Anti-design for designers

massey-university

Thu Mar 29 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Anti-design for designers

Thursday, 29 March 2007, 9:50 am
Press Release: Massey University

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Dutch designer Gert Jan Leusink will visit Massey’s Wellington campus to talk about his experience in the early years of Droog design. Droog is a collective since 1993 that re-thinks industrial design.

Droog’s products consist of common, industrial or recycled materials resulting in close-to-home objects that deliver a social commentary with a highly individual character – be it mischievous, spunky, puckish or coy. In Dutch, droog means “dry” (as in "dry wit"), and unadorned or simple.

Massey design lecturer Matthijs Siljee says Droog design is described as anti-utopian, or anti-design. “It looks at the gritty parts of life, such as wet bathmats and a chair that you shape by hitting it with a hammer.”

Gert Jan Leusink’s talk will cover the background to the birth of Droog design from a sub-culture to commercial success and the role of industrial design for the economy and culture in the Netherlands and abroad.

Mr Leusink will also talk about his latest project, bliin. As Droog design is about identity in the material world, bliin is about virtual identity. Bliin (http://bliin.com) is a real-time social networking service where users can share experiences – pictures, videos, audio and text – on a map.

Gert Jan Leusink will speak at 1:30pm on Wednesday 4 April, at the Museum Building theatrette, Massey University, Buckle St. Entry is free.

His visit to New Zealand is sponsored by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands, Massey University and the Designers’ Institute of New Zealand.

Droog: Dutch Design Showcase is on at TheNewDowse in Lower Hutt until 15 April.

ENDS

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