“Beauty is not something immediate. A parable by Abu Hamid al-Ghasal (1059-1111) describes a painting competition between the Byzantine and the Chinese peoples. The two groups of painters were assigned to work on opposite walls of a large hall. To prevent them from cheating, the hall was divided in two by a large curtain. The Byzantines brought magnificent pigments with them and began to paint. The Chinese did nothing more than polish their wall to perfection. At a certain point the Byzantines finished their picture. When the Chinese claimed to be finished as well, there was general astonishment. How could they have painted their picture without any paints? But the Chinese said; “Just raise the curtain and see for yourselves!” There, on their wall, all the splendor of Byzantine painting was mirrored, only with greater brilliance and depth”. Give Beauty a Chance by Roger M. Burgle, Entry Paradise: New Worlds of Design, Birkhauser, 2006.

Out of Sight
The complex environments that we inhabit are defined by boundaries that have changed as the ongoing techno-industrialization extends into our daily lives, which will be more and more defined by data, social media and black liquid screens. We are surrounded by a variety of surfaces, from skins to floors to screens, the latter embodying the tension between the material and the immaterial. Within this condition of our daily lives certain aspects are rendered invisible to our vision or perception. How can we grasp or relate to what we cannot see? Whether on a microscopic level, underneath the surface or behind walls that are permeable to climatic conditions, nested within matter itself or transmitted within the flickering digital flux, much phenomena lay unnoticed that impact our lives. By focusing on typologies of the surface, MIARD students have designed projects that address this urgency within our new spatial reality.

For a preview of all the projects visit:
at.wdka.nl/outofsight

The projects are made by a group of international designers at the Master of Interior Architecture and Retail Design [MIARD] at Piet Zwart Institute, Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands.

Designers: Sofia Angelopoulou, Alejandra Calderón, Maria Duarte, Merle Flügge, Nancy Katri, Samira Müller, Agnese Pellino, Sanne van der Ploeg, Bhoomchaya Prakongpetch, Nao Sakamoto, Matteo Sandigliano, Jadranka Sic Gamarra, Katarzyna Skorupska, Michaela Vilucchi

Faculty and staff: Program Director Alex Suárez, Thematic Design Project & Exhibition Design Laura Lynn Jansen & Thomas Vailly, Visual Communication Daphne Heemskerk & Olivier Otten, History and Theory, Introtext & Editing Füsun Türetken, Project Coordination Vanessa Tuitel

For more information on Out of Sight and MIARD please visit us here:
at.wdka.nl/outofsight
pzwart.nl/master-interior-architecture-retail-design

Exhibition
Tuesday April 12 – Sunday April 17 2016

General opening hours
Tuesday until Saturday: 10:00 – 20:00 hrs.
Sunday: 10:00 – 18:00 hrs.

Party: please join us for the opening night on
Wednesday April 13: 19:00 – 22:00 hrs.

Ventura Lambrate
Via Ventura 14
20134 Milan, Italy

Credits image: Terrestrial Wear by Bhoomchaya Prakongpetch, Jadranka Sic Gamarra and Michaela Vilucchi


 

For more information about the exhibition, please contact:
Alex Suarez, Course director, a.a.suarez@hr.nl
Vanessa Tuitel, Course Coordinator, v.a.j.tuitel@hr.nl