Archive Rath & Doodeheefver by Lernert & Sander
5 September 2014 10:00 - 5 October 2014 17:00
The film Archive Rath & Doodeheefver by Lernert & Sander in the Project Space shows the performance of artist duo Lernert & Sander during the Salone del Mobile, the international design fair, in Milan in april 2014. Archive Rath & Doodeheefver by Lernert & Sander is based on the historical collection of Rath & Doodeheefver, a manufacturer of wallpaper that occupied a prominent place in Dutch interiors right up to the 1980s. Rath & Doodeheefver fulfilled a pioneering role as a design patron, commissioning work from Dutch Art Nouveau designers such as Lion Cachet, Gidding and Berlage.
100 layers of wallpaper
The performance in Milan consisted of Lernert and Sander taking off a hundred of layers of original Rath & Doodeheefver wallpaper, from different collections taht the company launched during their rich history. Besides the performance of which you can watch the registration here, Lernert & Sander published a wallpaper mutiple, in an edition of 10, in which the owner can tear away the different layers of wallpaper himself.
Lack of collective memory
The installation in Milan was commissioned by Het Nieuwe Instituut and developed in collaboration with AkzoNobel, the current owner of the Rath & Doodeheefver archive. By so emphatically focusing on a design archive in Milan, Het Nieuwe Instituut wants to raise the subject of preserving archives among international design practitioners and a general audience. The very existence of various design archives is threatened, and that will inevitably lead to a loss of memory in this sector. Will that result in the disappearance of an indispensable source of inspiration, knowledge and reinterpretation for contemporary designers? Or is the lack of a collective memory the vital hallmark of the design domain?
Lernert & Sander
Lernert Engelberts and Sander Plug are two artists based in Amsterdam. They create conceptual films and installations characterised by, among other things, a subtly dry sense of humour. They have worked for, amongst others, Kenzo, Wallpaper*, Sikkens Foundation, Brioni tailors, Fantastic Man and Amnesty International. www.lernertandsander.com