Great
Brits – The New Alchemists
14 to 18 April 2005
Paul Smith, Viale Umbria 95, 20135 Milan
The Design Museum and the British Council are showcasing the work of the
new generation of talented young British designers during the 2005 Milan
Furniture Fair in Great Brits – The New Alchemists, an exhibition
to be held at Paul Smith’s headquarters in Milan from 14 April to
18 April 2005.
Each of the designers featured in Great Brits – Pascal Anson, Michael
Cross and Julie Mathias, Julia Lohmann, Matthias Megyeri and Peter Traag
– is at the start of their career, yet has developed a distinctive
approach to design. They share a passion for experimentation with new
materials and technologies and for exploring the transformative –
or alchemic – possibilities of design.
Pascal Anson gives new life to discarded objects by reinventing them as
sets. Michael Cross and Julie Mathias test our taboos by making exquisite,
yet provocative lighting by immersing electric light bulbs in water. Julia
Lohmann transforms the food industry’s debris – cow hides
and sheep’s stomachs – into lighting and furniture. Mathias
Megyeri investigates our obsession with security
by customising burglar alarms and surveillance devices. Peter Traag creates
ingenious furniture by working with materials from a fresh perspective.
This is the second Great Brits exhibition of the work of young British
designers to be organised by the Design Museum and British Council with
Paul Smith Ltd during the Milan Furniture Fair. The first exhibition in
2003 helped to launch the
international careers of Tord Boontje, Sam Buxton, Mathias Bengtsson and
Daniel Brown and identified the emergence of a new romanticism in design.
In Great Brits – The New Alchemists, the curators, Emily Campbell,
head of design at the British Council, and Alice Rawsthorn, director of
the Design Museum, will explore the development of a raw, surreal design
aesthetic that transforms objects, materials and typologies in unexpected
ways. “The first Great Brits was such a fantastic success and a
great opportunity on an international level for young British designers,
that we all decided to do it again,” said Sir Paul Smith. “We
are very excited by the new group of designers in Great Brits –
The New Alchemists. I can’t wait to see the show.”
Born in London in 1973, Pascal Anson studied three dimensional design at Kingston University and design products at the Royal College of Art. He has since developed his own products – like the Reunification Project of reclaimed found objects and furniture he exhibited in Design Mart at the Design Museum in autumn 2004 – and teaches design at Kingston and Central Saint Martins.
www.iampascal.com
By plunging electric light bulbs into water, Michael Cross and Julie Mathias created a beautiful, yet disturbing lighting installation in Flood. Born in the
Hebrides in 1979, Cross studied industrial design at Sheffield Hallam University before enrolling at the Royal College of Art, where he met Julie Mathias, who was born in Geneva in 1978 and had studied product design in Saint-Etienne.
www.wokmedia.com
By making a light from tripe and a leather bench in the shape of a cow’s back, Julia Lohmann uses her work to explore our contradictory relationship with
animals as sources of food and materials. Born in Hildsheim, Germany in 1977, she studied graphic design at the Surrey Institute and then design products at the Royal College of Art from which she graduated in summer 2004.
www.julialohmann.co.uk
Intrigued by the ambiguous attitude of the British to home security, Germanborn designer Matthias Megyeri has developed humorous and subversive
versions of security products such as railings, camera hoods and alarms. Born in Stuttgart in 1973, Megyeri studied visual communication in Karlsruhe, before moving to London to study design products at the Royal College of Art.
www.sweetdreamssecurity.com
Born in Tegelen in the Netherlands in 1979, Peter Traag studied 3D Design in Arnhem and design products at the Royal College of Art in London, where he now lives. Since graduating in 2003, he has worked for the Mike Smith Studio, which makes artists’ installations, as well as on his own furniture design projects including the Sponge chair, which is now manufactured by Edra.
www.petertraag.com
