Special exhibition

The allure of futuristic ideas, visions and scenarios have been accompanying humankind since the dawn of time. Current global challenges are dominating the societal perception - topics such as the depletion of natural resources, the climate crisis, and socio-economic injustice. In light of this, more and more designers and artists tackle different aspects of possible “futures”. The plural-use of that word mirrors the options, scenarios, and a certain uncertainty, with which we have to look at what might be coming. 

Design, as a discipline of aesthetics and functionality, has ceased being merely that a long time ago. It seeks possibilities, studies systems and processes, and reaches open-ended conclusions frequently. Today and hereafter, it is at the crossroad of disciplines markedly different from each other, beginning with the natural sciences and humanities, right down to computer sciences. As an initiator, design takes on the task of uniting academic research, industry, and society. Given long overdue steps towards more sustainable industrial production, the innovative design disciplines question and discuss the status quo.

150 years after the founding of our museum, our goal is to take a look at the future role of design in society. The exhibition dedicates itself to topics of near and distant futures within three chapters.

Questions of possible perspectives, partially post-human and interspecific, are pursued in the first chapter, What, If... At the forefront of this part of the exhibition is speculative design: An experimental design method that deals with current societal topics in a critical approach.

The second chapter, Ready-Made Future, highlights materials and products that are already the produce of existing circular economies. However, these potential resources are used insufficiently in industrial productions, as well as the fact that the general public is unaware of their existence. The shown exhibits allow a glimpse at already viable alternatives and raise awareness about what is already there.

In the third chapter, Material Lab, four German universities and a Dutch design studio presenting works-in-progress and current research in-between the fields of biology, art, design, and industry.

Artists | Designers

Bea Brücker & Vincent Goos, Studio Circology, Alexandra Fruhstorfer  Institute of Queer Ecology, Kollektiv Plus X, Pei-Ying Lin, Near Future Laboratory, Nonhuman Nonsense, Johanna Seelemann, Juliana J. Schneider, Theresa Schubert, Studio Envisions & TextielLab (NL), Studio Klarenbeek & Dros,  Superflux

Companies I Labels (Selection)

Ecovative: Air Mycelium foam (USA), Blue Blocks: seawood (NL), eco-softfibre Bioschaum (Görlitz, D), Krill design: 3D-Druck mit Fruchtschalen (Italien), Norskin: Produkte aus Fischleder (Norwegen), Qmilk: Proteinfasern (Berlin, D), Golden Compound: Biologisch abbaubare Pflanztöpfe (Bremen, D), Grown Bio: Möbel aus Mycel (NL)
 

Universities I Projects

Kunsthochschule Burg Giebichenstein Halle (Saale) - BioLabs
Hochschule Anhalt, Dessau – Materialbility LAB
Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin – GreenLab
Freie Universität Bozen – Design & Materials

 

Curators of the overall concept:
Sabine Epple, Silvia Gaetti

For the chapter “Ready made Future“:
Prof. Dr. Sascha Peters and Diana Drewes, Haute Innovations, Berlin

Exhibition design:
lfm2 (Leipzig and Berlin)
The design office lfm2 works at the crossroad between art, architecture, and (urban) intervention.
Predominantly in the public and spaces in motion, as well as in spaces of communities and get-togethers, lfm2 conceptualizes installations, art at construction, exhibitions and small architectures, and designs processes focusing on participatory interactions and social involvement.