Living Forms

Anna Moreno, Bertjan Pot, Kosmas Nikolaou, Rasmus Ramö Streith, Tonio de Roover

10.11 – 21.12.2024

The boundaries between art and design blur in Living Forms, an exhibition where everyday objects transcend their ordinary functions, offering fresh perspectives on the familiar. Featuring works by Tonio de Roover, Anna Moreno, Kosmas Nikolaou, Bertjan Pot, and Rasmus Ramö Streith, this exhibition invites visitors to reconsider the familiar items that surround us—lamps, chairs, mirrors—and reflect on how these objects shape our personal and shared environments.

In this living-room-inspired gallery space, the objects serve more than just aesthetic purposes: they also invite interaction, a gesture of hospitality that mirrors their original roles in our homes. The armchair by Bertjan Pot becomes a place to rest while watching Rasmus Ramö Streith's video work The Un Dead (2018), which introduces a dreamlike uneasiness into the familiar setting. Set in a haunted house where people and furniture become interchangeable, the VHS-recorded video warps time and space, unsettling the relationship between image, sound, and object.

Tonio de Roover's installation, reminiscent of a room divider, creates subtle divisions within the gallery, reflecting how we use objects to define space, while Kosmas Nikolaou's mirrored pendulum introduces a dynamic element, suggesting that even static objects have the potential to shift our perceptions. The lamps by Anna Moreno and Bertjan Pot light up the space, reinforcing the idea of art as something to be lived with, not merely observed. Bertjan Pot's contributions, including an armchair based on the iconic Rietveld model, offer a nod to classic design. While instantly recognizable in form, Pot's artistic treatment transforms it, inviting visitors to see beyond its functional heritage. This blend of design history and artistic intervention reflects the exhibition's focus on how objects oscillate between utility and aesthetic significance.

This exploration also reveals the absurd and transformative qualities of the works on display, inviting viewers to reconsider their relationships with the objects in their lives. Bertjan Pot's group of plastic chairs for instance, ingeniously reassembled to create a chandelier, embodies this playful transformation, merging function and fantasy. Similarly, Rasmus Ramö Streith's video work presents a surreal environment where the familiar becomes uncanny, blurring the lines between the mundane and the extraordinary. Kosmas Nikolaou's mirrors, installed on the floor, further enhance this theme, creating subtle reflections that challenge perceptions and invite new interpretations.

These works evoke a sense of comfort, yet they challenge the viewer to look beyond functionality. How does art reside in the objects we use daily? What happens when design transcends utility and becomes part of our aesthetic experience? Living Forms explores these questions, creating an environment where domesticity meets creativity, and where art isn't just seen—it's lived.

Text: Kiki Petratou