Tent and 100% Design
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
To London last weekend to visit 100% Design and Tent London, check out the competition and look for inspiration. Tent is held in the Truman Brewery on Brick lane and is in its second year. Whilst the claim on its website that Tent is ‘the most comprehensive and diverse design event of the year’ might be overstating things somewhat, there were some fantastic products and ideas in the ‘talent’ and ‘content contemporary’ zones.
Lee Broom’s fabulous neon-lit chairs had pride of place opposite the bar and are really arresting when seen against a black back-drop but to really do them justice you’d need enough black walls that you’d be in danger of feeling like you were living in Spearmint Rhino…
I’d never seen anything like Tom Price’s work before. He uses a heated metal seat shaper to melt plastic products such as rope and PVC hose into chairs - you need to see it to get what I mean so here’s a pic.
Reclaiming outdoor, industrial materials and using them to produce indoor furniture was a recurring theme. One of the products that really stood out at 100% Design was furniture made from hosepipes from a company called ‘Bok’. Bok is the brainchild of Sander Bokkinga who is based in Holland and describes himself as ‘an unstoppable fantasy-machine’. His wife must be exhausted…
Bok Floorlamp
I was surprised to see Ercol exhibiting in the Content Contemporary section of Tent but their retro heritage coupled with the exciting things they are doing with marimekko printed fabrics meant that they looked very much at home set against all the funky up and coming new designers.
Ercoll/Marimekko
And so to 100% Design on Sunday. Earl’s Court is a daunting place and the exhibition just went on and on…. so I’ll try to keep to the highlights. 100% Design is an interesting mix of huge international businesses all the way through to tiny one man bands. I thought some of the most interesting stuff was in 100% Futures which was a section with about 50 emerging designers and designer-makers whose work had been chosen by a panel of experts.
Pernelle Fagerlund’s textile stone which was displayed on the Danish Crafts Stand looked like a cross between a pebbly beach and part of a human brain, depending on your perspective!
Pernell Fagerlund - Textile Stone
Natural forms translated into furniture were in evidence elsewhere. I was very drawn to the giant pebble shaped sofas at smarindesign as they reminded me of the pebbles that we used to collect on the beach in Anglesey as kids.
SMarin Pebble Sofa
Likewise at Vorwerk carpets where I came across some fantastic coral-like rugs
Looped Rugs & Coral-esque forms
Seeing these reminded me that I never did manage to see the Crochet Coral Reef which was on display at the SouthBank Centre over the summer. The marketing blurb describes it as a “woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft…a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world” which, unfortunately makes it sounds like some sort of feminist protest against over-fishing. Oh well.
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