As Rolf Harris used to say when he was still on the telly for being an artist: “Can you tell what it is yet?” Some of these objects, captured during their production by design duo Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, are easier to peg than others, but they’ve all been chosen for the interesting aesthetic appeal they exhibit in their unfinished states. The designers, who could have retired in triumph after designing the acclaimed London 2012 Olympic torch, have a keen interest in the manufacturing process of their own objects, and jumped at the chance to search out things which look surprising, unrecognisable, or just downright sexy for the Design Museum‘s In the Making exhibition.
So what looks like a 3D mathematical equation model turns out to the bell of a French horn. The humble drinks can reveals itself to be a sleek thing of beauty when unadorned with branding. And the thing that looks like a Fox’s glacier mint that the dog chewed is actually worth more than my house. The exhibition, which includes shots of the processes themselves as well as the items in abstract, will run at the London venue until 4 May.
Photograph, Mirren Rosie
© Design Museum
Thonet GmbH,
photo Mirko Krizanovic
Photograph, Mirren Rosie
© Design Museum
Photograph, Mirren Rosie
© Design Museum
French Horn,
photo György Kőrössy
Photograph, Mirren Rosie
© Design Museum
Torch,
photo by Lee Mawdsley
Photograph, Mirren Rosie
© Design Museum
