A wilted icon at Design Miami/
The work of Dutch designers Studio Job is at once humorous, witty, and ironic, heavy on ornament and always well-crafted. Without fail, I am intrigued to see what they come up with next as an expression of contemporary decorative arts.
At Design Miami/, they will show their latest piece with Carpenters Workshop Gallery, the Tour Eiffel Lamp. With a dark streak that carries across their work, it is not surprising that Studio Job has anthropomorphized the Eiffel Tower, wilted in sad defeat. Intricately crafted in bronze, the iconic monument is highly expressive as it bends under the weight of a lamp head, a form that seems almost a signifier of the larger economic crisis. The once proud monument of France cannot hold itself upright. I just hope their work is not also in the business of fortune-telling.
[Re-posted from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum blog.]