Oh Void! Poem by gershon hepner

When God, the Great Designer, first got round
to making earth, his favorite asteroid,
He made a bang with most enormous sound,
declaring most excitedly: “Oh Void! ”
transforming silence with His mighty voice,
and emptiness to life that we’ve now filled
with garbage, though we have a choice
to spare our space and look before we build.

For people who visit art museums to feast on Rembrandts and van Goghs, Whistlers and O'Keeffes, Picassos and Pollocks, a design exhibit isn't much of a lure. What is 'design' anyway? It includes typewriters, watering cans, chairs, lamps, dishes and even detergent bottles - often mass-produced, generally lacking that elusive emotional element expected of art. What's artsy about them? And how can one decide which, if any, of these everyday objects are museum-quality? If you're at all interested in the answers, 'European Design Since 1985: Shaping the New Century' - a massive show of some 250 works - is for you. In it, R. Craig Miller, the curator, sets out not only to anoint Europe's best designers but also to organize them into movements. And, because he believes design in the U.S. lags behind Europe's, Mr. Miller wants the show to catalyze more innovative design here.Displayed in a loosely chronological way, the show assigns objects to the major aesthetic and conceptual ideas that have reigned in Europe and thus influenced design around the world. There are eight categories, starting with 'Decorative' and ending in 'Neo-decorative, ' each with its own gallery. The eight, in turn, are grouped as Modernist, Postmodernist, and Modernist again. This is a scholarly show. It helps to read the catalog. Still, Mr. Miller says he believes shows should be like onions, with layers––working for 12-year-old visitors and all the way up to serious scholars. What would a casual viewer (maybe older than 12) see? Mr. Miller set out his goal in the catalog's introduction: 'objects... judged not only by conceptual, technological, or functional criteria but also by whether the designer consciously sought to impart some poetic or aesthetic aspect to his or her work.'…
Biomorphism is next––an engaging selection. Mr. (Ron) Arad appears again, with marvelous chairs––especially 'Oh Void 2 Lounge Chair, ' a carbon-fiber affair that links two ovoids. Marc Newson even manages to make a dish rack look good, not to mention chairs and tables. Then comes Neo-Pop, which put energy, color and fun back into design. It's here that you find colorful striped detergent bottles made of Venetian glass by Maria Grazia Rosin.

4/21/09