Dutch designer Marcel Wanders finds inspiration in traditional Dutch craft materials and techniques as well as in the larger world of everyday objects. In the projects chosen for Manuf®ractured, he explores the expressive possibilities of the nautical knot (primarily a functional element) and the handmade doily (more typically thought of as kitsch ornament). His Knotted Chair, addresses the essential properties of rope “flexibility, malleability and strength” embracing and ignoring them at the same time. His Crochet Cube wryly merges homey, handcrafted doilies with spare, minimalist form. Both represent classic studies in contrasts: softness versus rigidity; minimal form versus maximal pattern; handcrafted appearance versus machine aesthetic; and open web versus closed volume.
Via Manuf®actured: The conspicuous transformation of everyday objects | Artists | Marcel Wanders
The macrame chair is an example of hyper-novelty. The work with the greatest proprietary and hierarchic value is purchased by a name museum. The image is everything. The function is nothing. The goal of the designer is to get the critics to drool over their visions. The designer then moves up in the ‘DESIGNER PANTHEON’ Hierarchy.