What does an artist do during quarantine? French writer Xaviér de Mainstre wrote an unusual travel diary in his novel A Journey Around My Room: he captured his forty-two-day isolation while discovering and documenting every corner of his room. Like the diary, published in 1790, we were able to experience how our home is transformed into a hybrid space: we worked, socialized, studied, or just rested in the same space. Eleven Slovenian designers have now rethought this situation with their own tools.
The main goal of the collection named Voyage is to discover what is already ours, to find inspiration in the objects decorating our home, to look at the possibilities of spending time at home with enthusiasm. According to the design team, it is important to find the pleasant things that have already surrounded us in difficult times, but we have not necessarily noticed them: they hope that more people will rediscover their own environment and form a more positive picture of the quarantine situation. The project is organized by curators Anja Radović and Urška Krivograd.
The collection includes unique works such as the joint design of Nina Mršnik and Nuša Jelenec, the Totem food serving system, which allows their owner to assemble marble, wood and glass trays as they wish, or the Isola Console decoration by Brajak Vitberg with colored glass and neon shades. In addition, David Tavčar, Gašper Kunšič, Nana Wolke, Kolektiv DVA, Natura Morta, Nejc Prah, Rok Oblak and the Kobeiagi Kilims are contributing to the project.
The collection reflects the events and uncertainties of the past year and tells many stories about changes in processes, materials, forms, functions and aesthetics. According to the organizer-curators, three words characterize the exhibition the most: playful, young and varied: this is exactly what we need in these times.
Source: Adorno, The Calvert Journal