The Creatures are Coming

           In the historic centre of Milan, at Ca’ Laghetto, a trio of Design Academy Eindhoven graduates have opened Unleash the Creatures — a collection of curious objects placed in bird cages, fences, and plastic fish bags. Together, the effect is that of a surreal menagerie, where these objects might come to life at any moment. Rather than focus on any one fixed definition of design, the works pass freely between art and design, indulging a desire to create truly random outcomes.

French designer Mathieu Frossard shows an upholstered “rocking chair” made of two connected spheres, embroidered, quilted, and embellished to within an inch of its life. Nearby, his ceramic objects, finished in violet chrome or mixed with fabrics, blend several domestic archetypes and tools into a single mass, challenging notions of function. Berliner Lina-Marie Koeppen has made handmade kitchen appliances that celebrate imperfection and persuade the user to experiment with them. Finally, Han Decorte di Bruges, Belgium debuts a scale-model house with breathing walls, while her pink neon “grandma” light shines through the window.

Unleash the Creatures has been organised by HELLO RANDOMNESS, a platform that provides a home to objects lingering at the threshold between product design, graphic design, art, kitsch, and taboo. They have collaborated with Milan-based Made in Made in Design.