IDI Creative Axis - Institute of Designers in Ireland

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30 NEWStechnology. It’s as soft as lace, but very strong.If you harden the material you can use thatstrength,’ Wanders explains. ‘I love it becauseit’s functional and user-friendly, but alsobecause it’s economic. I’m an industrydesigner. I want the designs to be there for theworld, but you have to start with the limitededition handmade work to develop the ideas.’Wanders also has a collection of limitededition pieces ‘Wanders Wonders’ that are onlyavailable from his own studio. These includethe amazing Snotty Vase (2001). The Snottyisn’t just inspired by snot – the design isbased on a 3D scan of airborne mucus. Thevase, which costs a staggering 1,500 euro,comes in five different versions with nameslike Influenza, Pollinosis and Sinusitus. Eachversion is an exact replica of sneezed particlescaused by the particular ailment for which itis named.‘It’s visually beautiful and emotionally overthe-top,’says Wanders. ‘We took a guy whowas sneezing a lot and used 3D scanners tofind the form in the fluid matter that wasflying around. When we had captured theseshapes on computer, the information was sentto a laser centring machine. This is somethinglike a three dimensional printing process,where a shape is created by thin layers ofplastic dust melted together by laser. It’sfantastic because you can make any form thatyou can think of. It’s a process that combinescraft with super-hi tech work, so in a way it’sbreaking down the barriers between craft anddesign and industry. I love to break down thethings that divide us because I don’t think thatthey’re necessary. I try not to be a revolutionarydesigner – I don’t give a damn about that – butit’s important to be evolutionary.’More information on this can be obtained fromwww.design.nl and www.premsela.org.Eleanor Flegg is a writer with an interest in design.She is a columnist with the Sunday Times and aregular contributor to the Irish Arts Review.Showcase –A Vehicle to Promote Irish DesignThis article has resulted from an informaldiscussion in IDI Council when interest wasexpressed as to how Showcase is nowperforming – having always had a very goodreputation – and to introduce it to the broadbase of IDI membership.I am a jeweller/ designer who exhibits atShowcase – the Irish international craft, gift,fashion and interiors fair which has been aplatform which has successfully launchedIrish craft, design and giftware to overseasbuyers in particular for 31years. Showcaseis organised by Showcase Ireland Events onBehalf of the Crafts Council of Ireland and isrenowned for the high quality of its exhibitors.The show has always attracted considerableretail and corporate buyers; thus makingShowcase a valued fair for all involved.However, in recent years, and verynoticeably in Showcase 2007, I and mycolleagues – in Source and in larger Irishcompanies have noticed what seems to bea considerable drop in buyer numbers –resulting in a lack of business for thoseexhibiting at the show. This may be the resultof changes in the requirements of the marketplace. The number of exhibitors dropped inShowcase 2007. Less manufacturing nowtakes place in Ireland. This however does notentirely account for the present situation.Sadly, one approach which appears to haveoccurred to resolve this downturn in exhibitornumbers is to be less discriminating in thequality of some new exhibitors accepted.Buyers who attended the last Showcasenoticed this and were disappointed. Thismeans that the renowned Showcase brandis in danger of being diluted and taking ona different identity. It is therefore time fora rethink.The Irish consumer has a great awareness ofgood design and quality and enjoys buying it.Great product /gift/jewellery and textile designis available from Irish manufacturers anddesigners – requiring various avenues forexposure to the market place. The presentsituation is resulting in Irish buyers attendingfairs abroad and avoiding Showcase.Consequently, Irish designers and producersare exhibiting in greater numbers in Europeand further afield, where there is greatexposure to buyers from all over Europe andelsewhere. While I consider that developingthe export market by visiting the marketconcerned is necessary, it is depressing thatShowcase which was once the epitome ofquality of manufacture and design could loseits edge and leave exhibitors vulnerable.It would be wonderful to have a morefocussed fair with clearly defined display areasin some of the following areas or variations asmay be decided: Design forum, gift, jewellery,interiors, textiles, craft, food, importedproduct etc. The layout of the show requirescareful consideration – with the needs of bothexhibitors and buyers to be taken into account.To exhibit is expensive – and is the cost isonly justified if the quality of the show andconsequent marketing and promotion of itreflects this and the requirements of the buyers.I look forward very much to the futureat Showcase.Breda Haugh MIDI – is a jeweller/designer currentlycompleting orders from Showcase 2007. Other areasof work have included designing for the manufacturingjewellery industry in Ireland and developing andproducing unique jewellery for the National Museumof Ireland – based on some of their artifacts.Design of the IDI PinBy Breda HaughThe IDI Council commissioned me to create alapel pin suitable as a corporate gift. The briefwas to design and develop in sterling silver athe lapel pin based on the IDI logo.Design options were presented to theCouncil; from which one was agreed, and theprototype pin was developed. The Cad Camprocess was utilised for some of this process.The pins were cast in sterling silver andfinished, polished and textured in my studio.The surface and recessed areas are texturedwith the sides highly polished.As this was a corporate gift, goodpresentation was important. A box wassourced in a suitable blue with reference tothe IDI colour. Small explanatory labels -which were designed by graphic designerAndrew Williams – were inserted into theboxes with each pin.The pin has been presented to all pastpresidents at the event in Farmleigh onDecember 8th 2006. It was also presented toSenator David Norris and Noelle Campbell-Sharpe on December 8th 2006 in the OriginGallery , Dublin at the IDI Auction, and to anTaoiseach, Bertie Ahern, at the event in theNational Museum to launch the Frank RyanBursary on February 1st 2007This type of item is very important forthe IDI to have as it assists in establishingthe brand fully and promotes design in aprofessional way.
