Christien Meindertsma’s “Beyond the Surface” at Vitra Design Museum
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Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, is hosting “Beyond the Surface,” featuring works by Dutch artist and designer Christien Meindertsma. The show runs through January 20, 2019.This is the artist’s first solo exhibition outside her country.Christien Meindertsma’s “Beyond the Surface” at Vitra Design Museum
Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, is hosting “Beyond the Surface,” featuring works by Dutch artist and designer Christien Meindertsma. The show runs through January 20, 2019.This is the artist’s first solo exhibition outside her country. “For Christien Meindertsma, the creation of a product is only one element of the design process. In her unique approach, she explores the mechanisms of modern industrial production, undertaking expeditions to factories and conducting meticulous detective work at waste disposal sites and workshops — while bringing her unquenchable thirst for knowledge to interviews with the protagonists of these adventures,” the museum says.The show looks at Meindertsma’s work with the materials of wool, flax, incinerator bottom ash, and recycled wool. The display features projects such as the “One Sheep Sweater,” 2018, for this, the artist produced garments from the coats of individual sheep. Also, the “Flax Chair,” 2015, which is an innovative and sustainable furniture piece made from a now rarely used material. This design was nominated for the New Material Award (2016) and won the Dutch Design Award (2016).As the title suggests the exhibition does not focus merely on finished products. It also highlights material samples, prototypes, and photographs. According to the museum, “A particular focus lies on the production processes behind the completed object, which Meindertsma captures by means of films and publications — a method she refers to as ‘documentary design.’ This renders visible how deeply the designer dives into her subject matter, often exploring a topic for long periods of time and positioning one completed project as a launch pad for the next.”Meindertsma’s work is driven by questions such as What are the effects of globalized production chains? How do you define transparency? And how does commodity trading work? Again and again, the following question arises could this be done differently? “Christien Meindertsma’s work and attitude demonstrate that design is not only the act of creating physical objects, but also a means to critically engage with our established modes of consumption and to disrupt thinking patterns in favour of positive change,” the museum adds.Christien Meindertsma (b.1980) is a Dutch artist and designer. She graduated from in 2003 from the Design Academy Eindhoven. Apart from her designs, the artist has also created documentary films and images in collaboration with photographer Mathijs Labadie and filmmaker Roel van Tour. Meindertsma’s books and products are part of museum collections such as the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.“Beyond the Surface” runs from August 18, 2018, through January 20, 2019, at the Vitra Design Museum, Charles-Eames-Straße 2, 79576 Weil am Rhein, Germany.For details, visit: http://www.blouinartinfo.com/galleryguide/vitra-design-museum/overviewClick on the slideshow for a sneak peek at the exhibition.http://www.blouinartinfo.comFounder: Louise Blouin Read more