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Just What is it by Matylda Krzykowski

Have the consumer-grade objects that furnish our homes really changed all that much in the past 60-years? Internationally-recognised “design provocateur” Matylda Krzykowski (profiled in TLmag25) explores this question in her Just What is it exhibition at Chamber NYC (on view till 3 December). Basing...
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Photography by Lauren Coleman, courtesy of Chamber NYC

Have the consumer-grade objects that furnish our homes really changed all that much in the past 60-years? Internationally-recognised “design provocateur” Matylda Krzykowski (profiled in TLmag25) explores this question in her Just What is it exhibition at Chamber NYC (on view till 3 December). Basing her strategic selection of contemporary art and design objects with reference to Richard Hamilton’s seminal 1956 Just What is that Makes Today’s Homes so Different, so Appealing collage, the guest curator critiques similar treatments of late-Capitalist material culture, speculation and perhaps even hedonism. Though offering a damning assessment of our everyday objects – furniture as much as iconography – Kryzkowski hints at an evolution towards statement-based objects; material and conceptual aberrations that effectively subvert the mundane.

As the first in a series of four exhibitions, the curators first instalment takes the notion of assemblage to a scenographic aptitude. Works are placed as t0 establish different ‘interior’ scenario. Louie Rigano & Gil Müller’s high-performance silicone cord woven carpet plays host to Mischer’Traxler’s iconic Relumine Lapis & Lazuli Lamp, as well as Tina Roeder’s Blue Leather Shelf; all in hues of cobalt blue. Holding this setting together is Oskar Zieta’s new Emerald Green and Flamed Gold Sonar inflated-metal screens and Cryril Porchet’s large format Meeting photos – depicting a contemporary church. Have corporations become our new religions? Blending the definitions of art and design, she places wall-mounted steel tube sculptures by Rafal Dominik in dialogue with Pieterjan Ginckels ‘artistic’ maquette for the Ensor Dyson IV hand dryer.

Kryzkowski even dares to hang paintings on the wall. Based on her own prompt, Niek Hendrix applies oil and pencil to large panels; creating hyper-realistic montages that evoke our increased reliance on virtual image inquiries. While woven textiles by Design Displacement Group explore themes such as revenge, resurrection, love, and jealousy, Johen Holz’s bent neon glass tube lamps evoke the shape of jump ropes. Celestial and cosmic qualities beam through Os & OOs’ Syzygy Phases lamp, Studio Swine’s Metalic Geology cupboard, and a mechanised mirror by Florian Ziller and Fateheh Naderi. Material culture is perhaps best expressed in Nick van Woert’s almost nostalgic Lunch Meat plank sculpture. The wall-posed piece depicts the analog templates architects once used. Additionally, Martino Gamper’s Binnit series asks viewers to consider the banality of trash cans. Though setting a strong tone for the following exhibitions, Krzykowski employs an airy layout, allowing the white cube space to best spotlight the works on show.

Just What is it
Collection 3
till 3 December
Chamber NYC: 515 W. 23rd Street

Einheit in der Vielfalt - Vielfalt in der Einheit by Florian Ziller & Fatemeh Naderi (2016): Aluminium, PMMA Mirror, Industrial Ultra-sonic Sensor, Powder-coated Steel
Einheit in der Vielfalt - Vielfalt in der Einheit by Florian Ziller & Fatemeh Naderi (2016): Aluminium, PMMA Mirror, Industrial Ultra-sonic Sensor, Powder-coated Steel
Neon Chandelier by Jochen Holz (2016): Electric Cables, Bent Neon Glass Tubes, 3 Transformers
Neon Chandelier by Jochen Holz (2016): Electric Cables, Bent Neon Glass Tubes, 3 Transformers
Syzygy Phases by Os & Oos (2013): Aluminium, Arduino Computer, Concrete, Glass, Light Filtering Foil, Light Sensor, Rubber, Stepper Motors
Syzygy Phases by Os & Oos (2013): Aluminium, Arduino Computer, Concrete, Glass, Light Filtering Foil, Light Sensor, Rubber, Stepper Motors
You Name It Shelf #1 & Thing #1 by Robert Stadler: Sand Blasted Oak, Moulded Resin-Coated Fibreglass Fabric
You Name It Shelf #1 & Thing #1 by Robert Stadler: Sand Blasted Oak, Moulded Resin-Coated Fibreglass Fabric
Emerald Green Sonar by Oskar Zíeta (2016): Inox Steel, Lacquer, Raw Steel
Emerald Green Sonar by Oskar Zíeta (2016): Inox Steel, Lacquer, Raw Steel
Blue Leather Shelf by Tina Roeder (2012): Leather, Steel
Blue Leather Shelf by Tina Roeder (2012): Leather, Steel
Lunch Meat by Nick van Woert (2016): High Pressure Laminate and Birch
Lunch Meat by Nick van Woert (2016): High Pressure Laminate and Birch
The Death of Graphic Design: an Opera, Revenge, Resurrection, Love, Ambition, Jealousy (2016): Merino Wool
The Death of Graphic Design: an Opera, Revenge, Resurrection, Love, Ambition, Jealousy (2016): Merino Wool
The Vessel by Niek Hendrix (2016): Oil and Pencil on Panel
The Vessel by Niek Hendrix (2016): Oil and Pencil on Panel
Still Life: Breast, Leg, Hand by Mirka Laura Severa (2016): Acrylate, Duratrans, Led, Wood
Still Life: Breast, Leg, Hand by Mirka Laura Severa (2016): Acrylate, Duratrans, Led, Wood
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Exhibition View
Exhibition View
Exhibition View
Exhibition View
Exhibition View
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