As one of the oldest activities in human history, "collection" has what value and impact on individuals, society and specific cultures? For this question, the recent exhibition "Collectomania – Universes of Collecting" of the Zurich Design Museum has given its own answer.
In the exhibition, there are many different types of collections from professional institutions or private collectors. Barbie dolls, church vests, water pistols, whistles... These items that are not common in museums or art galleries are displayed one by one. "No matter strange or ordinary objects, collectors may be interested in them. They are interested in collecting and sorting out objects of all sizes with all kinds of motives. They can save things from oblivion through 'collection' to facilitate future generations to study and acquire knowledge." said curator Karin Gimmi. Nearly 2000 exhibited "collections" invite visitors to rediscover these beautiful, practical and curiosity inducing objects of daily life from the perspective of "collection".
When entering the exhibition, the first attraction is a huge Barbie display cabinet. These Barbie dolls wear different clothes, have different skin colors and hairstyles, and are displayed layer by layer in a pyramid way. They are all from Bettina Dorfmann, a German collector. Since 1993, Bettina has collected more than 15000 different Barbie dolls. She is also the holder of the Guinness World Record for Barbie Collection. Bettina's love for Barbie dolls even led her to run a "doll hospital", which specializes in helping dolls repair their limbs, untie their messy hair or repair damaged clothes and shoes. In this exhibition, there are many collections of Barbie dolls that cooperate with fashion brands, including Valentino, Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, etc. The Barbie doll inspired by the late fashion giant Karl Lagerfeld is the most expensive one among the dolls on display.
Nearby the Barbie doll, there are soaps neatly stacked in different colors. They are all from Carol Vaughan, an English collector. From 1991 to 2009, she collected 1331 pieces of soap. Carol likes to look for some strange soap that has never been seen before, so that he can collect more and more and set a Guinness World Record.
Bis Kuriger, a collector of strange plastic toys in the exhibition, said in an interview: "The value of the collection is not measured by money, but by the collector's mind and treasure of the objects." These strange toys, such as goldfish water pistols or telephone receivers that can hear the wind, are opening a curious door for people to think about the designers behind these strange toys,atthat time, how to design and make them.
Speaking of Dalmatians, we always think of the film "101 Loyal Dogs". Karen Ferry from the United Stateslikes Dalmatians more than you think. From 1991 to 2009, she collected more than 1117 items related to Dalmatians, including a car and the original author of 101 Loyal Dogs, Dodie Smith.
In addition to some novel collections, some inconspicuous things in daily life are also priceless for many collectors. In general, the hotel always provides a "Do Not Disturb" sign, so that guests can have a good rest without being disturbed. However, Jean Fran ç ois Vernetti, a collector from Switzerland, was interested in these billboards. He visited hotels around the world and collected more than 11000 "Do Not Disturb" billboards. Coincidentally, the collector Niek Vermeulen took the vomit bag on the plane as his collection. He has 1191 aviation bags of 6290. Seeing these bags with different designs and materials in the exhibition, the audience can't help asking: What makes him so fascinated by vomit bags?
It is worth mentioning that the exhibition "Highlight Collection" of the Zurich Design Museum is open together with "Crazy Collection: The Universe of Colletion". Since 1875, the Zurich Design Museum has collected various design works, including posters, furniture, knitwear and household utensils, which are mostly designed and produced by well-known designers or local famous craftsmen. Interestingly, these exhibits in the collection exhibition have been stripped of their original value, origin, age and function. They are displayed as "unlabeled" objects, as if to form a dialogue and intersection with the "fanatical collection" exhibition next door, so that the audience can experience the pleasure of "collection" and the possibility of dialogue with the past in the two exhibition rooms.
Graphic design and poster collections are the highlights of the exhibition. The works span a wide range of time. From the early 20th century to recent years, poster works have been included. Through it, the audience can easily perceive different aesthetic preferences and cultural characteristics in different periods. Joseph M ü ller Brockmann, a Swiss graphic designer and educator known as the "grid line master", is famous for his simple design and clean typesetting. He is the founder of the grid system of graphic design and advocates objective and minimalist geometric design. The designer and several of his partners began to incorporate photographic images into poster design in the 1950s. Weniger L ä rm is one of the successful classic cases of this experiment. In the 1950s, construction site noise and aviation noise became more and more common, and noise pollution became one of the annoying problems of modern life. The Automobile Club of Switzerland asked Muller Brockman to design posters for their noise resistance activities. Noise Reduction takes a close-up of a woman's face with her hands holding her cheeks as the visual core. Her twisted expression conveys "pain" and "unbearable" emotions. The main color of the poster is black and white. The two words "weniger L ä rm" in bright red move from the lower left corner to the upper right corner along the opposite line of the poster. This poster image conveys a signal to protest against noise pollution. In addition to Muller Brockmann, there are also some exhibits related to the Zurich Design Museum. In 2009, Irma Boom, a visual artist from the Netherlands, designed the poster "Every Thing Design" for the collection exhibition of the Zurich Design Museum, and selected an unexpected object as the protagonist - a peeler. The peeler Rex is one of the classic works of "Swiss Design". Bonn made this classic peeler the core of the visual design of the entire exhibition and used it for the cover of the exhibition manual.
