new book with Louise Schouwenberg: Beyond the New. On the Agency of Things
- Year: 2017
- Commission: Die Neue Sammlung, Design Museum
- Production: Walther König
- Category: Industrial production
Art installations often use functional objects to contextualize or make a statement about human interactions with the world. In such installations one can detect much truth about the agency of things, which can then be used within the design process.
‘Beyond the New. On the Agency of Things’ by Louise Schouwenberg and Hella Jongerius is about objects and things and the intriguing relationship between the two. Containing examples from both art and design, it offers investigative insights on a philosophical level about the manifold meanings of design within the various contexts in which designers operate.
Hypothetical conversations with designers from the past, such as for example Walter Gropius, Anni Albers and Johannes Itten, enable analysing original ideals in design, and how things have changed ever since. These fictional conversations also give insights into Jongerius’ personal experience with and thoughts on colour research, the field Johannes Itten was an expert in, and textile research, in which Anni Albers excelled.
The publication ‘Beyond the New – on the Agency of Things’ by Louise Schouwenberg and Hella Jongerius can be acquired at Walther König.