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02/23/2010

Rhode Island School of Design to Present Principles of Nature at 2010 American Craft Council Show 

RISD Students Showcase Original Work at the Baltimore Convention Center, February 23–28, 2010

Providence, RI – Students from the Furniture Design and Jewelry + Metalsmithing departments at Rhode Island School of Design [RISD] will present Principles of Nature at the 2010 American Craft Council [ACC] Show in Baltimore, MD. RISD is one of two colleges nationwide invited to showcase student work in the ACC’s School-to-Market exhibition at the Baltimore Convention Center from February 23–28, 2010.

In two fall 2009 studio courses, taught by Assistant Professor of Furniture Design Lothar Windels and Visiting Assistant Professor of Jewelry + Metalsmithing Lola Brooks, student designers drew inspiration from structures and systems in nature. In-depth investigation of the way plants and animals grow and function helped reveal the underlying principles that enable natural structures and systems to perform specific functions so successfully. By abstracting these principles, students in each department were able to apply them to creating innovative furniture, jewelry and other products that are as efficient and elegant as nature itself.

“It was crucial for students to understand that examples from nature can and should act as inspiration to solve functional problems, following the principles of biomimicry,” Windels notes. “Formal explorations inspired by the beauty of nature were also valid, but were not the focus of these courses. The key was nonlinear investigation – students could either start by identifying a product with a specific function and look to lessons from nature that are applicable, or observe how nature solves a specific functional problem and work from there to design their own piece or product.”

Students in Jewelry + Metalsmithing also explored natural structure, pattern, systems and form as they worked to design pieces with the complex structure yet simple beauty and functionality typical of the natural world. “Jewelry students were primarily inspired by the many formal issues they came to understand through close observation of natural phenomena like cellular structure, surface pattern, texture, color and form,” notes Brooks.

In both studios, students kicked off the semester with a visit to RISD’s Edna Lawrence Nature Lab, a unique RISD resource that offers hands-on access to more than 80,000 specimens, including shells, feathers, seedpods, skeletons, insects, plants and live and preserved mammals. Throughout the semester, students developed a series of models that helped in executing final prototypes for the show. At the end of the fall semester a faculty jury selected the pieces to be exhibited in Baltimore.

RISD STUDENT WORK at ACC: 

• By studying the structure of leaves, Frank Cresencia [BFA 2010 FD] designed a Corrugation Bench that allows rainwater to run off its surface naturally, just as it does from the surface of plants.
• Like a duck’s webbed feet, which contract during a forward stroke and expand into a paddle as its legs move backwards, the Expandable Chair by Christopher Johnson [BFA 2010 FD] collapses to save space and opens to provide functional seating.
• Lui Kawasumi [BFA 2011 FD] created his Stretched Bowl by mimicking the mechanism that allows snakeskin to expand when a snake swallows large prey.
• Inspired by the articulate joints of a praying mantis, Eun Seung Koo [BFA 2010 FD] designed her Gesture Lamp so that the light source can be moved with ease in every direction.
• M Quinn [BFA 2011 FD] looked to the layered plates of abalone shells in designing Urban Armor, a piece of flexible, lightweight sport gear that redefines protection as a form of fashion.
• Careful study of the mechanics of birds’ claws inspired Ekin Varon [BFA 2010 FD] to create Perching Travel Hanger, which hooks onto a railing while it is being opened for ease during traveling.
• Misha Kahn [BFA 2011 FD] designed Nest Rocker to be as cozy, quirky and adjustable as the swallows’ nests that inspired it.
• Margaret Hinge [BFA 2011 J+M] made her Pinecones necklace from paper-thin copper flashing connected around an inner core and gathered into small clusters, much as they would be found growing on a tree.
• Inspired by the way birds build nests using intertwined elements, Esther Kim [BFA 2011 J+M] created Nest Architecture, a necklace that underscores the elegance and beauty of combining seemingly random elements into a tightly built structure.
• Zoë Wendel [BFA 2011 J+M] constructed her Rabbit Skeleton Necklace from laser-cut brass, combining a sense of beauty and whimsy in linking the pieces together with the seamless movement of animal joints.
• For her Spider Web Necklace, Wendel recreated the delicate interplay between form and negative space, discovering how beautifully a silver web can drape over the torso.

The American Craft Council sets high standards for its wholesale shows, which attract buyers from throughout the world, making this is an unparalleled opportunity for students to gain first-hand experience in installing and exhibiting work, and interacting with the public. In addition to RISD, the ACC invited Savannah College of Art and Design to contribute work to the annual School-to-Market exhibition, which is aimed at helping students to bridge the gap between the classroom and the marketplace for sculptural and functional craft. As the largest event of its kind in the county, the 34th annual American Craft Council Show in Baltimore will feature work by more than 700 professional artists. 

Click here to visit Photo Gallery of Furniture Design Student Work 

Click here to visit Photo Gallery of Jewelry and Metalsmithing Student Work 

About Rhode Island School of Design
 

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) has earned a worldwide reputation as the preeminent college of art and design in the United States. Today, with more than 26,000 alumni, RISD enrolls nearly 2,000 undergraduates and 400 graduate students from the U.S. and almost 50 countries, offering degree programs in the fine arts, architecture, design disciplines and art education. Academic programs include research and design initiatives, the exploration of art criticism and contemporary cultural concerns, as well as international exchange programs. Each year hundreds of prominent artists, designers, critics and cultural leaders visit RISD’s Providence campus. Among its many prized resources is The RISD Museum of Art, which houses a world-class collection of art objects from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, and art of all periods from Asia, Europe and the Americas, as well as the latest in contemporary art. For more information, visit www.risd.edu or our.risd.edu.