Design Dilemma

Mia Karlova Galerie’s new exhibition features four international designers whose practices reveal ways in which this design dilemma can be resolved. In an effort to seek a balance between the urge to innovate and the need to preserve the planet's natural resources, designers are increasingly choosing to work with discarded materials, giving them a new breath of life.

Vadim Kibardin
A pioneer of circular design, Vadim Kibardin has developed a construction method which utilises the underexploited properties of mundane packaging. Working predominantly with paper and cardboard waste as a sculptural medium, Vadim has created Totem stools. Alongside the Totem stools, a new, one-off Lolly chair - made solely of discarded packaging and designed exclusively for Mia Karlova Galerie - will premiere at the show.

Femke van Gemert
Femke van Gemert unveils four new pieces at Design Dilemma exhibition, all made entirely of reused materials such as textile surplus, leftover paint and plastic waste. Examining some of the world’s most vital issues, the Dutch artist’s triptych Diggin’ the Dirt, Mouldy Magic & Heating Up seeks to address our toxic relationship with social media while Earthly Part 1 and Land & Water II celebrate the incredible resilience of nature and its perpetual renewal against adversity. An in-situ installation titled Anthroposcenic – a seemingly frail structure constructed from found debris and clothing remnants – will encourage visitors to reflect on how the human impact has altered the Earth's ecosystem.

Anton Brunberg
Using salvaged wooden pallets, Anton Brunberg has created a new version of his acclaimed Pallet Thief piece especially for Mia Karlova Galerie. The Swedish designer taps into a widely accessible industrial supply to find his own material source, giving the humble, utilitarian and discarded items a second, more durable and elevated purpose.

Teun Zwets
Design Academy Eindhoven graduate, Teun Zwets, focuses on the concept of usability rather than refinement, creating a new aesthetic that questions our throwaway culture. Made from reclaimed floor elements, his Beam cabinet, with its distinctive sculptural facade, is the perfect embodiment of circular design where waste is turned into an intricate and valued piece of furniture.

 

Design Dilemma looks at how these issues translate into the design industry by asking the following questions. Should designers also bear some responsibility for their impact on the environment? How should designers reconcile between the desire to create with the responsibility of overloading the planet with new works? Should designers use alternative, sustainable materials or adopt an entire circular making system?