Prototypes have a very particular appeal. More often a starting point or experiment than a concrete step that leads to manufacturing, they represent a far truer expression of a designer�s intent than a product that arrives off the factory line. Not usually for sale, they have little of the constraints applied by the compromises inherent in designer-manufacturer negotiations.
Click here to see more prototypes from the exhibition
Though prototypes have become covetable collector�s items themselves they don�t fall into the design art category precisely because they�re created without the intention of use or sale in the first instance. As such they provide an insight into how a designer thinks or how the evolution of an idea finds expression in a product, like a three-dimensional sketch.
The progressive curator and senior tutor at the RCA, Daniel Charny has curated the exhibition,'Prototypes and Experiments' at Zeev, Aram�s gallery in London, which highlights the distinction between prototype and design art perfectly. The exhibition, which will continue as part of a permanent and regularly updated collection, brings together 14 unique pieces, sourced from a range of designers� studios, including Ineke Hans, Jurgen Bey, Matthew Hilton and Martino Gamper.
Perhaps controversially given the underlying message of the exhibition, the pieces are for sale. Whilst cynics might say this is merely an exercise capitalising on the design art movement, shifting products that have been knocking around designers� studios, we feel it has far less mercenary intentions.
In today�s climate of wanting ever greater access into the �hows� and �whys� of design, an exhibition of prototypes, selling or not, provides singular access into the imagination and behind-the-scenes process of design.
INFORMATION
- Website
- http://www.thearamgallery.org
- Address
- The Aram Gallery
110 Drury Lane
London WC2B 5SG
