+++  Subversives Design (Subversive design) at NRW FORUM +++ February 11 to May 22, 2022 +++

Subversive design is critical design. It doesn’t offer any direct solutions. Instead, it questions the classical system’s status quo. From February 11 to May 22, 2022, the group exhibition Subversive design transforms the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf into a “critical department store” with 20 occasionally humorous positions. The exhibition spacehas been transformed into a warehouse wherefunctional shelving systems house the piecesand a robot moves through the aisles transporting products. Instead of unique artistic pieces, the group exhibition shows products by contemporary designers who share the contemporary approach of critical design. They sneakalternative models into the market and deal with some of the pressing issues of our time: climate change, digitalisation, and discrimination.

Showcasing Zara Alexandrova & Zoran Georgiev, Ludwig Berger, BLESS, Liora Epstein, Jojo Gronostay (Dead White Men ́s Clothes), Demna Gvasalia für Balenciaga, Pieterjan Ginckels, Vanessa Harden, Katerina Kamprani, Henri Alexander Levy (Enfants Riches Déprimés), MSCHF, Next Nature Network, PUTPUT (Stephan & Ulrik Martin Larsen), Max Siedentopf, Vaia Tatopoulou, The Internet Shop, Patricia Thoma, Anna van Eckand Sebastian Wanke.

Subversion means targeted infiltration and describes processes that question existing orders and systems, appropriating their mechanisms and makingthem visible with goal of changing them. It can take the form of civil disobedience or sabotage, andin subcultural contexts it can also draw attention to inequalities and discrimination. Closely related to subversion is the concept of critical design,which instead of servinga consumer oriented market, questions the classical design system and seeks to offer counter-designs and new possibilities of action for the future. Instead of individual pieces, the group exhibition emphasises serial production. Subversive design does not place itself above the mainstream, it operates within it. The designers remix, sample, intervene, hack, turn functionality on its head and in doing so, question habits of consumption and views on the topics of nutrition, fashion, sustainability, and climate.

NRW FORUM at Kunst Palast.
Ehrenhof 240479 Düsseldorf