Selected by Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic and curator Gemma Curtin from some 90 hopefuls who submitted a proposal in January, the four designers – Adam Nathaniel Furman, Eunhee Jo, Chloe Meineck and Thomas Thwaites – will each explore a different aspect of how design helps to define who we are and the way we perceive identity.
The resulting work will go on show at the Design Museum in Shad Thames from 4 September to 12 January.
Multidisciplinary designer and founder of Studio Madam Adam Nathaniel Furman will explore the concept of identity in ‘our globalised mass culture, which at times can be a confusing and unstable’, and will present his findings through blogs, objects and film.
Specialising in material and industrial design, Eunhee Jo will look at the ‘surface quality of things’. During her residency Eunhee plans to develop surfaces made of fabric or paper that will be embedded with technology. She will use this embedded material to reimagine familiar objects, including a light and Hi-Fi system.
Designer, maker and researcher Chloe Meineck plans to develop a memory box to be used by people with dementia or memory loss. Seeking to create an alternative therapy for patients Meineck’s memory box would be used by individuals and the families of those who have a confused or fading sense of personal memory and identity.
Designer and researcher Thomas Thwaites will dedicate his time with the Design Museum to explore how the collating of personal information from the internet could, in addition to boosting consumer knowledge, be used to inform people about themselves and their own identity. Thwaites will develop an interactive web page that will act like a ‘self-help book’ and may aid people to make some lifestyle changes that would improve their sense of personal identity.
This is the sixth time the Designers in Residence programme -open to product, furniture, fashion, graphic, spatial or interaction designers – has run, and successful alumni include Giles Miller, Asif Khan and Bethan Laura Wood.
