HOUSE SHOPPING
Design stars
July 5, 2008
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Donna Laporte Staff reporter
Industrial designer Katherine Morley's latest work epitomizes modern emerging Canadian design.
Her Arctic bookends, inspired by Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris's paintings of Disco Bay, Greenland, are a commentary on melting glaciers.
Created this spring for an exhibition called Radiant Dark, which focused on the themes of darkness and luxury, the bookends are crafted from slip-cast porcelain and are about eight inches cubed. Only the top halves are glazed, to symbolize the precarious state of the ancient giants.
"I wanted to represent the depletion of water and the melting of the glaciers," she says, adding that she thinks water will become a luxury in Canada in the next 50 years.
Modern emerging Canadian design often employs historical referencing to send a message, says Julie Nicholson, co-owner of Made, a Toronto design product retailer (madedesign.ca). Made sponsored and curated the show, which brought together works by about 60 Canadian artists.
Morley's bookends can be seen, along with a scaled-down version of Radiant Dark, from Aug. 26 to Oct. 26, at Cambridge Galleries, Design at Riverside, part of the Waterloo School of Architecture (cambridge galleries.ca) Or, you can purchase them at Made for $120 per pair.
The original show was threatened by February's massive Queen St. W. fire, which stopped a few doors away from the Burroughes Building, where the event was held. It was postponed only one day.
"I felt it was a bit like England in the Blitz that everyone was kind of rejoicing in the fact they were all there," Nicholson says.
The show gave artists an opportunity to get out of the studio, where many work alone, to meet other designers and to show off their work in an exciting light. It also encouraged further collaboration.
Nicholson's partner Shaun Moore says pieces were placed in context, so people could see "which objects are creating a dialogue with each other."
Moore and Nicholson compare the emerging design scene in Canada to the Slow Food movement: It's in its infancy, but they think it will change quickly, once people get more proficient at producing their work.
"We're doing really exciting things," Moore says.
They say they could easily have gone for a global approach when they opened Made in 2006, but chose instead to focus on Canadian designers who were under-represented.
Our designers can compete on the international stage because of the high calibre of their work, Moore says. As an example, he points to "phenomenal" work by molo, a Vancouver studio Made represents in Toronto.
"They're getting incredible attention and it's very deserved," he says.
Run by husband and wife team Stephanie Forsythe and Todd Mac- Allan, molo makes kraft paper "softseating" and "softwalls," examples of which are housed in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The seating comes in natural, unbleached kraft paper and kraft paper that's been dyed black with bamboo charcoal ink. (Prices start at $170 for natural; $200 for black.)
The seating and walls use a flexible honeycomb structure, which is held together by magnets. The honeycomb design also helps to dampen sound. The paper is 50 per cent recycled content and packs flat.
Again, as with the Slow Food movement, Canadian designers focus on sustainability, using natural materials and sourcing locally where possible.
"We discourage the use of exotic woods," Moore says.
Most artists have a hand in creating and overseeing their designs.
And although computer numeric code, or CNC, is a useful tool for creating objects in an economical way, it sometimes removes the designer from the process, with mixed results. (With the click of a mouse, code can be sent across the globe.)
"CNC can be used for good and evil," Nicholson says with a laugh.
One Toronto designer had used CNC to do work locally, but then had a sample made in China. Without oversight, the level of quality dropped dramatically, which would have meant the work couldn't command a decent price.
"It is worth competing at a higher end where the work is high quality (and designers have) good control over what's going out," Moore says.
Designers today have to be skilled at communication, both to ensure their ideas are translated properly when products are manufactured and to sell those ideas.
Both point to Tamara Rushlow as a local industrial designer who has what it takes to compete on the global stage.
She's "so ready to be internationally known," Nicholson says. "Her production skills and her capacity to get things resolved put her into that category."
Components for her "ply lamps" and "ply vases" are produced by others but she assembles the final product.
Trained as a furniture designer himself, Moore has crafted a table of solid walnut married to a powder-coated industrial steel base, which can be fashioned in many colours. The table can be customized.
Another solid, local industrial designer is Evan Bare, whose Cubert armchair uses sustainable materials and construction methods and CNC machining. Blankets, books and remotes can be stored under the flip-up seat or in the arms. The chair retails for $2,200 at Made.
Bare says that as the price of fuel drives up the cost of imports, he will be well-positioned, as he manufactures his products locally.
At present, he works out of a 300-square-foot studio, which allows him to make prototypes and complete small custom orders. You can view his work at sixoeight.com
He hopes eventually to do his own manufacturing.
Visit Made at 867 Dundas St. W. or call 416-607-6384 for further information.
Toronto Star