04.09 - 28.11.2004
Commissioned by Lille Cultural Capital of Europe Droog Design presents the event Open Borders.
Droog visualizes the current state of design affairs in
Europe . A large 2000 sq. meters exhibition plus six projects in the city.
85 concepts by European designers, artists, architects.
Interaction with the city and the public.
Open Borders consists of a main exhibition in what used to be the mail sorting building TriPostal, nest to Lille Central Station with projects by 85 European designers, artists and architects. The public is challenged to actively take part in various performances, such as the ones called Feed Back. Each satellite project provides practical demonstrations of the developments in European Design:
Feed Back performances
A major part of the exhibition consists of interactive projects, both
in the exhibition hall and the city. The public is invited to participate
in performances such as the Tickle Robot by Driessens and Verstappen,
or in designing their own chair with Tord Boontje.
Open Borders is the
first edition of an event that Droog will organize in a different European
city each 3 years. Hereby Droog aims to illuminate recent developments
in European design, with crossovers to other disciplines, such as art
and architecture. The starting point is to contribute to international
debate and provide public access of these developments. Interaction with
the public is paramount.
This Open Borders 2004
edition in Lille focuses on specific developments that are now going on
in various disciplines. Designers, architects and artists use the social,
economic and technological environment as their material, and involve
the user in the process. They tread on each others areas or enter new
terrains. The projects concern (artificial) nature, the welfare state
and the open source movement, or free use of resources by designers as
well as users.
A number of products have been developed In cooperation with regional industry: glass giant ARC International in Arques, ceramic industry Faiencerie d'Arc de Dèvres, lace manufacturer Desseilles Textiles SAS in Calais and high tech fibre producers Dubar-Warneton and Rubans Gallant in Roubaix. The results are in TriPostal. In their designs the designers have started from existing products and added new elements or made combinations. An example is the French-Flemish glass by Wieki Somers, a merger of French wine and Flemish beer tradition. The other designers are: Gijs Bakker (art direction), Connie Groenewegen, Simon Heijdens, Chris Kabel, Paolo Ulian, Frederik Roijé and Arnout Visser.
Cynthia Hathaway chose products from the assortment of the French Hypermarket Carrefour and turned them into new designs. During Open Borders they can be seen in Carrefour Euralille, next to Central Station and TriPostal. Visitors can by a DIY guide to make the designs themselves
During the opening weekend (4 and 5 September) and the weekend of the Furniture Fair in Kortrijk (Belgium, 25 km from Lille), there will be a fair in Lille. Designers from the exhibition, like Connie Groenewegen, Franck Bragigand and Arnout Visser each have their own stand, where people can bring their own stuff for a facelift or even an extreme makeover.
droogdesign.nl