This exhibition is part of Designblok 2020 (including 3D scan of the exhibition)
One theme setting the first half of the 21st century apart from previous eras is the sustainability of our planet. While there is always more and more people, the Earth is gradually getting worse. Its needs are often in stark contrast to what our bodies and our minds desire. With more heads comes not only more wit but also more mouths to feed. That is why today the industry is scoring 4:0 against us. It may seem sometimes that we are doing something, but never in the right places.
Nowadays, environmental issues are part of the golden fund of all intellectual discussion, even amongst artist and designers. These issues became part of mainstream topics, thus lessening their impact, often resulting in mere demonstrations or descriptions of the status quo. Fortunately, there are still those, who can take this topic and transform it without any grand gestures into strong and impressive pieces. Jiří Pelcl (*1950) is among them.
As an established Czech architect, designer and long-term professor at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, Pelcl has been interested for a long time in topics on the intersection of sustainability and the seductive forces of consumerism. He has empathy for the world of abandoned things and (ab)used materials, he tries not to create disposable pieces, but to limit waste and be authentic. He is not merely pointing for the show of it, but constantly turning our attention to the bigger picture.
The Sevenvases collection can be understood as a story of rebirth: seven materials, each designated for different applications, repurposed within the universal framework of a vase – like the ancient amphora from the early years of our civilisation. For someone, these can represent seven layers of heavens, seven spheres of the world, seven symbols aspiring towards a perfect harmony; for others, these are “merely” curious interior artefacts. However, Jiří Pelcl was able to revive seven banal, seemingly unattractive and uninteresting materials and give them back a sense of meaning and value. He is able to quietly convey to those interested that design can be more than just a pop-cultural idol.
Kolekci nazvanou Sedmváz lze chápat jako příběh znovuoživení sedmi materiálů, určených k různým účelům, v univerzálním tvaru vázy – antické amfory z počátků naší civilizace. Pro někoho mohou tvořit sedm nebes, sedm sfér světa, být symboly usilování o dokonalou harmonii, pro jiného „jen“ zajímavé interiérové artefakty. Tak jako tak, Jiří Pelcl dokázal resuscitovat banální, na první pohled neatraktivní nepoužitelné materiály, a vrátit jim smysl i hodnotu. A nenápadně tomu, kdo chce naslouchat, vyprávět o tom, že design může být mnohem více nežli jen popkulturní modlou. Petr Nový hlavní kurátor Muzea skla a bižuterie v Jablonci nad Nisou kurátor Galerie Kuzebauch
