Added Value? was an exhibition by Crafts Council questioning the value of contemporary craft within the current landscape of branding and luxury, which was launched during the London Design Festival 2012, and had toured around the county.
Mentsen was commissioned to design the 3D design for this show.
2D design by Bravo. Charlie. Mike. Hotel. (BCMH)
Photography by Sophie Mutevelian
Added Value, at Design Junction 2012
Front of house, with a peek into an object
Unit housing additional information on makers and making
Unit housing the screen and two sets of headphone
Back of house, showing work by Simon Hasan for Fendi
A resin jelly and a copper mould by Bompas & Parr
Work by Zoe Arnold
Designing the Added Value?
As the exhibition questioned relationship between quality and value, our concept was to devise a layered experience by introducing the two sides; the front of house, where the supreme craftsmanship were showcased with a language of luxury shop front, to the back of house, where provenance and production narratives were explained in a more utiliterian and practical language of a workshop.
Visitors could only peek though the exhibited works first from ‘outside’ ,as if they were window shopping though various wall cutouts. The ‘outside’ was furnished with dark and rich colours and structures in walnut, material which is often associated with the luxury. Visitors were then encouraged to go around to the back to see the entire objects on a clean white background, and behind them were the ‘workshops’ where processes and practices of makers were explained in photos and films, and built with lighter coloured ash timber, less expensive and a more utilitarian material.
The exhibition required various furniture for screens, information, seating and projector casing. Everything was designed to be flat packed for the touring.
