Coffee Table: Art Object or Social Signifier?
London Design Week provided a wealth of visual inspiration, addressing form, function as well as the effects of economic shifts on the industry. Rocket Gallery is showing Book a Table: Coffee Tables & Artists’ Books–a show that combines the aura of the art object with design’s cardinal sensibilities. The exhibit is made up of specially designed tables, paired with a collection of minimalist art books. However, these tables and books are not just seen as pristine examples of clean, minimal design. Rather, the display ruminates on the social function of the coffee table as a space for identifying one’s social status.
Alexander Payne and James Zemaitis, the authors of The Coffee Table Coffee Table Book explain:
“Somehow, the occasional table turned into the coffee table, the modern object of the twentieth century, the centerpiece of the living room, taking pride of place in front of the sofa… And now, in the twenty-first century, it has become an alter, where one displays one’s social and cultural aspirations by the careful placement of cautiously chosen stacks of coffee table books…”
An international exhibition, designers participating include: Tomoko Azumi, Stefan Eberstadt, Asif Khan, Oliver King, Tom Lovegrove, Jean-Claude Mattrat, David Restorick, Spine, Richard Roth, Nina Tolstrup, Corinna Warm, and Lars Wolter. Artists’ books included contributions from Sol Lewitt, Bruno Munari, Dieter Roth, Keld Helmer-Petersen, Ib Geertsen, Jasper Morrison, Tom Benson, Jean-Claude Mattrat, Brian Blow, Charles Christopher Hill, Julian Opie, Thomas Clark, Robert Mangold, Michael Gitlin, Marc Volk, Stephen Gill, and Marjorie Welsh.
The exhibition runs through November 7th.
Recent Articles By Lisa Baldini 
Lisa Baldini is a regular contributor to PSFK.com. As a student of Graham Harwood, Luciana Parisi, and Matthew Fuller, Lisa's interest in technology lies in how culture is changed from the bottom up through history, materiality, databases, user experience, and affective computing. A student of social media marketing, she sees how people try to engage consumers through technology and how much failure is at hand by misunderstanding the medium. A teacher at heart, she writes and curates in an effort to link the knowledge derived between the academic, art, and business worlds.
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| TOPICS: | Arts & Culture, Design & Architecture |
| TAGS: | coffee table, coffee table book, dieter roth, london design week, minimalism, rocket gallery, sol lewitt |
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