Design Commissions
Claus Wiersma developed the spatial design for the exhibition The Life Fair. New Body Products. (2016).
The Life Fair
The Life Fair. New Body Products was an exhibition about technology's influence on our bodies. Claus Wiersma was asked to devise its spatial design in the form of a trade fair. The Life Fair was based on the complex research of curators Agata Jaworska and Giovanni Innella. According to Wiersma, the material was fascinating, but the curators were so involved in their research, they had difficulty translating it for the visitor. "As an exhibition designer, you have the task of bringing the curator back to earth," says Wiersma. Initially, the idea was to use existing prefabricated trade fair elements. "But, then it would have looked like a trade fair, and this sort of literalism wasn't interesting to me," he explains. "Relinquishing elements you've worked hard to conceptualise has to be done in good time. Otherwise, the project won't be spatially or aesthetically pleasing."
"When I design an art exhibition," he continues, "the material has an aesthetic quality. But this wasn't the case with The Life Fair. A lot of the material consisted of ugly corporate design. Rather than overlay it with an aesthetic filter, we wanted to show it as it was. My task was to combine the diverse material into a spatial framework. I started with a grid, looking for a rhythm within this that combined density and openness. I had to devise a construction that could be realised quickly and within budget. I also wanted to permeate the proportions and details with a certain quality. I created a library from different elements, and I started playing with them. What you get to work with as the designer is content, a budget and a space where everything takes place."
Wiersma sees it as his task to make himself invisible as a designer. Art exhibitions make up about 80% of his assignments. This specialisation arose more or less by accident, because after graduating from the Design Academy Eindhoven, he worked for Marijke van der Wijst. She designed exhibitions for the Stedelijk Museum and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. "You get a feel for art, especially when you work on a solo exhibition with a living artist," says Wiersma. "A lot of design work is needed to allow the artworks to speak for themselves. However, _The Life Fair _required a more distinct, solid structure to forge a unity between the diverse material." He looks back on the results with appreciation. "The alternation between dense and spacious modes of presentation was successful, and the use of towering graphic elements - an idea by graphic designer Thomas Buxó - worked very well in Het Nieuwe Instituut's high-ceilinged exhibition space."
Through the prism of universal themes, such as birth, work, sex, safety and health, _The Life Fair. New Body Products_ exhibition examines how the pursuit of the optimal body has developed into a highly competitive market thanks to commercial entities whose products respond to our vulnerabilities and desires regarding our body. At the same time, governments and NGOs also have a lot to gain from improved personal well-being. The human body has become a battleground of diverse and often conflicting forces at the intersection of politics, economics, ethics, design and technology.
Claus Wiersma
Claus Wiersma was born in Amsterdam in 1964. He graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven in 1993 and then worked for and with various designers and design agencies. Wiersma started his own studio in Rotterdam in 2006. He designs interiors and specialises in exhibition design.