Do you know the design ?

Between form, function, material, innovation, utility, originality and aethetics, design is a balancing act.

Versatile creator, the designer is sometimes considered as an author, even an artist, sometimes as a creator who puts his expertise at the service of usefulness and efficiency. The English word « design » comes from the old French « desseing » which means both « drawing » (the form, aesthetics : a formal object), and « aim » (the use, the objective : an object thought, mental, intellectual).

Liked to the rise of industrial production in the 20th century, design remains little known and little understood by the general public despite its role in everyday life. It is readily associated with choices of  « stylized » shapes, « contemporary » lines. We rarely know the authors.

In line with its previous general art history exhibitions (Contemporary Aubusson Tapestries ; The Triumph of Color, a history of color photography), the Centre d’art de Crest offers a journey into the story of a discipline, design, through fifty cult objects. Some are famous – they were designed by masters and sometimes their use took hold in the homes of the 20th century Western homo sapiens. Others are less known because they were designed by anonymous people or because their destiny is more modest.

The exhibition thus offers a discovery of design in the form of an initiatory exploration, a subjective reading that gives prominence to sensitivity, authors and stories. 50 ways to enter a history of design through a content-rich journey.

With creations by Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand, Marcel Breuer, Dieter Rams, Philippe Starck, Matali Crasset, Raymond Loewy, Roger Tallon, Ettore Sottsass etc., a pressure cooker, chairs and tables, a pen, a watch, computers, televisions, a juicer,  lamps…

Testimonials from active designers are included in the exhibition.

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