Hasta La Ideas

A collection of young art – second edition after the big success. One of the best off locations / shows during the ART COLOGNE.

Now to get even less clothed, there was lots of talk over the weekend about Maria Abramovic‘s The Artist is Present exhibition currently at the Museum of Metropolitan Art. More specifically about how the eight nude performers she uses therein have been poked, prodded, or otherwise groped in the line of artistic duty. While this behavior has been surprising to all involved (why we’re not sure, but they’ve said they expected more from the general public), fortunately the museum has reportedly been active in removing those who get too close to Abramovic’s work:

One performer, a dancer called Will Rawls, told the New York Times that an elderly man rubbed his ribs and then touched his backside. “As he was passing me he looked me in the eyes and said ‘You feel good, man.'”

Rawls alerted a security guard and the man was escorted out, his 30-year membership of the museum revoked.

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Dedicated to emerging designers, Salone Satellite is the area of Milan’s furniture fair where big companies and trend researchers find the fresh stuff.

My Granddaughter’s Cabinet by Lisa Hilland uses typical Swedish materials as a way to hand down the tradition of local design to younger generations. “I have chosen those materials that grow old beautifully,” Lisa told CH, “like reindeer leather and birch, oak and pear wood to let my daughters get to know our heritage.”

The Young Serbian Designers displayed works by Ana Kraš (nice manually knitted lamps and lampshades and Ksilofon stand), Antipod Studio, Jovan Topalovič and Miliana Nicolič.

Jovana Bogdanovi’s polar bear-shaped sugar cube serves to remind us of the animal’s constant disappearance. “Each product has a story,” he told CH. “Otherwise it’s not necessary to have new products.”

The girls at Singapore-based Studio Juju work on playful shapes to create lovely little chairs and stools—as perfect in a children’s playroom as they are on a spaceship.

Craftsmanship, knitting and fashion come together in the Stretch line from Carnevale Studio. American-born designer Jessica Carnevale (after studying in Amsterdam and Rome) came up with this series of chairs which mix materials and inspirations.

Can you fold up a chair and mail it? Cate & Nelson‘s “Hug,” a comfortably wide seat, sets up and breaks down without the use of tools and packs flat.

Morphing and mutation are the keywords for Fehling & Peiz&#8212their latest work “Still Lives” consists of quilted pigs standing in as sofas, while Hockerbank is a series of wooden “siamese” seats molded together.

As any fetishist will tell you, we can have feelings for design objects, just like for our pets. This seems to be the inspiration for the Japanese designer Masakazu Hori, who transforms everyday objects into cute little animals.

Italian designers Filippo Protasoni and Luigi Semeraro joined forces to create La Macchina Sforna Idee, literally “a machine to generate ideas.” At Salone Satellite they proposed a coffee table with a removable top that serve as the perfect base for a laptop.

Via Durini, a street that has become institution in the Milanese design panorama, still manages to surprise with its many furniture showrooms exhibiting new work. The first revelation is the new Bend Sofa designed by the volcanic Patricia Urquiola for B&B at Fuorisalone.

Curvaceous yet monolithic forms give the seating system the look of soft sculpture, creating a deep sense of motion in this particular shape, the result of research conducted with 3-D models. Combinations run from small to large but the always-iconic result fits in well with the other new products from the Italian design house.

Other finds include the Ray seating system by Antonio Citterio (which is very low and undoubtedly elegant) and Piccola Papilo by Naoto Fukasawa, a small version of last year’s Grande Papilo—a chair as comfortable as it looks.

Next stop at Porro, known for its signature devotion to black-and-white, their inventive design installation stuns with bright colors and unusual furniture. “This Is A Box” features pieces designed by Piero Lissoni, Christophe Pillet and Front Design.

The aforementioned box hosts a contemporary dandy’s house, with colors themed for each living space. Magenta infuses the bedroom, black sets the tone for thought and study, yellow represents a surreal, deformed living room, and cyan creates a dining space for dreamers.

Agape, the company heralded for their bathroom design, launched the new Agapecasa collection at Fuorisalone, featuring a new range of products for every room in the house. They open the collection with maestro Angelo Mangiarotti and his eponymous collection—a series of projects by the great architect who’s recognized as a creator of classic global designs.

Another exciting studio at Fuorisalone, design firm Cassina‘s masterful manipulation of color keeps the work both fresh and timeless. The exhibition “Authentic Color,” dedicated to Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand, features themed islands of the two designers’ work and other modern leaders. They include sketches, photographs and quotations, bringing new dimension and insight to these timeless pieces.

Started just five years ago, Elita‘s event series has already become a Milan Design Week tradition. This year’;s headquarters, the historic Franco Parenti theater, beautifully restored by Michele de Lucchi will host several of the music and cultural happenings. Several more take place elsewhere around town, thanks to an ever-growing community network of clubs and venues such as Tunnel, Magazzini Generali and Plastic.

With an incredibly rich and interesting program that includes 50 performances and 40 speakers, CH selected some of our favorite and most relevant events, highlighted below.

The Institute of European Design will promote a series of workshops and events with their students, including the Italian Laptop Orchestra (a real orchestra of computers reinterpreting Italian pop music classics), a live fiction writing experiment, and Expolab, a journey through local food from Italy’s Lombardia region.

GQ magazine opens 13 April 2010 with the eclectic designer Fabio Novembre presenting his new book, accompanied by readings from actors Filippo Timi and Stefania Rocca, and a surprise celebrity DJ set. Entrance is free, but requires online registration.

Designer Marc Lloyd will present the new Citroën CS3 in a conference called “Anti Retro. A Journey Into Car Design” on 15 April 2010.

Entirely dedicated to “The Next Made in Italy,” on 17 April 2010 The Renaissance Link will present a series of events related to the New Italian Renaissance with Francesco Morace, Giovanni Lanzone and Giulio Iacchetti, among others.

Sunday 18 April 2010 will begin with a brunch and is the most experimental day with Next Continet Africa—a host of Senegalese artists living in Berlin will propose a Utopian pan-African society where the Afro is the official currency. Also that day, Rock the Islam tackles how music can develop a real dialogue with the Arab nations and Western countries, and at flea market Il Grande Circo delle Pulci, shoppers can look for design and fashion items.

And of course, there’s the music. Underground and experimental sounds play starring roles, but the schedule makes room for acoustic and dance music as well. Performances that we want to check out include a musical exhibition by Shepard Fairey, the Italian emerging project Luci della Centrale Elettrica, Pantha du Prince, Mouse on Mars from Germany, Jon Hopkins with visuals and music from the U.K., the Body Music Room by Kilohertz, talks and videos for the American composer Arthur Russell, a piano solo performance by Gonzales, and a remarkable DJ set by The Chemical Brothers.

Elita Design Week Music and Arts Festival runs from 13-18 April 2010.