Hook and I;an exhibition by IDI member Roisin GartlandRóisín Gartland, well known in the fashionindustry for her couture leather garments, isperhaps less well known for her artwork. Lastyear Róisín, who obtained her fine arts degreefrom iadt Dun Laoghaire, held her first soloexhibition from March 27th to April 6th inMisery Hill Gallery, The Tower, Pearse Street,Dublin 2.Róisín represents one of many specialistdesigners who are exploring different elementsof their creativity. This was common in otherperiods of history when many artists were alsoproduct designers and illustrators.The theme of the exhibition was expressedin the materials and tools of her business- theleather trade, as well as in ceramics andbronze casting. As Róisín says in herexplanation of the theme of the exhibition;“I inherited approximately 3000 pairs ofhooks and eyes from my father, who was afurrier. These stayed on a shelf in my studiofor several years. Occasionally I incorporatedthem into garments. My ultimate desire was toutilise them in some way to mark their journeyfrom the old workshop, from my father’s time,to my own… In this exhibition, the simplehook and eye shapes are the basic elementsused to map the flux of life as it moves fromone phase to the next. They have become avisual language, used to express joy, tension,harmony and balance…The ceramics are avehicle for impressions of the tools and thehooks and eyes, thus creating footprints in thefired clay of the archaeology of the family andthe relationships within it. The clay conveys atransient feel, but this is deceptive – the firingmakes for solidity…Leather is used both as asupport and a binding material. The boundpieces take the form of uncoiled suspendedswirls that interconnect in pairs or hangsingularly…Movement is captured in bronzeinterlocking twists that are both playful anddurable. These are originally formed bydipping shapes made from twisted tissuepaper into hot wax. These shapes transformfrom solid to liquid and back to solid again,before taking up a new form entirely when thewax has hardened, trapping the finalmovement”The writer Michael O’Loughlin madethe following points in his introduction tothe exhibition.“These images have a curious effect. Weare the first generation for whom, thanks tomicroscopic photography, the image of ourown essence, the machine that generates us,has become almost a visual cliché. But in thiswork, they are seen anew, as if the materialhas found this form by itself, a form whichwas inherent in it, and which expresses it.There is something primeval about thefurrier’s trade. After all, its handiwork canbe seen on the earliest known cave paintings.Fundamentally, we are wearing the skins ofour fellow creatures, in order to assume theirqualities, both practical, in terms ofprotection from the elements, and moreintangibly, to assume their other qualities.It is no accident that Venus wears Furs.Her use of leather in many of the pieces isfunctional, as it is a pliable and durablematerial. But it also gives a strangelyshamanistic atmosphere.Her ceramic work is full of strings andthreads, again material inherited from herprevious life. But with those photographicimages imprinted in our visual memory, wecan see them as microscopic pictures ofchromosomes. They leave fossil-like printswhen burnt away in the kiln, just as thegenetic code imprints the raw earth we aremade of, to be fired by experience.The ceramics, sculptures and installationsas a whole give the impression of a distinctpersonality systematically generating animage of itself, in obeisance to unknown butimplacable rules. Whichever form she uses,her work carries the aura of true art.”The exhibition, which was opened byProfessor Brian Maguire – NCAD, was verywell received and Róisín was happy with theresulting sales. Since the exhibition endedwork has been shown at; the Access to Artsgallery, ‘Aniké’, Longford Place, Monkstown,Co. Dublin. Pieces of her work were auctionedby the IDI in the Origin Gallery in December2006Róisín is now developing her creativework in a further direction as well as workingon new designs for her couture work.Photography by Stephen Moran.Breda Haugh MIDI is a jeweller/ designer currentlycompleting orders from Showcase 2007. Other areasof work have included designing for the manufacturingJewellery industry in Ireland and developing andproducing unique jewellery for the National Museumof Ireland-based on some of their artifacts.‘A Bronze Pair’ Roísín Gartland workProfessor Brian Maguire and Roísín GartlandNEWSBombay Sapphire glassNow in its fifth year, the Bombay SapphireGlass competition’s popularity with emergingdesigners continues to grow with more andmore countries from around the world takingpart. This year, 26 countries will berepresented in Milan, including: Belgium,Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark,France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy,Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway,Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, SouthKorea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand,Turkey, the UK and USA.Many IDI student members have enteredthe competition and Cameron Ross MIDIand Barry Sheehan MIDI have been involvedin the Jurying process with other judgesBrian McGee, Nicola Connolly, Eoin Lyons,Sinead Christian and John Rocha.Waterford Crystals' involvement has madeit possible for the students to see their workproduced by an established manufacturerand has also taught them about process andthe technicalities of designing for production.The IDI look forward to further involvementwith Bombay Sapphire in 2007.Tara Whelan with her winning glass Ripple 200631
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Page 4: 2 IDI NEWSIDI Publications 2006By C
Page 9 and 10: EDUCATION7Shaping Perceptions -Oppo
Page 11 and 12: REGIONALNEWS9Students who successfu
Page 13 and 14: PAST PRESISDENTS11takes us into a s
Page 15 and 16: FRANK RYAN13through the foundation
Page 17 and 18: EVENTS15father of thematic exhibiti
Page 19 and 20: RICHARDSEYMOUR17do’. To demonstra
Page 21 and 22: EVENTS19Is Rome burning? Are design
Page 23 and 24: EVENTS21Report on Intellectual Prop
Page 25 and 26: DESIGNINNOVATION23grow, the researc
Page 27 and 28: EYE25however, is that they have a v
Page 29 and 30: CANDY27Oliver Jeffers and many many
Page 31: DESIGNWEEK29The Morrison for Koewei

IDI Creative Axis - Institute of Designers in Ireland

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