Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.03.2002, Blaðsíða 6

page 6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 1 March 2002
YOUNG*NORDIC DESIGN *) generation x
Susan Stephenson
Montreal, PQ
In 1951 the éditor of House
Beautiful magazine attend-
ed the Milan Triennale, and
viewing presentations of
Danish, Swedish and Finnish
design, identified a singular
style. The director of the
Finnish Society of Crafts and
Design seized upon her initia-
tive, organized his colleagues
in Sweden, Denmark and
Norway, and mounted a large
touring exhibition. "Design in
Scandinavia" toured twenty-
four American and Canadian
cities between 1954 and 1957.
It strongly influenced the
design world, and for next
decade, Scandinavian design
defined "modemism."
Fifty years later, a new
exhibition promises to reintro-
duce the world to this rich tra-
dition, now termed "scandi-
style". YOUNG*NORDIC
DESIGN*) generation x is a
joint venture of the American-
Scandinavian Association and
the Danish Design Centre,
Form ísland, Norsk Forum,
Svensk Form, and Design
Fomm Finland. It was organ-
ised by curator Anne Stenros,
Executive Director of Design
Fomm Finland. First presented
in New York as the inaugural
exhibition of Scandinavian
House in November 2000, the
exhibition has travelled with
growing appreciation to
Washington, Mexico City,
Helsinki, and Berlin. It is cur-
rently installed at the Centre du
design de l'UQAM, in
Montreal.
YOU N G* N O RDIC
DESIGN*) generation x features
seventy diverse installations of
fumiture, lighting, fashion, tex-
tiles, jewellery, and industrial
design by over fifty emerging
designers. The works all reflect
the heritage of Scandinavian
design as we remember it — an
economic use of natural or ele-
mental materials, an emphasis
on function, clean forms, and
sparse details. The products are
exquisite — some display a
playfulness that refreshes old
concepts and makes "mod-
emism" seem new again.
Iceland is well represented
in the exhibition. Guðbjörg
Ingavadóttir, a silversmith,
presents a protoype collection
of jewelry that beautifully
defines, in her words, "the sur-
prise of finding a delicate bou-
quet of mountain flowers."
Karolína Einarsdóttir has two
items on exhibit — a light-
hearted floor lamp simply
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titled "Flora," and "Urban
Picnic," a porcelain, steel and
wood retake of a traditional
Japanese lunch box. Fashion
designer Linda Björg Ámadót-
tir's conceptual garments pres-
ent her vision of a white, mini-
malist future. Sesselja
Guðmundsdóttir designed a
tiny, mystical object entitled
"Radiostar" which purports to
put people into relation with the
stars. Tína Gunnarsdóttir creat-
ed a series of black rubber
"Table mats" that call upon an
old Icelandic tradition. In the
exhibition catalogue she
explains that at Christmas it was
traditional to carve out scallop
designs in laufabrauð before
cooking it. Her meticulous
hand-cut patteming transforms
black industrial mbber and the
material becomes soft as lace.
Tína's designs, now mechani-
cally cut, are currently in pro-
duction through a Norwegian
firm, Cascabel.
Beyond seeing Iceland's
exciting contributions, the
show celebrates the creative
spirit. Astrid Krogh, represent-
ing Denmark, presents % fiber-
optic "Wall Curtain/Lamp" that
cascades 7.5 metres and is pro-
grammed with colours beauti-
fully pattemed to resemble the
northern lights. And also
notable and again from
Denmark, Lars Pedersen's
amazing racing yellow, carbon
fiber bicycle. Named "Clone-
1," this 1994 prototye reduces
the bicycle to its component
parts, rethinks each element,
and, discarding the non-essen-
tial, reassembles the whole to
position the cyclist in a for-
ward racing pose. The effect
defines speed. And for pure
functional fun, there was
"Sugar Ray," a rough steel and
rubber lamp by Thomas
Bernstrand of Sweden. It
resembles a boxer's speed bag
— and, appropriately, you
punched it to switch it on.
Anyone interested in mod-
ern design would enjoy seeing
design from the Université de
Québec a Montréal (UQAM)
and six from the Université de
Montréal went to Iceland to fur-
ther their studies. Under the
direction of Börkur Bergmann of
Montreal, Tony Hunt of London,
and Jes Einar Þorsteinsson of
Reykjavík, the students had, as a
general topic, to study the
Icelandic landscape. They then
PHOTO COURTESY OF SUSAN STEPHENSON
The Studies Abroad students in Iceland, June 2001. In the
center of the photo on the left, Börkur Bergmann, Architect
and Professor of design at FUQAM, and on the right,
Hjáhnar W. Hannesson, Ambassador of Iceland to Canada.
this very exciting exhibition.
JEUNE* DESIGN
NORDIQUE*) generation x
moves from Montreal, to
Ottawa and Toronto. Images
from the exhibition are fea-
tured in the Jan/Feb 2002 issue
of Canadian AZURE magazine
and the entire show is available
to view over the Internet at
www.designforum.fi
In the lobby of the Centre de
design, there is a small exhibi-
tion that deserves a special men-
tion. For three weeks in June
2001, twenty-four students of
focused their attention on a
design proposal for a new high-
way entrance to Reykjavík, giv-
ing special attention to design of
the roads and bridges, reconizing
the historical importance of the
harbour area, and of the potential
for new development in strategic
areas. The project was financial-
ly supported by the
Borgan’erkfræðingur í
Reykjavík, which, during the
last week ol'June, also organized
the final presentation and exhibi-
tion at Reykjavík City Hall.
/pTFÖUR
SEASONS
CÓNSULTINGM
Robert Cornelius
robert@fsc-inc.net
Tcl: (204) 831 - 8040
Fax: (204) 831 - 8038
Compuier Trainlng
and Assistance
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»Intemet
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M S W. A.C.S.W. R.S.W. M.A. (PSYCHJ
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T. Kenneth Thorlakson
MD, FRCS, FRCS(C), FACS
Winnipeg Clinic
425 St. Mary Avenuc
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada R3C 0N2
Tel: (204) 957-1900
Robert H. Thorlakson
OC, MD, FRCS, FRCSC, FACS
WlNNIPEG CLINIC
425 St. Mary Avf.nuf.
WlNNIPEG, MANITOBA
Canada R3C 0N2
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