Supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, “The Misused Ironmongery x Taiwanese & British Hardware” exhibition will be featured in the London Design Festival, one of the largest design events in the UK and Europe. It will run from the 12th to the 20th September at Kiosk N1C in Coal Drops Yard.
Taiwan’s industrial designer Liang-Jung Chen and her team established the “Misused” project in 2018. Viewing the hardware store as a window to know the design thinking behind daily lives of each country, the team has collected hardware items and then reimagined their alternative functions; in their words, to “misuse” these items in order to expose surprising cultural differences from the angle of design anthropology. Their “Misused” project has appeared at the Taiwan Design Research Institute, Dutch Design Week, Melbourne Design Week, and was also recommended by the Guardian this June.
Echoing with the trends of “Upcycle Design,” “Maker Movement” and “Local Design,” Chen will present a pop-up Taiwanese hardware store, showing unique items such as the wall-mounted incense holder, mosquito coil holder, night market screw and more, while demonstrating her observation and reimagination of British hardware items at the same time. The inspiring juxtapositions of familiarity and/or novelty offers a glimpse into characters of Taiwanese and British industrial design cultures.
At 4:30 pm, 12th September, Industrial designer Emile Jones will join Chen to talk about the overlooked charm of these designed objects and they reflect their respective cultures. In addition, there will be two design workshops; one on 13th September at the Blackhorse Workshop in Walthamstow which will focus on hands-on experience of customizing one’s own hardware, while another one on 20th September at the exhibition venue features a discussion on different countries’ hardware items and the potential for them to be reinterpreted. For those who cannot attend, the Taiwan hardware kits designed by the curator are available for registry, and one can DIY at home and share photos on the event website.
This is the second time Taiwan has participated in the London Design Festival. Established in 2003 by Sir John Sorrell CBE and Ben Evans CBE, the event celebrates London as the design capital of the world – cooperating with the Victoria and Albert Museum, major brands and various international cultural institutions. The festival draws both members of the public and design industrial professionals, as well as the eyes of the media.
More information about the exhibition can be found here:
https://www.londondesignfestival.com/event/misused-ironmongery-x-kiosk-n1c
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_misused/