forum on design as a critical practice
Iaspis
The Arts Grants Committee’s
international program for visual artists
Konstnärsnämnden
Maria Skolgata 83
118 20 Stockholm, Sweden
+46 (0)8 – 50 65 50 00
Exhibition 14 November – 14 December 2008, opening 14 November 4 – 8pm
FORMS OF INQUIRY: The Architecture of Critical Graphic Design
presents architecture as seen through the practice of graphic design. The exhibition brings together new works by a range of international graphic designers who base their work in critical investigation: Metahaven, Kasia Korczak, Karel Martens & David Bennewith, Jürg Lehni, Julia Born & Alexandra Bachzetsis, Jonathan Maghen, John Morgan, Manuel Raeder, James Goggin, Hudson-Powell, Experimental Jetset, Åbäke, Dexter Sinister, Will Holder, deValence, TASK: Emmet Byrne, Alex DeArmond & Jon Sueda, Sara De Bondt, Radim Pesko, Project Projects, Paul Elliman, Michael Worthington, Mevis en Van Deursen
Seminar: 6 December 2008
a set of lectures and conversations on modes of design and critical practice: Emily King, James Goggin, Mevis en Van Deursen; Mia Frostner, Robert Sollis, Paul Tisdell, Rasmus Troelsen (Europa), Nille Svensson (Sweden), Zak Kyes, Martin Frostner, Jonas Wiliamsson (Reala) and others. Free entrance, limited availability, rsvp@iaspis.se
Iaspis Forum on Design and Critical Practice is produced by Iaspis, Project Manager Magnus Ericson, in collaboration with the Architectural Association, Zak Kyes, curator of Forms of Inquiry and the Swedish graphic designers Martin Frostner and Jonas Williamsson.
Forms of Inquiry: The Architecture of Critical Graphic Design originated at the Architectural Association, in 2007. An original accompanying publication (AA Publications, 2007) was co-edited by Zak Kyes and Mark Owens. The exhibition was curated by Zak Kyes.
What happens when we look at design as not just a service-based client/designer relationship? What kind of new strategies and models help to question and challenge the limits of design? What happens when the fields of art and design overlap?
Iaspis Forum on Design and Critical Practice comprises an exhibition, a seminar and a publication on investigative, speculative and critical design practice. Iaspis forum is an offshoot of the exhibition Forms of Inquiry: the Architecture of Critical Graphic Design that revolves around critical graphic design and the relationship between graphic design and architecture. With the seminar and the publication, Iaspis aims to further discuss these issues in relation to the exhibition. The intention is to contribute to an overall discussion about the changing landscape of design and the relationship between design, architecture and art and the issue of how knowledge and experience within these disciplines can inform each other.
The exhibition Forms of Inquiry presents examples of contemporary graphic design that attempt to reframe the circumstances surrounding contemporary graphic practice. In doing so it brings together some of the most important critical voices in graphic design to make investigative “inquiries” into architecture-related contexts. The exhibition is an example of the benefits of juxtaposing two parallel disciplines in discussing creative practice.
The seminar aims to further discuss modes of design as a critical practice. Through an open format and series of lectures and conversations Iaspis will bring together the designers presented in Forms of Inquiry as well as curators, critics and practitioners from the fields of art and design.
The reader is an extended version of the seminar, providing possibilities of an in-depth discussion on different levels. It is based on four conversations between participants in Forms of Inquiry and Swedish graphic designers on different aspects of their practice. The publication also includes related essays and interviews that engage to these border-transgressing practices. The reader will be co-published in 2009 by Iaspis and Sternberg Press.The reader is edited by Magnus Ericson, Zak Kyes, Martin Frostner and Jonas Williamsson. Contributors are among others: Experimental Jetset, Nille Svensson (Sweden), Will Holder, Samuel Nyholm, Åbäke, HC Ericson, James Goggin, Europa, Emily Pethick, Daniel van der Velden (Metahaven), Emily King. To be published by Iaspis and Sternberg Press in 2009.
Iaspis
The Arts Grants Committee’s international program for visual artists
Konstnärsnämnden
Maria Skolgata 83
118 20 Stockholm, Sweden
+46 (0)8 – 50 65 50 00