In addition to plane exhibits, some classic furniture works are also displayed in the exhibition. Ulm stool is designed by Max Bill, a Swiss architect, artist and designer. It is one of his most popular furniture designs.It is also one of the classic works in the history of furniture design. The Ulm stool is light, flexible and sturdy. As a seat, it can provide two different heights; A wooden stick connects two planes and can be used as a container to transport small objects when inverted; When the long side is placed on the table, it can be used as a table to place the instructor's manuscript. This characteristic makes it quickly become one of the ideal infrastructures of Ulm Design Institute. "Two vertical boards, one horizontal board, and three are firmly connected, and the bottom is fixed together with a round stick", which is the summary of the construction principle of Ulm stool by the director Bernhard R ü benach in his radio script "Ulm's Right Angle".
If we go back to more than 200 years ago, it may be difficult for craftsmen and the general public at that time to understand the aesthetics of "minimalism". A small sugar can also be a small world of its own. Sugar Bowl was born in the early 19th century in Langnau, Emmental, Switzerland. It was designed and manufactured by the studio of Johannes Herrmann. Since the 17th century, Lannau has gradually become an important ceramic industry town. The sugar jars on display are part of many sugar jars and various tableware in Herman Studio. The handle of the sugar jar lid looks like a snail shell surrounded by yellow and green ribbons. Around the shell are various birds, who either sit on a pointed knob or perch in a "bird's nest" built of four thick, notched leaves. The entire wide surface was covered with evenly distributed white dots, which was very common in kitchen ware design at that time. This little sugar jar witnessed the economic transformation of Bern at that time. At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, some of the educated middle and upper class in the region began to have the habit of "coffee break", and usually added sugar and milk to their coffee. The tableware they designed was very popular with the "leisure class" at that time, and their products could be found on the tables of the large rural families and the middle class in Edmontar.
The iron from Schwanden, a Swiss national electrical appliance brand, is a classic household appliance and one of the first household appliances to enter ordinary families. In 1904, Samuel Blumer, a young electrical engineer and self-taught inventor, joined Schwanden and opened an inconspicuous small factory, Therma AG, which opened the earliest electric iron. In 1904, this "ancestor of iron" appeared in this exhibition. By 1914, a large number of irons produced by Therma AG had been sold in Switzerland and other countries. This electric iron exhibited is an upgraded version after more than ten years of evolution. In 1931, Therma AG introduced the first adjustable iron. The design sketch of this adjustable electric iron was also displayed. For a long time, the evolution of electric irons mainly took place on handles - from delicate wooden clips to turning rods, to today's ergonomic plastic handles. The highly polished elegant shape and colored enamel iron body follow the earliest version in most cases.
One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is a very young exhibit on site, and it may also be one of the most "future oriented" collections on site. The OLPC project started in 2005 and was initially initiated by Nicholas Negroponte of MIT. At that time, Negroponte hoped that with the help of technology, children in developing countries and regions could have computers for education, access to learning opportunities and richer educational resources. Swiss industrial designerYves Behar was commissioned to complete the final design draft in his studio in San Francisco. OLPC is durable, simple and generous in appearance, and LOGO consists of a fork（×） And a solid dot, with two "green ears" at the top. Considering the preferences of different cultures, OLPC will select appropriate colors from 400 color schemes to provide "local" OLPC. OLPC is equipped with rechargeable batteries, which can be charged by conventional electric energy or solar energy. The learning software equipped with the system can be connected to the Internet, and children using it can communicate with each other. Today, more than 300000 children worldwide have OLPC.
The two exhibitions related to "collection" in the Zurich Design Museum also tell stories about the collection and the people and social history behind the collection under the seemingly "disorderly" arrangement. "This unusual way of exhibition and display may surprise the audience at first sight, because there is no convincing connection between these exhibits. However, these similar objects are still placed side by side, and the colors of different objects interact interestingly. When tourists walk in the exhibition hall, similar structures between collections are found, and our unique identity of the museum is also revealed." Said Christian Br ä ndle, curator of the Zurich Design Museum.
Article Source:艺术与设计
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