To live is to learn and to learn is to know. Despite my enduring affair with anal-retentive perfectionism, even on the worst of days I know that knowledge is best gained through a succession of errs and gaffes. We are all guilty of slipping-up from time to time; it is inevitable – imperfection is written in our DNA. Albeit, when results do not agree with what was intended we still exercise our right to express ourselves by way of a goaded grunt, an exasperated sigh, or if you’re like me, an impassioned sonata of profane expletives…$H!T happens!
Call it a choke, call it karma, or Murphy’s Law if you’d like, the cosmos have an inexplicable and at times, seemingly disruptive way of prodding us along our individual journey toward self-discovery and test our resilience. If you are going with the latter, like me, note that after attending the opening of $H!T Happens in Berlin at Toronto’s Relative Space & Floorworks, the epigram which informs us that anything that can go on wrong will go wrong now has an addendum. As far as the world according to Jasmine goes, the add-on will hereafter be referred to as, Jüergen’s Law (in honor of the exhibit’s curator, Jüergen Mayer H.): one would accomplish nothing if they waited until they could carry it out in a manner in which no one could find any fault. In other words, $h!t happens. Accept it and carry on!
Call it a choke, call it karma, or Murphy’s Law if you’d like, the cosmos have an inexplicable and at times, seemingly disruptive way of prodding us along our individual journey toward self-discovery and test our resilience. If you are going with the latter, like me, note that after attending the opening of $H!T Happens in Berlin at Toronto’s Relative Space & Floorworks, the epigram which informs us that anything that can go on wrong will go wrong now has an addendum. As far as the world according to Jasmine goes, the add-on will hereafter be referred to as, Jüergen’s Law (in honor of the exhibit’s curator, Jüergen Mayer H.): one would accomplish nothing if they waited until they could carry it out in a manner in which no one could find any fault. In other words, $h!t happens. Accept it and carry on!
Like primary colours, glitches are a requisite medium one cannot avoid from applying on life’s toilet-paper canvas, but it is also something that can be transformed into a masterpiece. At $H!T Happens in Berlin, the unexpected is the norm – trials and errors, miscalculations and failures, experimentation and surprise – all result in ingenious design strategies. Showcasing both emerging and established Berlin-based designers, the collection of work is intriguing and certainly out of the ordinary.
Showcasing various disciplines – graphic design, product design and conceptual fashion, and media – glass, textiles, wood, it is a collection whereby its non-cohesiveness is the message. What was important to the exhibit’s organizers was that the designers have an agenda that twists conventions, which explains the title $H!T Happens – an allusion to allowing errors, trials and experimentation as part of a creative discourse or discovery. And the works on display clearly demonstrate that by having accidents or problematic moments in the design process, one, artist and audience alike, may discover something completely new.
Curator, Berlin-based starchitect Jüergen who also contributed a pair of intriguing Lady GaGa-esque spectacles to the exhibit, offers “While beauty and character result from a refined balance of imperfections and minor differences […] we are interested in questioning conventions and common agreements, or things that we seem to take for granted […]We want to open the eyes of the viewer to be aware or critical, or discover what’s new and the potential of what is around us”. Of the unexpected detours Jüergen continues, “At first, it creates a ‘surprise moment’ that opens your eyes and makes you aware. At the same time, it also strengthens you and invites you to react. That kind of dialogical relationship is important to us.”
Working at the intersection of architecture, communications and new technology, Jüergen is at the helm of what is happening in Berlin as far as architecture and derivatively the art scene all together. Current and representative of what is now, his innovation is helping pave the way for the future. Describing Berlin as “Home and a wild frontier”, I wonder whether Jüergen is aware that it is he himself that is leading that frontier? Certainly the artists featured in $H!T Happens are in their own right, trailblazing closely behind him. They include: Bless; Barbier Bouvet; Mark Braun; Studio Hausen; Sarah Illenberger; Antje Kalus; Chris Rehberger; Daniel Schulze; Clemence Seilles; Judith Seng; Jerszy Seymour; and Schmidttakahashi.
Curator, Berlin-based starchitect Jüergen who also contributed a pair of intriguing Lady GaGa-esque spectacles to the exhibit, offers “While beauty and character result from a refined balance of imperfections and minor differences […] we are interested in questioning conventions and common agreements, or things that we seem to take for granted […]We want to open the eyes of the viewer to be aware or critical, or discover what’s new and the potential of what is around us”. Of the unexpected detours Jüergen continues, “At first, it creates a ‘surprise moment’ that opens your eyes and makes you aware. At the same time, it also strengthens you and invites you to react. That kind of dialogical relationship is important to us.”
Working at the intersection of architecture, communications and new technology, Jüergen is at the helm of what is happening in Berlin as far as architecture and derivatively the art scene all together. Current and representative of what is now, his innovation is helping pave the way for the future. Describing Berlin as “Home and a wild frontier”, I wonder whether Jüergen is aware that it is he himself that is leading that frontier? Certainly the artists featured in $H!T Happens are in their own right, trailblazing closely behind him. They include: Bless; Barbier Bouvet; Mark Braun; Studio Hausen; Sarah Illenberger; Antje Kalus; Chris Rehberger; Daniel Schulze; Clemence Seilles; Judith Seng; Jerszy Seymour; and Schmidttakahashi.
Noteworthies on Some Good $H!T:
View the outcome of their experiments until July 8th in the Toronto showroom of Relative Space & Floorworks located at 365 Dupont Street. The exhibit may be viewed Mondays-Fridays, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
