Examining the Evolving Handmade Object
As design and art is shaped and formed from a broader toolkit of technology, the perception of what is handmade is altering. Yet what is still handmade is also a reaction to these new technologies. A pop-up exhibition in Brooklyn is showcasing a broad group of these creators whose work ranges from t
As design and art is shaped and formed from a broader toolkit of technology, the perception of what is handmade is altering. Yet what is still handmade is also a reaction to these new technologies. A pop-up exhibition in Brooklyn is showcasing a broad group of these creators whose work ranges from the sleek verging on the industrial to the more DIY look more readily associated with the handmade.
te + te: New Handmade at reMADEnyc is opening May 19 as one of the NY Design Week exhibitions. It is co-presented by reMADE and Spoon & Tamago, and has a specific focus on mostly local contemporary Japanese artists and designers. Johnny Strategy who runs the Japanese art, design and culture site Spoon & Tamago explained that “handmade is no longer a lone artisan sitting at a potters wheel. It’s taken on a much broader, economically competitive and viable definition. In fact, I think it’s really interesting how, in many cases, the hand of the artist is being obscured to the point of absence.”
As an example, Kenzo Minami is exhibiting 13, which is a “making of” series comprised of handwritten sketches, photographs of handmade prints, and final prints, all contained within consumer-friendly orange envelopes. “I really love how the human hand is referenced and yet it’s printed on something seemingly opposite: newsprint for mass-produced communication,” Strategy said.
The exhibition takes its name from te (手), meaning hand in Japanese, and references both the exchanging of the exhibited objects and the hands that made them, and includes design objects, photography, and sculpture. “Handmade is not the enemy nor the opposite of art,” Strategy asserted. “Both push on each other to expand their capacity. I guess, on a deeper sense, this whole show is about how art and handmade push on each other and expand our notions of the way the world is or might be.”
Below are some more images from artists featured in te + te:
te + te: New Handmade opens May 19 at 6 pm at reMADEnyc (469 Dekalb Avenue, Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn) and runs through Sunday, May 20.
