“Living Above the Water” invites you to explore collectible design that has been made while thinking about a more sustainable future. It is nothing new that designers are blamed for creating beautiful objects and encouraging people to buy new things and thereby contributing to global warming. The global sea level has risen about 21–24 cm since 1880, with a third of the total in just the last two and a half decades. The water level is rising due to unconscious human activities, consumerism, and pollution. Due to this, future homes will definitely look different – some lands will be flooded and people will have to learn to live above the water.
Future design should have a connection with the past like the “Romance Gravity” Console by Vytautas Gečas inspired by complex aesthetics of the rococo period. Future designers will be obliged to look for alternative materials and techniques, in a similar manner to Agnė Kučerenkaitė who uses coloured upcycled textile dyes that originate from botanical and metal waste and by-products. People will have to go back to their roots, find a connection with nature, and be more aware of ethics and animal rights, as can be seen in Mantas Lesauskas’ “Récamier Daybed”, made of aluminium and sheepskin – a by-product of the meat industry which is durable and biodegradable. What looks ordinary nowadays might become totally obsolete. “Shipping Shade” by Martynas Kazimierėnas questions whether it is always necessary to pack everything in a box? Perhaps the object can be sold and transported without extra care and even collect a unique visual story. Due to the fast pace of living, the human agenda may become so crowded that doing sports at home becomes a new habit which saves time and lowers CO2 emissions – so why not reuse old sports equipment in the same way as designer Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė?
Read our interview with curator Audronė Drungilaitė on Adorno Editorial.
Living Above The Water
Curated by Audronė Drungilaitė
“LAYERS” Stoneware Lamp
by Evelina Kudabaite
The “LAYERS” Stoneware Lamp is a result of the dialogue between the designer, Evelina Kudabaitė, and a ceramic artist. The duo were aiming to rethink the idea of perfection. The process was intentionally limited by several obstacles, which lead to an unexpected and unplanned result. The rhythmic, monumental construction reflects the pursuit of perfection, while the soft light highlights the uneven touch of the craftsmen, embracing the beauty of unplanned. The light is a catalyst for our perception, so experience comes by examining form, emerging (im)perfections, texture, and light itself. The object is open to the search for individual experiences and the dialogues between object and the viewer.
Pink Console
by Vytautas Gečas
In 2018, during their residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, the contextual designer Vytautas Gečas began artistic research into decor. Taking as his point of reference the idea that the Baroque epoch at its outset was associated with something “peculiar and unnecessarily complicated”, Gečas linked it to the depreciation of decor in our everyday environment. While analyzing historical artifacts and techniques, he focused on the actualization of decor and its possible manifestations in the context of contemporary design
Sports at Home I
by Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė
The “Sports at Home” collection is made from redesigned teen sports equipment collected during the quarantine period. This global quarantine time is extremely challenging for professional athletes, especially team players. These changes are painful in many areas and radically transforms these days situation. This colorful collection of rugs is made from deconstructed sports equipment and combined with hand knitting techniques.
Sports at Home I
by Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė
The “Sports at Home” collection is made from redesigned teen sports equipment collected during the quarantine period. This global quarantine time is extremely challenging for professional athletes, especially team players. These changes are painful in many areas and radically transforms these days situation. This colorful collection of rugs is made from deconstructed sports equipment and combined with hand knitting techniques.
shippingshade
by Martynas Kazimierėnas
The design of “shippingshade” is made to be accepted by the general rules of postal shipping companies. The outer layer of the lamp resembles a cardboard shipping box – so that the lamp itself becomes the packaging as well as the lampshade itself. By traveling unpacked and looking like a shipping box, reminders of its travel stay visible.
shippingshade
by Martynas Kazimierėnas
The design of “shippingshade” is made to be accepted by the general rules of postal shipping companies. The outer layer of the lamp resembles a cardboard shipping box – so that the lamp itself becomes the packaging as well as the lampshade itself. By traveling unpacked and looking like a shipping box, reminders of its travel stay visible.
“Récamier” Daybed
by Mantas Lesauskas
Having analysed the traditional use of natural materials, designer Mantas Lesauskas has explored alternatives to the use of materials of animal origin, such as sheepskin. Even though these substances are a by-product of the meat industry, the ethical dilemma of using them still exists, and objects made with them retain the hunter’s collective sense of guilt. In the face of the Anthropocene era, Lesauskas’ goal is to glorify and honour the end of life in the best and most beautiful possible form of supposed “reincarnation” as if standing on a pedestal.
“Récamier” Daybed
by Mantas Lesauskas
Having analysed the traditional use of natural materials, designer Mantas Lesauskas has explored alternatives to the use of materials of animal origin, such as sheepskin. Even though these substances are a by-product of the meat industry, the ethical dilemma of using them still exists, and objects made with them retain the hunter’s collective sense of guilt. In the face of the Anthropocene era, Lesauskas’ goal is to glorify and honour the end of life in the best and most beautiful possible form of supposed “reincarnation” as if standing on a pedestal.
“Lutetia” Rug
by Agne Kucerenkaite
The “Lutetia” rug from the “Ignorance is Bliss” collection is coloured using upcycled textile dyes that originate from botanical and metal waste and by-products. Commercial textile dyeing causes a significant amount of environmental and health problems due to the chemicals used in the process whereas natural dyeing is rarely employed on an industrial scale. Drinking water supply and agriculture industries are the main waste suppliers for the collection. Leftovers of mostly organically grown plants do not contain toxic additives as they are intended for use in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Flax is versatile, cost-effective, resilient and its cultivation requires far less water and pesticides than cotton.
