WHATEVER HAPPENED TO 'WHATEVER HAPPENED TO TOTAL DESIGN?'?: THE MOMENTARY UTOPIAN JOUISSANCE OF THE BOUROULLEC BROTHERS

摘要

Despite my initial excitement, for the past few months I avoided writing anything about Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec's work. I wasn't sure what to do other than describe their projects, mapping them in relation to the work of other artists and designers. This would surely include references to the work of Donald Judd, Jean Prouve, Ray and Charles Eames, Joe Colombo, and Arne Jacobsen, among others. It is easy to make comparisons: Colombo's wicker furniture (1964) with the Bouroullecs' Pebbles (2008); the trestle columnar structure of Prouve's Tropical House (1949) with the Bs' Joyn office system (2002) and Textile Pavilion (2006); Jacobsen's Egg chair (1958) with the Bs' Slow chair (2007); the Eameses' Fiberglass chair (1950) with the Bs' Papyrus chair (2008); or Judd's Daybed (1978) with the Bs' Alcove seating (2006—2007); and so on. Even more than pointing out these similarities or influences, it would be easy to say that the Bouroullecs are thinking about early modernism and Minimalist art (with strategies of non-composition). When they literally collaged some of their early projects (such as Audiolab [2002] or Lit Clos [2000]) into Judd's Marfa studio, they grafted themselves to a particular aesthetic. Instead of situating their work in this way (which is probably the more appropriate academic task), what really interests me is why we should talk about them in the first place.