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P rev iew
Thinking
Hands,
Speaking
Things
Sted elijk M useum
’s-H ertogenbosch
Survey o f Designs by
Studio W ieki Somers
’s-H ertogenbosch, N etherlands
D ecem ber 13, 2008 -
February 15,2009
w w w .sm -s.nl
T h e D utch designer W ieki
Som ers (b. 1976), w hose w ork
began to garner attention even
before she’d com pleted her edu-
cation at the D esign Academ y
in E indhoven, is being honored
by the Stedelijk Museum
’s-H ertogenbosch w ith a survey
o f her projects, a singular amal-
gam o f function, poetic narra-
tive content and sophisticated
use o f materials. T hese objects
w ere produced collaboratively
w ith D ylan van den B erg, w ith
whom she w orks under the ru-
bric Studio W iek i Somers.
“ I’m interested in the way
people deal w ith the everyday
objects they are surrounded
w ith ,” says Som ers. “ I try to
figure out their hidden poten-
tial-the beauty and the tales
which hide w ithin.” T hese ob-
jects are remarkably diverse,
arising from unrelated anecdotal
impulses. For example,
High
Tea Pot,
2003, w hich actually
pours, is a surreal porcelain
vessel in the shape o f a pig’s
skull, accompanied by a cozy
made o f rat’s fur (perhaps a
reference to the Surrealist artist
M eret Oppenheim ’s iconic
fur-lined teacup, saucer and
spoon?). A lso in ceramic are
Blossoms f i ,
2004, a vase that
seems to grow from within
but also has holes to insert fresh
flowers and leaves w hich relate
to those printed on the piece,
and
Mattress Stone Bottle,
2002,
an example o f a soft form frozen
into a hard shape that might
be a vase or a buoy, and w hich
carries an image o f an old flow -
er pattern on a mattress.
Som ers uses w ood in the
lyrical
Bathboat,
2005, a red
cedar and oak bathtub in
the form o f a row boat turned
inside out, w hich she charac-
terizes as “ a vehicle on dry
land w here the mind can d rift
aw ay.” M etal is the medium
o f one o f her m ost com pelling
w orks, for its cross-cultural
resonance, the 2007
Chinese
StoolsQ
—inspired b y a trip
to Beijing. Som ers and van den
Berg, focusing on details o f
street life in the ever-grow ing
m etropolis, noticed the cus-
tom ized stools used b y street
vendors and then “ im m ortal-
ized ” them by casting a few in
aluminum w hich she then coat-
ed w ith w hat looks like auto-
mobile paint, a reference to the
“ m odern side” o f Beijing.
Convinced that there is al-
ready a surfeit o f consumer
items in today’s w orld, Somers
strives to create pieces that
carry the traces o f their making
and thus can trigger the user’s
imagination. “ Through imagin-
ing what things are and what
they might be,” she says, “ I
translate m y ideas into objects
that can heighten people’s
awareness.”—
b .s .
H o t Spots
Sho w Time
G allery show s, listed A - Z by
state. V ie w com plete calendar:
w w w .am ericancraftm ag.org
A L / M ontgom ery
M ontgom ery M useum o f F ine
A rts :
Patrick Dougherty
M ar. i-M ar. 1,2010
w w w . in m fa.org
Saplings are w oven into an im-
mense lawn installation.
© A Z / Mesa
M esa C ontem porary A r ts at
M esa A r ts C enter:
30th Annual Contemporary
Crafts
to Mar. 15
w w w .m esaartscenter.com
M esa’s celebration o f crafts,
including Lynette Andreasen’s
Sisters,
proves that life is better
w ith a view .
A R / Little R ock
A rk a n sa s A r ts C enter:
36th Annual Toys Designed
by Artists
M ar. 13-M ay 10
w w w .ark arts.com
Originally designed pieces
make an unconventional contri-
bution to the art o f play.
020 american craft feb/maro9
