All Around Us
Applied Art and Design National Salon 2017
“ALL AROUND US”: we arrived at the exhibition’s main title after looking at several attributes, synonyms and having collected and selected many works. “The art of Everyday Life, Inevitable Design” – we could add as an explanation, and as a subtitle in some cases. Both the title and the subtitle are accurate, since the displayed material comprises artworks we live with, artworks that are part of our everyday life, objects that we use and that contribute to our everyday comfort. We could say we do not notice these objects, as they are such an integral, natural part of our surroundings that we have become used to their presence.
Yet, these objects do not just magically appear out of nowhere but are the result of a painstaking, professional design process during which many aspects of use and aesthetics are considered: the clothes we wear at home, in the street and at special occasions, the cup we drink our morning coffee from, the coffee table on which where we inadvertently place the cup between sips. We browse the papers, glance at the headlines, and quickly take a look at the screen of our mobile without even realising it. And there is the comfortable armchair, the lamp that gives us the light for reading on winter days, the carpet that creates the illusion of warmth under our feet, the shapes of our glasses, and many more. All these things are “all around us” in our homes, not hours but minutes after we wake up.
We are getting ready. We slip our coffee or teacup in the sink or the dishwasher. We open the wardrobe door and change our clothes, put on our shoes and coat, reach for our bag, and our umbrella if needed, and set off. And the daily encounters continue in the street: we walk past the posters advertising various events, hurriedly cross the street to the stop where we wait for the bus or the tram. Citylight posters call our attention to this and that, while cars, bikes and scooters whizz past us in an endless colourful stream. If our journey takes us underground, meticulously designed traffic systems help us find the right direction. This list could almost go on ad infinitum until the day comes to an end; we “inevitably” encounter the objects of applied art and design at our workplaces, and during our afternoon and evening routines.
National Salon 2017 brings a selection of concepts and completed works conceived in the past decade in eight applied art and design areas. These areas then unfold in the individual exhibition halls, extending like a tree that has one trunk but many branches. The root shared by the presented branches of art is education, their trunk is planning. It is reason for great joy that each area abounds in talents. The projects that were submitted and sought out for the exhibition form a rich and diverse selection. A handy principle for arranging this cavalcade of genres was to approach them from the practical aspects of their use.
In other words, how do we live together with these designed and crafted objects in the personal space of our homes, and in the public interiors of restaurants, theatres, cultural and sacred venues, and the large community spaces created to accommodate busy traffic hubs? How do we live together with these objects at our workplaces, in the streets and in the many outdoor spaces – while travelling or resting – in our leisure time, or while taking a walk, going on an outing or doing sport? How does our continuously changing environment affect us, and our sense of comfort? Urban landscapes being shaped, community spaces for recreation and exercise equipped with street furniture and outdoor workout machines. Structures protecting us from the rain but not obstructing our view and not blocking out light, and a network of cycling paths define our urban and countryside landscape. Keeping in mind the Műcsarnok’s interior architecture, we sought to present the exhibited material spanning ten years to illustrate the areas of their use and contextualise their values. Everything is connected and revolves around together in the exhibition space – just like in real life. Archaic techniques and futuristic concepts meet in a warm embrace here, since both are part of our lives, and they will merge in a not too distant future. The futile opposition of Craft and Design are replaced in this exhibition by the nature and possibilities of their mutual interaction.
Two distinct areas are lifted out of the cavalcade of everyday reality. One of these is devoted to the masters and influential fellow artists whose work as teachers, artists and human beings had exerted great impact on the development of individual genres. They are the great predecessors and masters. Applied Art and Design / National Salon 2017 exhibition pays tribute to and expresses recognition for them in this chapter.
The other one of the above-mentioned two areas is centred on conserving value, addressing the area of applied art. It was our ambition to focus attention on the activities requiring diverse professional information, thanks to which rare and unique masterpieces can be preserved. Those who have mastered this knowledge can bring damaged objects back to life from the brink of perishing, allowing future generations to see them and study their making.
Crafts are as old as humanity. Being at the mercy of nature, prehistoric man invented tools to extend his physical abilities, first as a means to protect himself and then to realise his goals and to provide the necessary living conditions. Ever since that time people have been making and modelling objects out of animal skin, textile, bones, stones and metals with a clear purpose. Making clothing out of fur to keep their bodies warm and making knifes and spearheads by using flint and chiselling stone were all acts of innovation. And it was innovation when they modelled malleable material and fired them into solid objects. In the Stone Age they ‘taught’ others about the experiences of their struggle for life by drawing animals and hunting scenes on the walls of caves. Prehistoric man both feared and revered natural forces, and created signs believing in their magical powers; these were the ancient manifestations of today’s symbols and emblems. When not being forced to engage in a fierce struggle to sustain himself, prehistoric man began to decorate his most important, favourite objects. Thanks to his ingenuity, man created the conditions for his own survival. Recognising the need for continuous innovation helped us to get to where we are now.
Utility and mature design together are the visible manifestation of human civilisation, and a measure of its state at any given period. Experiencing the ongoing challenges of mass production and acceleration, we can see that the number of people working in the various areas of applied art changes from time to time. The continuously changing and unpredictable needs of society put some genres in the limelight while forcing others to the periphery. New needs arise, new technologies appear, and all these impact the amount of time available for their design and making. This trend puts the crafts, which are based on thousands of years of tradition, experience and techniques, at a disadvantage. They are looking for a place to survive, and since the decreased need for the areas of use they can fulfil and the reduced consumer demand, they are experimenting with autonomous modes of expression. They are trying to survive the periods when no interest is shown in them, and in the meantime striving to preserve and pass on the moves of the fingers as well as the meanings and patterns that had become increasingly refined over the centuries. It is important to state that technology might undergo rapid development, the rules of the visual language built on thousands of years of experience will never change.
We collected and selected the artworks and objects following two parallel lines. The Műcsarnok announced a call for projects to be submitted by professional applied artists and designers of 21 or older and created the ArtSpace 2.0 database from these works. Each of the artists and designers were allowed to contribute to this virtual collection 10 design concepts or implemented designs of their choosing from the last 10 years of their career. Simultaneously, we, the curators, drew up a list with the assistance of our colleagues who have an in-depth knowledge of the particular exhibited areas. The list contained the names of outstanding representatives of the areas as well as young artists and designers who have received recognition for their work made so far. We personally invited everyone to participate in the exhibition and in many cases requested that they bring particular works. One of the key objectives of the Salon is to bring the attention of visitors – potential users – and the artist community to these young designers, while giving an overview of the current state of applied art and design and direction they are taking. It was not our ambition to provide a complete picture; it is not made possible by the available space either. The works that are not included in the exhibition can be viewed digitally in the Műcsarnok’s halls during the entire duration of the Salon. We strove to present the diversity of applied art and design, as well as the creativity and sensitivity of the artists and designers that enable them to renew themselves again and again in the face of new challenges. We want to extend our thanks to all those artists and designers whose concepts and implemented projects allowed the Applied Art and Design / National Salon 2017 exhibition to be realised this spring.
Ernő Sára and József Scherer
curators of the exhibition