view of ‘the letter E is everywhere’ by studio manuel raederimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura

 

 

‘the letter E is everywhere’ now on show at archivo diseño y arquitectura, mexico city (until august 9, 2013) provides an intimate look into the work of of the berlin studio manuel raeder. the exhibition is presented in partnership with centro de diseño de oaxaca (where it was first shown in late 2012).

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © designboom

 

 

‘the letter E is everywhere’ features a series of recent works that manuel raeder and his collaborator santiago da silva developed together with oaxacan artisans – these pieces explore how local techniques contrast and intertwine with mass production objects, such as the monobloc chairs that are covered in woven palm leaves. these original designs are complimented by pieces of mexican design from the archivo diseño y arquitectura permanent collection.

 

there is also a substantial collection of books on display designed by studio manuel raeder over the last ten years – the majority of which feature contemporary art.

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura

 

—manuel raeder and santiago da silva told us more about their work and the exhibition.

 

DB: please can you tell us about your studio and the work you produce?MR: I founded the studio about ten years ago now there are three of us. we work mostly designing books, posters and other graphics for contemporary art galleries and artists. in the last few years we’ve been asked to design exhibitions and installations – many of which explore the idea of how to exhibit books – the idea of how a book is experienced in a space – exploring how you display an archive of books? how do you display a story? or a history?

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura

 

 

DB: how did this current exhibition come about?MR: centro de diseño de oaxaca invited us to exhibit our books there and spend a couple of months there exploring the region and thinking how we might produce some new works informed by this experience. we were more than happy to come and explore how we might be able to work with local artisans.

 

SdS: we wanted to explore how things that are made in a specific part of the world could be juxtaposed with things that are universal and how those relationships might be realized. the exhibition features two stands that display artisanal objects typical of oaxaca – some of these are shown in the finalized state while others are shown ‘in-process’ to highlight how they are made.

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura

 

 

DB: what have been some of your personal highlights from the whole experience of this exhibition?SdS: the whole process has been great, and perhaps it’s still to soon to know what are ‘highlights’ as it’s ongoing. but collecting all of the work from ten years and thinking how to display it in the context of mexico was something that we enjoyed and that made us think a lot about routes we can explore in the future.

 

MR: it’s raised a lot of questions for ourselves and hopefully for visitors and the collaborators, such as what are the boundaries between design and crafts? or global and local production? how can design create a dialogue with people who experience it? how can we help people question consumerism. of course more practical issues as in how do we display artworks, books and objects.

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © designboom

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © designboom

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © designboom

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © designboom

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © designboom

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © designboom

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © designboom

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © designboom

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © designboom

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturamanuel raeder and santiago da silva portrait © designboom

 

 

about studio manuel raedermanuel raeder has a multidisciplinary studio based in berlin. in the last ten years he has been designing, publishing and editing over 100 artist’s books, and developing communication and graphic identity strategies for several cultural institutions, as well as his own furniture projects. the studio has developed long-term partnerships with contemporary artists such as mariana castillo deball, haegue yang, nora schultz, abraham cruzvillegas and sergej jensen, among others.

 

the studio manuel raeder is interested in the construction of narratives through books, space and furniture design. books can be used as carriers of information or experimental devices that document or present narratives. similarly, the design of an exhibition space can be developed through different sensory experiences, guiding the visitor through a spatial narrative.

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © designboom

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © designboom

 

 

'the letter E is everywhere' at archivo diseno y arquitecturaimage © archivo diseño y arquitectura