The State of Things: Design and the 21st Century

The State of Things: Design and the 21st Century is the inaugural exhibition at the new Design Museum Holon, Israel, designed by Ron Arad as a centerpiece for Israel’s burgeoning art scene.

The exhibition features more than 100 products by international designers, selected for their practical or cultural impact on contemporary design, relevance to daily life, use of modern material or conceptual function.

Curated by Barbara Bloemink - formerly of New York's Cooper-Hewitt Museum - the works are diverse: classic and contemporary and ranging in form from printed wallpaper and plastic chairs to life-enhancing technologies such as a water filtration device and a tiny hearing aid. Objects are grouped across eight categories: New Essentialism, Mutant Remix, Of the Body, Social Anxiety, Beyond the Designer, Super Beauty, Craft Economy and Design Lab.

Highlights include Yael Mer’s Evacuation Dress, shown within the Social Anxiety category, a wry take on our perception that we live in an increasingly dangerous world, and Stephen Burks’ Love Stool, made by African workers from recycled shredded magazines, which highlights the capacity for design to help build with global economic development and heralds the return of ‘craft’ to the art and design stage.

The new Design Museum, the first public building to be designed by Israeli-born Arad in his homeland, is the latest landmark structure to be built in the city of Holon, founded 70 years ago this year. The Museum joins the city’s Mediatheque and National Israeli Cartoon Museum as a cultural focal point and will help secure Israel’s position within the international design community.