Our Design Links: Australia - Finland

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The following article in the Sydney Morning Herald prompted me to think of a 

couple of links between Finnish and Australian design, as it applies (as is usual for 

this blog) to my personal situation.

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Retro riches Stephen Lacey July 30, 2011 Renaissance ... Marc Newson's 1986 Lockheed Lounge. Original designer objects from the decade of excess are pulling big dollars. You know the '80s are back when a visit to the toy section at Kmart turns up a Rubik's Cube, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and a shelf full of Transformer Autobots. In the design world, big-ticket 1980s items are making their presence felt, too. Sydney auctioneer Andrew Shapiro recently sold a prototype of Marc Newson's Wood Chair for $75,000. He also sold a 1987 Newson Embryo Chair for $7600. But this is small change compared with the more than $2 million paid for Newson's 1986 Lockheed Lounge in London in 2009 - a record price for a piece by a living designer. And it's not just Newson's wares that are pulling the big dollars. Other designer objects from the decade of excess now commanding a premium include those from the Memphis design collective, established in Milan in the early '80s by the likes of Ettore Sottsass, Michele De Lucchi, Nathalie Du Pasquier and Marco Zanini. Memphis Tahiti table lamp (1981). According to Mod to Memphis (by Anne Watson, Powerhouse Publishing), the group's objective was to embrace an eclectic range of influences. The result was ''an outrageously daring and colourful aesthetic that flew in the face of 'legitimate style'.'' By the early 1990s, the Memphis group's whimsical post-modern approach had had its day. For the next decade, the modernists were in control of the asylum, and interior design was to be dominated by a hard-edged, white-on-white minimalism, still in vogue today - albeit softened by texture and colour. Sydney interior designer Greg Natale predicts the '80s will be the next big thing in interior design and Memphis pieces (or those inspired by Memphis) will figure in a big way. ''It's really forward thinking for a lot of designers, but I promise you, this is where it's going,'' Natale says. So, what exactly typifies the 1980s aesthetic? Colour-wise, the obvious hues are the Miami Vice-inspired apricot, grey and pink. Teal was also popular, and it's already making its presence felt in contemporary interiors. And of course there are the playful primary colours, along with the very art deco black and white. In terms of materials, the use of granite is typically '80s. ''I'll be using a lot of granite again for both benchtops and flooring,'' Natale says. ''I like using the green verde marina variety. There's just so much movement through it.'' Architecturally, the '80s renaissance should herald the return of relaxed angles and curves. Columns will also make a reappearance to define a space. Now to the furniture. Lacquered oak in white, grey and black was big in the '80s. So, too, were chrome-framed tables with glass tops. And you could do worse than find a set of Cafe Costes chairs designed by Philippe Starck in 1985. The big story, of course, is the boom in 1980s design classics at auction houses around the world. Original Sottsass Carlton room dividers, for example, regularly fetch more than $15,000. Even a new version of Sottsass's 1983 Eastside Sofa, manufactured by Knoll, will set you back more than $11,000. Shapiro says original Memphis anything represents a sound investment. ''Memphis was so adventurous in its combination of materials, contrasting patterns and shapes that it continues to astound the viewer,'' Shapiro says. ''With the death of [Ettore] Sottsass, prices have continued to escalate over the past two years. Pieces from his last show in New York sold out in one week to private collectors and museums, some for well over $100,000.'' It is certainly more affordable to seek out 1980s objets d'art instead - such as Michael Graves's Bird Kettle for Alessi (1985). Or hang a print by David Hockney on the wall - the pastel decadence of his swimming pool art (A Bigger Splash) is pure '80s kitsch. More patriotic types may want to grab something by Australian Ken Done. Natale, for one, is exuberant about the neo-'80s movement. ''It's an exciting time for interior design,'' he says. ''This is a real chance to throw off the shackles of the past two decades. It's going to be fun.''

Marc Newson - Iittala

We've had a set of Finnish Iittala glasses by the Australian Marc Newson from the 

time they were introduced in 1994, 15 years ago. It was a period when Iittala 

made a push for refreshing their product range by commissioning the top 

designers in the world to produce the best there was in contemporary design.  By 

the way, I came across one of the original Newson Lockheed chairs at the 

Paramount Hotel lobby in New York some 12 years ago, when I was staying 

there.  I did not sit on it: even if you take a saddle seating position, your spine 

would still complain...

   From 2006, www.fredbernstein.com/articles/display.asp?id=189 :

Marc Newson By FRED A. BERNSTEIN The last time Marc Newson was in Florida, it wasn’t to promote a new development (like Philippe Starck), or to unveil an installation in Miami’s Design District (like Ron Arad). Newson, the 43-year-old designer, came to witness a launch at Cape Canaveral. Fascinated with rockets since childhood, Newson imagined himself not only making the trip into space someday – but doing it in a craft of his design. Sound unlikely? It’s no more unlikely than Newson’s career trajectory to date. Fifteen years ago, Ian Schrager paid about $1,500 for a hammered metal chaise by Newson, called the Lockheed Lounge, which he installed in the lobby of Manhattan’s Paramount Hotel. (At the time, Newson was described in the press as an Australian surfer who occasionally built furniture.) Last year, a chaise from the same series sold at Sotheby’s for just under $1 million. At New York’s Gagosian Gallery, in January, Newson will unveil about a dozen new pieces, in limited editions, that are likely to fetch equally stratospheric prices. Buying a chair or table by Newson (which are produced in editions of less than a dozen) has become the equivalent of buying an artwork by Damien Hirst or Vik Muniz – it takes both money and connections.

