bees in attendance.

By Jeanne Tan / 24-06-2010

This year's Design Miami/ Basel was the largest and most ambitious to date. The mood of the fair was upbeat considering the lingering financial crisis and apparently sales were even up. This tenth edition is also the last for the event's founder and director Ambra Medda.

"There was a positive energy in comparison to the previous three Design Miami shows," says Gestalten publisher Robert Klanten who attended the event. "Galleries were selling, people were talking about the market returning, and had a positive outlook to the future." Other overall impressions? "A bigger fair, a better selection of galleries and a new bridge has been built between Design Miami and Art Basel bringing more collectors to the event," comments French journalist and curator Cédric Morisset who hosted a Design Miami/ Talk about High-Tech Art and Design. "More than 10 French galleries (from a total of 32) with a lot of exceptional vintage pieces (they rule the market) and a lot of Dutch designers (with quality ranging from super good to super bad pieces)."

Three Dutch galleries - VIVID, Priveekollektie and Droog - participated and a significant of Dutch designers were represented by various galleries including Carpenters Workshop Gallery (Atelier Van Lieshout, DRIFT, Sebastian Brajkovic and Thomas Libertiny, Studio Job), gabrielle ammann // gallery (Satyendra Pakhalé), Rossana Orlandi (Nacho Carbonell), Mitterrand + Cramer/ Design (Maarten Baas, Studio Job, Studio Makkink & Bey), Contrasts Gallery Shanghai (Maarten Baas, Jurgen Bey), Galerie Kreo (Hella Jongerius, Wieki Somers). Meanwhile the curatorial initiative Design On/Site featured installations by 'guerilla' galleries focusing on the work of one studio. Presentations included Caroline Van Hoek presenting Ruudt Peters, Dilmos presenting Studio Job & Pieke Bergmans, Gallery Libby Sellers presenting a new digital installation by Simon Heijdens, Particles Gallery presenting Aldo Bakker and Secondome presenting Kiki Van Eijk. While highlights included Nacho Carbonell's over-the-top addition ('Bush of Iron') to his 'Diversity' series, Studio Libertiny's 'Unbearable Lightness' - which was exhibited complete with 40 000 bees that created the skin of the Jesus-on-a-cross sculpture - was in contrast underwhelming. "What was the connection to design?" asks Morisset. More suitable for the main Art Basel fair perhaps.

On the floor, pieces from Carpenters Workshop Gallery and Dansk Møbelkunst Gallery were said to have caught the eye - and wallet - of renowned Russian businessman Roman Abramovich. Barely hours after opening, Priveekollektie reported early sales: two pieces ('Tafelgenoten' and '4D-Cabinet') from recent Design Academy Graduate Carolina Wilcke. Galerie Kreo sold pieces from both Hella Jongerius and Wieki Somers and at VIVID, designs from Jaime Hayon & Nienke Klunder, Erik Stehmann and Studio Job (The Farm) found new owners. Rotterdam-based VIVID will exhibit in Design Miami in December later this year. "We need more movie stars in Miami!" says gallery director Saskia Copper. Perhaps Brad Pitt will drop by again to snap up more pieces from Nacho Carbonell and Atelier van Lieshout?

Despite the ambitious programming and record number of exhibitors, commentators remark that the show was generally underwhelming. Given that there seems to be a major shift in the design world to more social-based design, where does that leaves limited edition-design and collector's events like Design Miami/ Basel? Is this sort of 'design for collectors' relevant any more today? "It is still relevant and will remain relevant," says Morisset. "More than 50% of the products presented at Design Miami are vintage. For the remaining 50%, a lot of pieces are pure research works. It's like Haute Couture being a laboratory for Prêt-à-porter."

"There's definitely a shift in attention towards more social-based design and there are ramifications in which design needs to function," comments Klanten. "There's Haute Couture and Prêt-à-porter design and there's no harm in limited edition design but globally, democratic design is what counts today. Every period in design reflects the latest production means with new technology and materials. When these merge, new forms emerge and Design Miami is the perfect experimental platform for such output and for 'design art.'"

Images: Overall view, courtyard, Priveekollektie, VIVID, Droog, Contrasts Gallery, Kiki van Eijk for Secondome, Maarten Baas for Mitterrand+Kramer, Galerie Kreo, Studio Libertiny for Carpenters Workshop, Design Talk: 'The New Wave: Trends in High-Tech Art and Design', Nacho Carbonell for Rossana Orlandi (photography Tatiana Uzlova). Exhibition photography James Harris.