The final installment of the CCA student-curated exhibition class was design studio Experimental Jetset, the Amsterdam studio that is made up of partners Marieke Stolk, Danny van den Dungen and Erwin Brinkers.
In their own words the students describe the idea behind the curation:
“Experimental Jetset is Marieke, Danny and Erwin, but it is also Danny, Marieke and Erwin, and of course, Erwin, Danny and Marieke. They have collaborated since 1997.
Like Experimental Jetset, this exhibition may, or may not be a paradox. Graphic design as language and as object. This is graphic design in the context of an exhibition, under glass, and on film.”
This final exhibition was interesting because it explored the way Experimental Jetset works together (albeit imagined and exaggerated) with the three videos. It’s hard to tell without seeing the videos live, but the videos were taken from three different “views” of the same situation. It opens with each screen focusing on a different person from the waist-down. The three people in the video move into each other’s screen, layout a vitrine together, and pass working materials back and forth while working together on a computer.
An interesting way to not just explore the work, but explore the way the design studio works as well. This wraps up the student exploration of what it means to put graphic design into a gallery space. If nothing else, the class was a great way to learn about curation and how to think about graphic design in a fine arts setting.
Check out the three other design studios the class worked with: APFEL, Walker Art Institute, and Project Projects.