Press release:


Glass has the appearance of being fragile and sparkling, instead of glamorous and equipment-like and on account of this fits unexpectedly exactly within these times. A time where we have no regrets of our recent past and our wild dance around the golden calf, but where we are forced out of sheer necessity to think about reform as a consequence of the collapse of the world’s existing financial systems. due to this, an unusual new year’s awaits, where traditionally people still want to have a great deal of pleasure but within a new mentality that requires authenticity and creativity.

This is glass, the saving angel. Glass is a noble and essential material, created from the four elementary ingredients; air, earth, fire and water. Invented by man as an alchemist. Man, who desires to change materials and even create them; who can blow glass or form glass, through his innovation and craftsmanship for industrial usage.

Glass is essential and is still used as a container of everyday items, such as drinks and perfume, a glass for beer and wine, and as a wine decanter for alcohol. However, glass is also avant-garde and precocious as it takes on the fragile rounded wave forms like that of a weak virus; it possesses a piece of furniture, like mushrooms which profit from bark on the side of a tree, as it occupies space in antiquated forms or writes on walls in abstract idioms. glass is mischievous as it portrays an erotic alphabet, as if letters designed from semen or like frivolous sex toys, wearily looking down toward us from high glass supercilious feet.

Glass is back as a material to be studied, and expressed. In the hands of a generation of young designers and artists it appears to become alive. gothic glass, biological forms, curiosa and religious objects cross the design sabers or foils with tight and voluminous styling in the tradition of copier. however, glass can also be applied as an optical alienation or as an illusion of the icon. The awe-inspiring versatility of this curious material gives this exposition its enchanting atmosphere and transports the spectator ‘through the looking glass’ into a world where imagination and creativity shine through and our hope for a better future is guaranteed.

In short, the exhibition explores the creative record of the material glass in all its appearances, from purely industrial and serial design to autonomous design and art, with work from among others maria roosen, pieke bergmans, anna carlgren, tanja saeter, giorgio vigna, bernard heesen, jens pfeifer, dick van ’t hof, various designers from design academy eindhoven and companies as baccarat, royal leerdam crystal and gallery mariska dirkx.

Curator:  Li Edelkoort

Via: Designhuis

Photo: Patrick Meis

DMY Berlin is a contemporary design platform founded in 2003. it developed from a visionary nucleus of leading creative thinkers from the berlin design scene, whose expertise lay in the recognition and transformation of current as well as coming trends in culture and design.

The objective from the beginning until today is to bring together the powerful potential of contemporary design; to give it a space and setting and to expose it to a wide array of audience. at the same time the industry and economy are given the opportunity to get in contact with innovative developers and designers and therefore make use of the developed synergies.

address and viewing hours:
dmy berlin
ima designvillage
ritterstrasse 12-14
berlin (germany)
thursday 4 till saturday 6 june 11 am – 9 pm
sunday 7 june 11 am – 6 pm