konstantin grcic: black2

‘black2’ an exhibition concept by konstantin grcic at the istituto svizzero in rome, italy image © designboom

‘black2’ – konstantin grcic instituto svizzero di roma on now until 12 february, 2011   german designer konstantin grcic has conceived a new exhibition concept entitled, ‘black2 (black and square)’ for the istituto svizzero di roma. the show, which designboom visited, analyzes the presence of the black square shape in the production of contemporary objects. consisting of 51 products that are more or less well-known, grcic combines a wide range of designs within a homogeneous formal and linguistic category.

exhibition view photo by salvatore gozzo

tracing back to a number of cultures–from the islamic kaaba to chinese ceramic traditions–the black square is rich in symbolic value. it does not exist in nature and is seemingly autonomous. it is starting from the twentieth century, with the modern age, that ‘black and square’ has been given prominence and such widespread use to become a formal trend.

on display include the apple iphone and ipad chip, the marshall amplifier, the bible, and grcic’s ‘diana b table’ (2002). the collection illustrates the dominance of the black and square shape in product design, fashion, consumerism, and marketing.

(left) ‘helvetica’ letter ‘i’, 1957 designer: max miedinger, eduard hoffman 100 x 70 cm silk screen

(right) ‘e2’ switch, 1998 designer: gira design team 15.2 x 8.1 x 0.9 cm termoplast images © designboom

with ‘black 2’, grcic reflects and explores the contemporary object and its trajectory  at a time when experimentation is in need of new orientation capacities. the exhibition illustrates the vast richness of this linguistic attribute and the certainty that in each of the products on display, and of the hundreds of black and square objects that we are surrounded by, it is about an action that calls into play the very idea of creation that is the contemporary era.

exhibition view photo by salvatore gozzo

(top left) petrol can 28 x 31 x 18 cm plastic

(bottom left) ‘haze 40c’ amplifier, 2008 designer: marshall team 48.6 x 59 x 25.4 cm plastic, metal

(right) ‘boby’ trolley, 1970 designer: joe colombo 73.5 x 42 x 43 cm abs plastic, galvanized steel, polypropylene images © designboom

(foreground) black soap, fair&white designer: derma labs 5.5 x 9 x 3.3 cm soap, cocoa butter

(background) coal briquet, vattenfall europe 6.3 x 15.6 x 4.5 cm coal image © designboom

(left) bachelor hat 23.5 x 23.5 x 10 cm satin

(right) wall mounted CD player, muji, 2004 designer: naoto fukasawa 17.5 x 17.5 x 4 cm plastic, wire, 2 speakers images © designboom

‘centurion’ credit card, american express, 1999 designer: continuum designs innovation 8.5 x 5.4 cm titanium image © designboom

holy bible, cambridge university press (UK), approx 1950 18.5 x 12-7 x 3 cm paper, leather image © designboom

gravestone 70 x 40 x 6 cm black granite image © designboom

‘bag gloves escon fit’ boxing gloves, 2003 designer: muhamed furkan 21.5 x 12.5 x 9 cm leather, velcro image © designboom

‘chip A4’ chip for ipad and iphone4, 2009 designer: apple engineers team 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.05 cm image © designboom

‘cubo’ ashtray, 1957 designer: bruno munari 8 x 8 x 8 cm anodized natural aluminum, melamine image © designboom

‘sudoku cube’, 2006 designer: jay horowitz 5.5 x 5.5 x 5.5 cm plastic image © designboom

‘tetsubin teapot’, mount everest tea 16 x 14 x 10.5 cm cast iron, enamel, stainless steel filter image © designboom

‘the bella combination’ art noveau style fireplace 106 x 104 x 15 cm cast iron image © designboom

(left) on ground: ‘diana 8’ side table, 2002 designer: konstantin grcic 53 x 47 x 43 cm steel, polyethylene

on wall: (left) ‘the black album, prince’, 1987 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.3 cm paper, vinyl

(right) ‘CI 481 102’, gaggenau induction cooktop 2009 designer: soren strayle 56 x 79.3 x 5 cm fiberglass

(right) detail of ‘the black album, prince’ images © designboom

konstantin grcic at the exhibition portrait © designboom