Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

October 24, 2003

Home will never be the same Turning a group of professional designers loose to create household items can produce some unusual results -- such as curtains that look like long-blonde hair. The exhibit, "transformation: new international design," features the work of more than 30 women designers, many of whom are well established in Europe but have rarely exhibited in the United States. The exhibit reflects the often-unorthodox approach designers can bring to iconic pieces for the home and showcases works that use unexpected and surprising materials, processes or forms to reinvent the familiar. For example, there's a 1-inch thick chair made from a metal frame and giant rubberband, a table made of paper for the compulsive doodler and modular felt flooring that interlocks to create any size. Iowa State is the exhibit's first showing outside New York. The exhibit will run from Oct. 27 through Nov. 14 in Gallery 181, on the first floor of the Design Center. It may be viewed daily through 4 p.m.

An exhibit at Gallery 181 reveals what happens when artists reinvent familiar household items. Clockwise, from top right: Dejana Kabiljo's tables made of paper; Lily Latifi's interlocking modular felt flooring; Anette Hermann's metal frame and giant rubberband chair; Rie Egawa's geometric room divider that packs flat; and Nicole Brunklaus' silk curtains imprinted with a digital image of long-blonde hair. The exhibit runs through Nov. 14.