Comfort Zones

Comfort Zones

Review

08.01.16

An unconventional procurement and curatorial process by France's centre for contemporary art has resulted in an exhibition that critiques material culture by juxtaposing related objects, says Peter Maxwell The Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP) is a body responsible for France’s contemporary art collection, an archive that contains 95,000 works, 6,5000 of which come under the moniker of design. Often referred to as a museum “without walls”, this repository has no dedicated display space, instead focusing on collaborating with external galleries through loan or exhibition to make its catalogue available to the public. CNAP’s procurement policy is somewhat unique: it has no interest in establishing a form of disciplinary canon, nor is it the mere representation of the tastes of the various heads of department. Instead, new works are nominated by an invited panel and then subjected to an intense round of debates (seemingly not unlike an art school crit), with staff having to actively argue for or against each piece’s inclusion. This fiercely democratic methodology has created an eclectic picture of contemporary design, one that places the emphasis solely on the merits of each individual entry. The lack of a guiding principle means, however, that the role of unpacking the collection for the public requires deft programming. A powerful example of this is the current Comfort Zones exhibition hosted at the Galerie Poirel, Nancy, which runs until 17 April, curated by Juliette Pollet, head of CNAP’s design and decorative art division, and Studio GGSV. Their solution has been to create a form of immersive promenade theatre using 101 items from the collection. The long galleries at Poirel are thus divided into four acts – the office, the reception, the play area and the antechamber – that form the imagined habitat of a capricious collector. Key to this is the GGSV-designed scenography, which centres on a bespoke carpet that uses graphics to mark the transition between zones while eliminating the need for many physical barriers. The carpet’s secondary role, through its use of cosmic imagery, is to act as an metaphor for the audience’s leap of faith, to follow... :::::||CONTINUE READING||---»-» http://www.iconeye.com/opinion/review/item/12357-comfort-zones?utm_medium=email&utm_term=&utm_content=Comfort%20Zones&utm_source=Icon&utm_campaign=New%20issue%21%2010%20design%20manifestos%20for%20the%20new%20year