London Design Festival at the V&A - Exhibitions

Location: Jones Gallery
Dates: 19-27 September

An exhibition commissioned by the European Union National Institute for Culture (EUNIC) and curated by Jane Withers. In Praise of Shadows marks the decision by EU governments to phase out low efficiency light bulbs by 2012.

The exhibition includes work by a wide variety of designers including Drift, Peike Bergmans and also Loop.ph. who explore the potential of alternative energy sources with a piece entitled Sonumbra; a parasol that offers shelter from the sun by day and, by night, sheds light using the energy collected in solar cells embedded in its canopy.

The exhibition also includes films by Clan du Neon, French eco activists who protest against the senseless waste of energy and light pollution by extinguishing neon advertising signs.

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Location: Link corridor between V&A Tunnel Entrance and Sackler Centre

Dates: 19-27 September

Curated by Dominic Lippa, partner at Pentagram, with Sir John Sorrell, Chairman of the London Design Festival, this exhibition draws on the notion that the poster is one of the oldest and still one of the most powerful communication mediums.

Featuring work by graphic designers and typographers who have been given the brief of celebrating London by producing an A1 sized two colour poster, the project brings together many of the leading names in graphic design, including, Angus Hyland, Jon Ellery, Henrik Kubel, Derek Birdsall, Tony Brook, Tom Hingston, Andy Altmann, Fernando Gutteriez, Morag Myerscough, Mike Dempsey, Alan Kitching, Frith Kerr, Alan Aboud, Damon Murray, Mason Wells, Michael Wolff and Quentin Newark.

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Location V&A Garden
Dates 18-27 September

Wallpaper* magazine is taking inspiration from Victorian Britain: Towns across Britain in the late 1800s would turn any particularly special occasion, such as a royal visit, into a celebration of local industry. The focal point of these celebrations would be an arch composed of the town’s main commodity and constructed over the main street.

Wallpaper* has commissioned leading designer, Martino Gamper, to re-visit the chair arch.

Martino Gamper has designed an arch of stacked Ercol chairs that cross each other and stand unsupported.The chair arch can be seen in the garden of the V&A for the duration of the Festival.

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Location: Tunnel Entrance
Dates: 19-27 September

What will future archeologists uncover in the UK if we continue to deposit 99 million tonnes of waste per year in landfills?

Arts Co have chosen a recent Royal College of Art graduate, Ian Douglas-Jones, to illustrate the need for recycling by creating an installation that displays the stratum (layers of compressed soil or rock) and asks the questions; ‘can we create a new typology of landscape design and architecture using commercial waste streams? ‘ And also ‘can new and inspirational products be created from these reclaimed materials by artists?’

Alongside the installation E&K Arts will also showcase a range of products designed by artists from material otherwise destined for landfill; from condemned fire-hose and racing sails to waste coffee sacks and de-commissioned parachutes and office furniture textiles.

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Location: Entrance Dome – V&A
Dates: 19-27 September

An installation by Established & Sons Creative Director, Sebastian Wrong and artist Richard Woods using Tulip wood boards from their infamous show in Milan during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile. Four pieces will occupy the corners of the entrance dome and reference the many tiered plaster cornice work aligned around the central atrium directly above the bench positions. The work intentionally corrupts the high Victorian interior architecture of the surrounding area by misaligning the order of the space.

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