Hasta La Ideas

DMY Berlin: Zurich designers Kueng Caputo exhibited copies of fellow exhibitors’ work at DMY International Design Festival in Berlin last week.

Above: table by Thomas Schnur (see our earlier story)

Called Copy, the project involved selecting five pieces on show at the main exhibition then producing a new version of each.

Kueng Caputo chose a particular aspect of each design and exaggerated it in the new version, displaying photos of the new objects alongside images of the originals.

Above: chair by Dirk Vander Kooij (see the movie on Dezeen Screen)

Kueng Caputo’s first series of copies was produced in 2008 and they created this new set to compliment the theme of this year’s DMY Berlin, Copy/Culture.

The project was one of ten selected by the jury at the DMY Awards.

Above: lamp by Romain Diroux

DMY Berlin took place 1-5 June and the theme was Copy/Culture. See all our stories about the event here »

Here are some more details from Kueng Caputo:

Copy by Kueng Caputo

The market for design objects is small and exclusive – only copies make them suitable for mass consumption. Despite apparent close similarities, deciding attributes are often lost in the process.

Above: chair by Milena Krais

Such copies insult the original, even if at heart they are compliments to the original idea. “Copy by Kueng-Caputo” explores the limits of plagiarism, with much respect and a touch of irony. A selection of current design objects, exhibited at the DMY Berlin, serves as the raw material. Each of the design trophies is closely observed, analyzed, and virtually dismantled, in order to recognize its specific character.

On the one hand, the attempt to copy an original provides creative inspiration. On the other, the process aims at filtering out a significant aspect of a chosen object in order to exaggerate and honor it.

Above: stool by Yiannis Ghikas

The dialogue between original and copy thus represents an homage to the authors. And the originality of the copy reveals how inspiring such a discourse can be.

See also:

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Readme by Peter Böckel	FALT.series by Tim Mackerodt	Join Table by DING3000