Designers in Residence 2011: In Pursuit of Imperfection @ The Design Museum

By Zoe Craig Last edited 151 months ago
Designers in Residence 2011: In Pursuit of Imperfection @ The Design Museum
Designers in Residence at the Design Museum
Designers in Residence at the Design Museum
Hye-Yeon Park's Autonomous Clock
Hye-Yeon Park's Autonomous Clock
Hye-Yeon Park's Autonomous Clock ...says Hi! We failed to get a photo of it actually telling the time..
Hye-Yeon Park's Autonomous Clock ...says Hi! We failed to get a photo of it actually telling the time..
Jade Folawiyo's tarnished metals
Jade Folawiyo's tarnished metals
Jade Folawiyo's tarnished metal in lamp form
Jade Folawiyo's tarnished metal in lamp form
More lamps, this time from Will Shannon, made of chipboard, that, in turn, is made from old furniture
More lamps, this time from Will Shannon, made of chipboard, that, in turn, is made from old furniture
Other example of chipboard furniture from Will Shannon
Other example of chipboard furniture from Will Shannon
Simon Hasan's gorgeous, rustic leatherwork
Simon Hasan's gorgeous, rustic leatherwork
Look out for these lovely leather bottles(?), which are rather hidden on a shelf in the museum
Look out for these lovely leather bottles(?), which are rather hidden on a shelf in the museum

We popped along to the Design Museum yesterday to take a look at their new Designers in Residence exhibits.

It’s a small show, occupying a section of the larger “This Is Design” exhibition, which also opened this week. The young designers in residence for this year have all been considering the idea of imperfection in design. The results are on display until 22 January next year.

The four designers who have been selected are Jade Folawiyo, who likes tarnishing and rusting metals; Simon Hasan, who’s studied under Ron Arad at the RCA, and specialises in leatherwork; Hye-Yeon Park, whose Autonomous Clock really made us smile; and a former studio assistant of Anthony Gormley, Will Shannon. For the show, Will’s experimented with chipboard, producing new pieces of work from old furniture.

We really liked Park's crazy clock, which displays the correct time for a moment while you stand in front of it, then abruptly flips through nonsensical codes and symbols when you move away. When it suddenly flashed up "HI", we had the feeling this piece, called Autonomous Clock, really had its own personality. If, like us, you get a little kick from spotting a digital clock  at 12.34, or 22 minutes past 10 at night, we're sure you'll enjoy playing around with Park's creation.

While it's not really big enough to warrant the entrance fee alone, we think the Designers in Residence show makes a nice addition to the Design Museum's two other larger exhibitions on at the moment: This Is Design (on until 22 January) and Kenneth Grange's Making Britain Modern (until 30 October.)

You might also want to check out the Designers in Residence events: a discussion night on 3 October; a Designer Night on 23 November; and Design Overtime, Resident Steady Go on 20 January next year.

The Designers in Residence exhibit is on display until 22 January 2012. Admission costs £10 to adults, £9 for Concessions and £6 for students. Visit designmuseum.org for more information.

Slightly dodgy photos: author's own

Last Updated 25 August 2011