Design Exhibition 'Somewhat Different' in Auckland

Quirky interpretations of everyday objects bring a ‘serious lightness’ to the exhibition somewhat different.contemporary design and the power of convention. 

With 148 objects from more than 60 designers and studios – 47 of them based in Germany and 20 in other European countries as well as works by Auckland designers Simon Oosterdijk, Jamie McLellan and Fletcher Vaughan. The products on display illustrate the great diversity and the humour that can emerge when the usual rules of convention are deliberately subverted. 

Visiting designer: Katrin Sonnleitner will speak at the design conference Semi-Permanent on 20/21 August and will also give a tour through the exhibition on 19 August at Shed^10 where one of her works is shown.

Lifebelts turn into bottle coolers, brushes into lampshades; the unconventional design interpretations offered in this exhibition not only provoke astonishment but challenge us to reflect on and review our general expectations and traditional notions of 'normal'. Such ‘breaks with the power of convention’ document the socio-cultural changes that can be observed in all areas of our daily lives, in phenomena such as mobility, migration, changing nutritional habits and more.

The international aspect of this discourse on contemporary design is twofold: firstly through complementing the works of the German designers with examples from designers in Denmark, France, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain. And secondly ifa has invited the host institution, in this case Shed^10, to add objects by Auckland designers who have approached ‘conventional’ design tasks in a somewhat different way.

An international touring exhibition prepared by the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) and curator Volker Albus, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut and Shed^10.