Dish: International Design for the Home

The big design surveys of the past few years tend to have two things in common: a lot of creative design and very few women designers. "Dish" is here to set the record straight. This exciting collection features new work by over forty emerging and est

"There's no good way to do it, but the title of this book should somewhere reflect that the exhibition for which it is the catalogue (and from which it takes its title), was conceived 'to promote women in the field of industrial design,' and thus includes only women designers. With that clarified, the contributions from the 30 young artists represented here come through as great design bracingly packaged. Mller is a consultant who head-hunts designers for industry; her eight-paragraph introduction notes that the designers chosen (born all over, but working mostly in New York and Europe) do work that breaks ground in 'fabrication, material, or concept.' Nicolette Brunklaus contributes 'Blonde curtains' (not hair, but silk imprinted with a digital image of hair); Anette Hermann made the 'Glory light blanket' of clear silicone and optic fibers; Marre Moerel's 'Barnacle wall tiles and towel hooks' look like lovely white bulbous coral growths. Each designer is represented by five to 10 pieces shown in 250 captioned color illustrations and further explained in first-person artists' statements (which serve as the only commentary on each designer). No one here is a household name (yet), but the whole reflects thought, care and understated glamour." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

The big design surveys of the past few years tend to have two things in common: a lot of creative design and very few women designers. Dish is here to set the record straight. This exciting collection features new work by over forty emerging and established female designers from over fifteen countries.

The innovative, cutting-edge work in Dish provides a fresh take on current trends in product design for the home, including furniture, ceramics, glassware, lighting, and textiles. Works range from Monica Nicoletti's Place Holders moving boxes that serve as transitional furniture to Matali Crasset's Phytolab that combines plants and plastic in a bathroom project. They explore materials, from Sara Unruh's chemically treated silk fabric to Anette Hermann's rubber and metal chair, in which the user becomes part of the construction. Each designer is featured with examples of her work, biographical information, and a personal statement that encapsulates her approach. A foreword by Susan Yelavich and essays by experts in making, selling, and critiquing contemporary design offer insights into the conceptual, aesthetic, functional, and political nature of the work. All together, this book dishes out the hottest work around.