San Francisco, CA (November 12, 2020) – The Museum of Craft and Design presents Design by Time, opening January 23 through April 25, 2021. Organized by Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and curated by Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox of c2-curatorsquared, Design by Time explores how the dynamic passage of time can be embodied within design objects. The exhibition places the work of 22 international designers and collaboratives into three categories: Time Performed, Time as Creator, and Time Visualized. The work portrays time’s effect on a diverse array of materials and processes, resulting in textiles, fashion, furniture, vessels, and more.
Design by Time goes beyond presenting the conventional, functional intention of design and brings together designers whose work embodies durational movement. Some designers embrace natural and mechanical processes—the growth of plant materials, the pull of gravity, the transformational potential of fire. Some designers translate temporal activities into visual forms, such as music and drawing. Guest curators Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox note, “To organize our thinking and the presentation of the works, we have considered three, not always distinct, approaches to these partnerships between designers, space, time, and materials.”
Maarten Baas, Sweepers Clock, 2009. Image courtesy of the artist and Collection Mudam Luxemborg-Musée d’Art
Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg
Time Performed: objects that are the result of performative activities such as German artist Maarten Baas’s Sweepers Clock (2009) that features two handymen sweeping trash in the shape of hands on a clock face for 12 hours, indicating the time as they go.
Jacob Olmedo, And the World Will Be As One, 2018. Image courtesy of the artist
Time as Creator: objects that have been created by their designers partnering with natural rhythms and forces, highlighting works such as Jacob Olmedo’s And the World Will Be As One (2018), a garment impregnated by wheatgrass seeds that sprout into green blades of grass that eventually dry. Olmedo’s fashion designs bring humans and nature together in wearable garments that conceptually act as environmental armor.
Sebastian Brajkovic, Lathe V Chair, 2008. Image courtesy of Sebastian Brajkovic Studio
Time Visualized: objects that in their form and configuration offer a visual representation of the passage of time, featuring artwork such as Sebastian Brajkovic’s chair, Lathe V Chair (2008), that appears stretched by time, moving from a historical piece of furniture into a contemporary form.
The works presented in Design by Time offer innovative readings of the profound and abundant subject of time. The designers’ formal processes result in objects that express the dynamic passage of time and serve as concrete embodiments of life itself.
Participating Designers
Atelier Mark Sturkenboom; Auger-Loizeau; Maarten Baas; BeatWoven; Sebastian Brajkovic; Hussein Chalayan; Edhv, Architects of Identity; Patrick Frey; Front; Glithero; Marlène Huissoud; Humans since 1982; William Lamson; Mathieu Lehanneur; mischer’traxler studio; Jacob Olmedo; Diana Scherer; Sebastian Cox Workshop; Bartholomäus Traubeck; Nicole Wermers; Jólan van der Wiel; and Ryan Mario Yasin.
Design by Time is organized by the Department of Exhibitions, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, and is curated by Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox of c2-curatorsquared. Additionally, Design by Time is supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.
This exhibition and companion publication are supported in part by a grant from the Creative Industries Fund NL, and as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.
The Museum of Craft and Design’s exhibitions and programs are generously supported by the Windgate Foundation and Grants for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Robyn and John Horn, Hunter Douglas, and Dorothy Saxe.
Top Image: Patrick Frey, Gregor Calendar, 2011-ongoing. Image courtesy of artist and Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
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View exhibition images here. For more information and interview requests, contact Sarah Beth Rosales at sbrosales@sfmcd.org or 415.773.0303.
About c2-curatorsquared
c2, a curatorial partnership between Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox, develops exhibitions of international, cross-media contemporary art and design that explore current issues in culture. This independent curatorial partnership was formed in 2008 and has since worked with museums across the US and abroad.
About the Museum of Craft and Design
The Museum of Craft and Design (MCD) is San Francisco’s only museum devoted to craft and design. Founded in 2004, MCD showcases designers, makers, and artists through an exciting and distinctive series of craft and design-focused exhibitions and public programs. As a non-collecting institution, the museum actively collaborates with artists, designers, museums, and universities, as well as design venues and practitioners to create inspirational experiences in the world of craft and design for visitors of all ages. Learn more at sfmcd.org
Visitor Information
The Museum of Craft and Design has moved to a timed ticketing system in order to allow visitors to have the best experience viewing the exhibition while maintaining social distancing. Masks will be required for all visitors and available at the front desk if needed. The museum is open Wednesday to Saturday from 10:00 AM–5:00 PM and Sundays 12:00–5:00 PM. 10:00–11:00 AM tickets are dedicated to visitors who are of high-risk during Covid-19. More information on MCD’s safety policies and to purchase timed tickets visit sfmcd.org/visit.
The Museum of Craft and Design is located at 2569 Third Street (between 22nd and 23rd), in the historic American Industrial Center in San Francisco’s vibrant Dogpatch neighborhood. MCD is a North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) member, a Blue Star Museum, and participates in Museums for All and ROAM. MCD offers free admission to our nation’s active-duty military personnel, essential workers, first responders, and their families.