Penny Smith - Arabia

This 1996 extract is from a catalogue for Tasmania, Australia Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery exhibition 

Penny Smith Lightworks.  It's an introduction by Ms Hilkka Hiltunen, Chairman, Arabia Foundation, Product Manager, 

Hackman Desgnor, Arabia, Finland:

It is now almost twelve months since we closed Penny Smith's exhibition lightworks at the Arabia Museum Gallery. The exhibition aroused visitors' interest because Penny Smith was the first Australian artist to receive an invitation from the Arabia Cultural Foundation. The visitors were interested in the difference in the cultures of two countries so far apart. Penny Smith's first and more thorough exposure to Finnish culture and design was about five years ago when she put together the touring exhibition Profiles, to which the Arabia factory sent its own products. The objects of her knowledge and interest before this had been the noted Finnish designers and artist such as Tapio Wirkkala, Timo Sarpaneva, Rut Bryk and Kaj Franck. When the opportunity arose to visit Barcelona in 1992 she stopped over in Finland on the way back, which was the first time we met and discussed the idea of a mutual project and a period of work at the Arabia factory in Helsinki. The Arabia factories, which nowadays are part of the Hackman group, are situated in Helsinki. An art department has been operating at the factory for over sixty years, which throughout its existence has accommodated visitors. After 1989 the Arabia Cultural Foundation took over inviting artists to the factory. In 1994 the Arabia Cultural Foundation invited Penny Smith to visit Arabia for four months. The visit began in February 1995 when northern Finland was in the depths of mid-winter and the bluish twilight of the north was at its strongest. This pronounced natural and cultural difference also affected Penny's work at the factory. A visiting artist, like Arabia's own artists, is provided with all the technical support and choice of materials possible for the factory to offer. The artist therefore has modellers, mould makers, colour development facilities and model throwers at his or her disposal. Nevertheless, it is the artist's own skills and experience which largely determine how quickly and artistically the works can be completed. Penny Smith's working style was striking in its single-midedness and professionalism. In this short time she was able to complete a magnificent display of ceramics and also to add a few glass pieces to it from her visit to the Iittala glassworks. The factory, with all its opportunities, can present a challenge to and artist, who must concentrate on what is essential. Penny Smith decided on bone china. The bone china factory, which is within the large Arabia factory, had just started up with this new, technically difficult, but exquisite material. The delicate and beautiful variation of porcelain, bone china, also represented a new material for Penny Smith. It became an interesting acquaintanceship for the artist. Penny herself said that making the items for the exhibition was as much a learning as a creative process. Penny produced her work as a series, duplicating a certain form for a vase as for a lamp. The artist said the shape comes from a bull's horns and was a reference to her visit to Barcelona. Many also perceived the form of a bird in the shapes, giving a warning call for all to hear. The embossed patterning of the surface and other decorative devices made the pieces individual. Professionalism and skill, both artistic and technical, are seen in Penny's works, as well as a humble approach to the material in the finishing of the pieces. Visits and contacts are important to an artist and cannot be substituted. Visiting programmes have always been important to the Arabia factory too. Not only the artist, but also the factory and its personnel and artists are exposed to different influences. Penny Smith's visit proved once again how important it is for different cultures to meet. Our contacts will continue and be maintained. The Arabia factory's model thrower is presently assisting students and research at the University of Tasmania. Good contacts and friendship with Penny Smith as well as with Associate Professor Les Blakebrough will surely bear fruit in future cooperation between Australian and Finnish ceramic art and design. Ms Hilkka Hiltunen Chairman Arabia Foundation Product Manager Hackman Designor, Arabia

Caroline Casey - Alvar Aalto

   From www.caseybrown.com.au :

Caroline Casey enters the 21st century as a multitalented, award winning designer. After a degree in fashion and textiles and four years as design director of her own company, Casey turned to Interior design, studying and working for a further four years in New York and London. She returned to Sydney in '95 ready to focus her creative energies on a unique range of meticulously designed pieces of contemporary furniture exclusively for Anibou, one of Australia’s most established retailers of Twentieth Century classics. In the years since, her designs have been exhibited both nationally and internationally. In 1998 Sydney's Powerhouse Museum featured her in a solo exhibition. Most recently, the Caroline Casey collection is being manufactured in Germany for European and UK distribution. Her work has been collected by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the National Gallery of Australia, the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney and the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Frank O'Neill Bookcase:

Designed for New York writer Frank O’Neill.

www.caseybrown.com.au for more information.

There are a couple of Casey designs in the National Gallery of Australia collection.  

Here's a description of the Casey screen - in which Alvar Aalto is mentioned:

Caroline Casey’s training in interior, fashion and textile design at Sydney College of the Arts and the Parsons School of Design in New York has given her a broad background against which to develop her work in furniture and smaller domestic objects. Designed for limited production, her furniture is precise in its use of simple materials, repetitive forms and clearly expressed structure. The relationships between these elements of her work are subtle, allowing the eye to explore the surface and texture of natural materials, such as wood, against the particular visual and tactile qualities of manufactured materials, such as plastic and steel. This five-panel folding screen illustrates Casey’s use of a simple repetitive element—elongated ovals of plywood—suggesting large overlapping plant leaves and the airiness of the traditional slatted screenwork used in much tropical architecture. The screen’s simple beauty, organic design elements and use of a single, unadorned material also reveals the influence on Casey of mid-twentieth-century Scandinavian designers, such as the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. This screen is part of the National Gallery of Australia’s extensive collection of contemporary Australian craft and design. Text © National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2010  From: Ron Radford (ed), Collection highlights: National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2008