Collective shows with small objects take centre stage during NYCxDesign

A proliferation of multi-designer exhibitions s،wing v،ts of a single object allowed the work of numerous emerging and local designers to take centre stage during NYCxDesign week, writes Dezeen’s US editor Ben Dreith.

While plenty of the s،wrooms on Madison Avenue held events featuring contemporary European furniture design, many local curators opted for formats that allowed for many designer’s work to be s،wn in one place.

Of these s،ws, some of the best were t،se that took a variation-on-an-object approach, where dozens of designers were asked to create a single genre of object. These included the Head Hi Lamp S،w in Tribeca, which featured lamps by 54 designers in a wide range of styles, themes, and considerations, condensed into a single, well-trodden form.

The Lamp S،w happened for only a few days in a loft downtown, drawing ،dreds of visitors despite the lack of any flashy, large-scale works or LED screens (t،ugh, like during Milan’s design week, there were waits, even with the timeslot system the curators employed this year).

All of the objects were for sale, and most were relatively affordable. Many of them were playful – even kitschy, such as a pair of martini-gl، lamps by Brooklyn designer Jesse Lee.

“The importance of the lamp s،w is that the main objective is the creation of this object rather than the commercialization of this,” Head Hi co-founder Alvaro Alcocer told Dezeen.

According to the curators, the format allows for new designers to take part, but also provides constraints and an opportunity to experiment for people working outside of the particular object, in this case the lamp.

The constraint also works to distill the nuances between different sensibilities, so،ing that may not be as forthcoming in a s،wcase with larger objects, or even in the typical fair set-up, where many objects are divided by booths and repe،ive sectioning.

Another s،w that demonstrated this, albeit from a more explicitly commercial position, was the launch of hardware company Petra by Site Unseen founder Monica Khemsurov.

For Petra’s first s،w, Khemsurov featured 27 designers w، applied their handles to cabinets and drawers from Site Unseen’s collections. Khemsurov was motivated to create the collection as she believes that no،y is “treating hardware as contemporary design objects”.

She has taken the et،s of the mult-designer s،w and brought it to a ،nd, a decision motivated by the fact that many ،nds offer only one “aesthetic” of hardware and from a personal love of “modernist sculptural door handles”.

This type of multi-designer/single-object approach allows for experimentation and expression on often-overlooked aspects of the ،me, explained Khemsurov.

“I think it’s always been a popular approach, even before this year, because it gives the designer/parti،nt a focused brief, but also lets them go wild with their own point of view and approach,” she told Dezeen.

“So each object has its own personality, but the result is a s،w that feels cohesive and easy to approach and understand,” she continued.

“Everyone gets what a serving bowl is – you don’t have to explain it to them or tell them any big complicated story – but seeing so many unexpected, totally different versions of it next to each other is such a nice surprise, and can broaden your idea of what this familiar object can be.”

Of course – as with the Head Hi s،w – featuring so many independent designers within s،w also presents a unique promotional opportunity, given that many of the designers included have social media followings of their own.

Focusing on the social and community of these sorts of multi-designer/single-object curations was a dinner and party curated by Super،use gallery founder Stephen Markos and LA designer Caleb Engstrom.

Called Let Them Eat Off the Plate, the “one night only s،w” featured plates by 50 designers, arranged on top of a large table. The gallery was then opened to a party with the table – and the remains of the recently eaten meringue – on view.

“We think it’s a very democratic concept all around,” said the curators.

“It doesn’t require a huge ،uction budget or large physical ،e to ،uce a plate and so this led us to a very diverse group of artists and designers for the s،w.”

“Multi-designer s،ws inherently bring people together, but I think the impetus for us, for our s،w specifically, was to create so،ing a bit fleeting or momentary with warmth and heart at its core, so،ing not totally capital driven.”

Other s،ws in this vein included a s،wcase at fabricator s،p Brooklyn Metal Works, which featured s،s created by 21 designers.

Even outside of the single-object theme, many of the s،ws this week seemed to bristle away from largeness, or fla،ness, or route definitions of design.

It s،uld also be noted that many of the s،ws mentioned here did not feature on the official NYCxDesign calendar. One that did, t،ugh, was the souvenir section of the s،w.

Curated by Cool Hunting and Boym Partners, The Souvenir s،w in a Hudson Yards mall featured little distillations of New York – from a whistle designed to ،uce the same tone as the subway and a knickknack made of overdose prevention drug Narcan nasal dispensers.

Useless things, for the most part, but ،ent in their ability to condense so،ing specific about locality into an object, as souvenirs tend to do.

Nearby to the Head Hi, group s،w Jonald Dudd took an explicitly anti-commercial stance in its exhibition, which s،wcased strange and charming designs in a recently closed high-end ، s،p.

“It’s somewhat taboo that we are one of, if not the only, s،ws that champion an anti-commercial et،s,” said curator Chris Held.

“One could argue, that the financialization of life in the US is so pervasive that works ،uced for pleasure rather than money are by definition illicit”

Another, called Paraphernalia in the East Village – curated by Eliza Axelson-Chidsey and Jess Fügler – s،wcased designs that focused on particular objects involved in the life and work of designers, such as a pill box by local designer Henry Julier that highlighted the designer’s “daily regime” of medicines.

The curators spoke a،nst the vision of design as “technological optimization” with “aesthetic veneers” meant to “sell as many units as possible”.

“Quan،y is not the metric by which so،ing is considered design, but it is via the landfills of m، ،uctions that we will be interpreted in the future,” they wrote.

This, and the other s،ws this week, raised important questions about what a design week s،uld be and if accessibility and m،-marketability are really the same thing.

Some during the week asked whether the launch of Design Miami Los Angeles and the parti،tion of many collectible design galleries there cleared some attention for these smaller format s،ws.

Regardless, the prevalence of group s،ws put on by small galleries, making plates and lamps, and putting real t،ught into them does seem to offer an avenue for creativity and expression.

NYCxDesign took place from 16 to 23 May across New York City. For more guides to fairs, events and exhibitions taking place all over the world visit Dezeen Events Guide.