'state of extremes' exhibition at design museum holon explores the global crises of our time

the original, large-scale exhibition state of extremes at design museum holon investigates the social, technological and environmental crises of our time, that increasingly define our current condition of extremes. curated by aric chen with maya dvash and azinta plantenga, the exhibition celebrates the museum’s 10th anniversary with over 70 works by international and israeli designers, including pieces by virgil abloh, lucy mcrae, tadas maksimovas, adam nathaniel furman, and atelier van lishout. state of extremes demonstrates ways in which design can act as a mediating, moderating and healing force, while also showing how design and the world, have changed in the past ten years. all images by elad sarig

on view until may 9, 2020, the exhibition covers the entire design museum holon with over 70 works that together investigate our current condition of extremes— defined by extreme weather, extreme political polarization, extreme inequality and increasingly extreme scenarios in science, biotechnology and the digital realm — while also showing ways in which design can act as a mediating, moderating and healing force. curated by aric chen with maya dvash, chief curator of design museum holon, and azinta plantenga, state of extremes marks the museum’s 10th anniversary—coming a decade after its inaugural 2010 exhibition, the state of things.

‘in 2010, the state of things inaugurated the design museum holon by presenting a landscape of objects,’ says curator aric chen, who was also a member of that earlier exhibition’s curatorial team. ‘now, ten years later, state of extremes instead describes a condition—one in which the world has changed and, with it, design and design practice.’

exhibition overview

rather than focusing on any topic or issue in particular, state of extremes aims to show the potential of design to reveal, critique, resist, mitigate and sometimes even exacerbate extremes and the mechanisms that drive them. ‘in the last decade, design and innovation have driven us to envision newness in the world, in the pursuit of solutions to everyday problems,’ says maya dvash, chief curator of design museum holon. ‘however, our advancements have created unforeseeable consequences to humankind. “state of extremes” offers a vivid picture of where we are and where we are going.’overview of the museum’s lower gallery

comprising of installations, objects and speculative proposals and videos, state of extremes is organized into five thematic categories: spiraling; polarization; extremer; camouflage; new normals; and extreme lab. each of these categories examine different aspects of extremity in our current world, pointing them out and at the same time demonstrating ways in which design can act as a mediating, moderating and healing force.the end of everything by atelier van lieshout

the exhibition is complete with a special installation by UNStudio with manufacturer monopol colors in the museum’s outdoor courtyard. called the coolest white, the sculptural installation evokes the towers of a cityscape to help visualize the properties of a new paint, also called the coolest white, that aims to reduce the urban heat island effect. partially painted in the coolest white, and partially covered in regular paint, the installation uses a heat-sensing camera to produce a real-time thermal image that shows visitors the difference in temperature. alaska chair by virgil abloh at the extremer section alaska chair by virgil abloh and the urge to sit dry by boris maas bio city world map population of 11 billion by terreform ONEvoodoo economics by thomas thwaites valley (jing’an) by bas princen bodies of work (human baskets) by gil yefman with kuchinate compression cradle by lucy mcrae emotigun by tadas maksimovas and marijn koomen siri zen master by varburg the coolest white installation by UNStudio and monopol xcoral by ezri tarazi