Mix and match

‘Impact’ is the theme at the second instalment of the Jerwood Contemporary Makers annual exhibition, and the designers on show
certainly make an impression, through technological endeavour, collaborative practice or social engagement. The selected seven
‘challenge our perceptions and ideas about contemporary ways of making and bring into question the relationship between the
creative processes of designing and making’, says designer and chairman of selectors Rebecca Earley. ‘Whether they develop and
negotiate international industrial resources or work with both the amateur enthusiast and the brilliant scientist, they all create
extraordinary things in radical ways.’ The work includes a site-specific wall of tiles from Linda Florence, decorated with flocked
and printed graphics, which visitors can add to (pictured top right); Plastic Relics, a new collection from product designer
Committee which imagines a future where plastic has become a rare material, alongside previous work; Timeline from Ismini
Samanidou, a 3m-long piece of woven textiles, inspired by the history of the Jerwood Space building (bottom left); and Geoffrey
Mann’s glass work, which is created through stop-motion techniques, CAD modelling, rapid prototyping and traditional handcraftsmanship,
and challenges the boundaries of glass kiln-casting fabrication (bottom right). The selection process showed ‘that
we are in a quite daring phase with making’, says Earley. ‘So many designers are mixing disciplines and techniques, developing
and adapting technologies, and moving between fields,’ she adds. ‘Clearly, research, education, innovation, collaboration and
communication all play important parts in the practices of young designer-makers these days.’
2009 Jerwood Contemporary Makers runs at the Jerwood Space, 171 Union Street, London SE1 from 10 June to 19 July