In the mid-sixties, countless artists discovered the formless as the starting point for their experiments with materials. The maxim “form follows material," however, was not only proclaimed in the area of Object Art, it had a distinct impact on furniture design as well— for example, on Gunnar A. Andersen's experimental polyurethane Portrait of a Chesterfield Chair or the famous Sacco.
Edited by Peter Noever, this extensive exploration by Sebastian Hackenschmidt and Dietmar Rübel is the first of its kind to concentrate on the various aspects and features of the formless in furniture design, elaborately illuminating the interaction between the avant-garde and the applied arts as well as the shifting concepts of formlessness. In addition, the examination of current design approaches as of computer-assisted “blobjects," for instance, shows that to this day, designers playfully oppose so-called good form and recognize the formless as the opportunity for remodelling aesthetics.
 
Designers featured (selection):
Gunnar Aagard Andersen, Ron Arad, Bär+Knell, Fernando & Humberto Campana, Tom Dixon, Gatti, Paolini & Teodoro, Frank Gehry, Gruppe Brand, Greg Lynn, Gaetano Pesce, Karim Rashid, Tejo Remy, Jerszy Seymour, Robert Stadler, Lothar Windels
 

Exhibition schedule: MAK Vienna, May 28–October 26, 2008