Telling Tales

This exhibition explores the recent trend among European designers for unique or limited edition pieces that push the boundaries between art and design. It showcases furniture, lighting and ceramics, designed by a new generation of international designers, including Tord Boontje, Maarten Baas, Jurgen Bey and Studio Job, who are all inspired by the spirit of story-telling. Each tells a tale through their use of decorative devices, historical allusions or choice of materials, sharing common themes such as fantasy, parody and a concern with mortality.

The exhibition is in three sections:
The Forest Glade is inspired by fantasy and nature evoking the spirit of fairytales. The Enchanted Castle exaggerates and parodies historical design styles often associated with displays of status. Heaven and Hell is concerned with themes of mortality and the afterlife.

When i first stepped foot in the exhibition I was overwhelmed, the place seemed so small but there was so much going on round me and it was packed with so many beautiful objects, i didn't know where to start and what to put my eye on first. If i was the only person in that place i think i would of been a bit scared, so in a way I'm glad there were little school children running about allover the place.

'Bathboat'

Wieki Somers

The 'Bathboat' is like a small boat turned inside out, designed to keep water in rather than keep it out. Wieki Somers wanted to make the connection between floating on the water and bathing in the water because they evoke many similar feelings and elements.

One of the reasons i absolutely love this pice, is purely because i would love to have bathboat in my house.

'Lathe Chair VIII'

Sebastian Brajkovic

The 'Lathe Chair' series was conceived by rotating 19th-century chair shapes around a central axis to stretch them. The finished chairs were cast in bronze, like sculpture, but remain functional as furniture. The upholstery was digitally designed. The result is a marriage of tradition and modernity.

'Damned.MGX' chandelier

Luc Merx

The tumbling bodies that make up this chandelier were inspired by Peter Paul Rubens's depiction of the Fall of the Damned at the moment of God's last judgement. In western art the human body is often a metaphor for spiritual attributes. By using the body in a work of design, Merx seems implicitly to equate the value of design and art.

Rough Guide

My Heart Will Always Be in Brixton

Known for its music scene, its ethnic and social diversity, and its altercations with the police, the latter of which is immortalized in the Clash song “Guns of Brixton.”
There is a various mix of African, Caribbean, Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese and Middle Eastern poets, musicians, artists, activists, anarchists and bohemians.
Brixton used to be known as Brixistane and was mostly dull farmland until the Vauxhall Bridge opened in 1816. Better transportation options turned the area into a suburban paradise, with huge Victorian houses sprouting up along the main roads. These buildings were being converted into flats and boarding houses by the start of the 20th century, and the 1940s and ‘50s saw waves of immigrants from the Caribbean settling in the area. Tensions between the (mostly black) community and the (mostly white) police force grew, culminating in the notorious riots of 1981 and 1985.

Brixton Market
It's lively, vibrates to the sound of reggae, and it's busy.Brixton Market offers the largest collection of Afro-Caribbean food in Europe, an assortment from shark and goats' meat, pigs' tails and salt fish to plantain, okra, breadfruit and yams.
The main attraction in Brixton for me has to be the fish market, everywhere you look there is fish, amazing different types, colour shapes and sizes and every stall displays the product in such a beautiful way that every time i walk by i stop and admire the view, and to be honest with you i don't think i have ever bought a fresh fish in my life, i have always just been attracted by there textures and vibrant colours.

Vintage Shop

Walking around market stalls and exploring what Brixton had to offer, i came across a little vintage shop called Secondo, to my excitement i had to go in and have a good old rummage. The shop was full of dresses, skirts,jumpers, shoes,bags and scarfs, a veriation of menswere and womanswear but the clothes and shoes in there were a bit to overpriced for what they really were, nevertheless i love the fact that i foud a shop as such in a place like Brixton. The other really cute thing about it is that it has a little bar, chairs and tables with a lovely view where you can sit have a juice or a coffee listen to some retro music in the background and watch the people go by on the street go by.