Women and gender minorities have largely been ignored in the context of design history, and if acknowledged, it was mostly in the context of patriarchy. Design in intrinsically connected to other powerful ideologies: modernism, progress and industrialisation. As a result, the design discipline has been shaped by the dominant patriarchal, eurocentric, white and heteronormative culture. ‘Good design’ is associated to modernist and masculine lines. Design professionals, ‘auteurs’, are pictured as pioneering heroic figures, which are inevitable cis white men. Male designers, regardless their sexual orientation, are expected to create a certain type of masculine design to be taken seriously. This situation has been vigorously challenged since the 1970ies, under various influences,however the dominant approach persists. Canonised design icons, the design market, and who makes it to design history is still shaped by one gender. Cruising is taking stock on today’s influence of feminist, gender and intersectional theories on design. It is important to ask ourselves if design has a diversity and gender issue, and what the tools for changes can be. How the discomfort the new garde of designers are bringing is subversive. How they challenge canons and norms and make design a place of resistance. The title of the show is borrowed from Alex Espinoza’s book “Cruising”, which highlights the political and cultural forces behind this radical pastime.
Extrapolating from there, the show aims at drawing parallels between what was once a reclamation of public space by men of all races and classes against repressive governments and the powerful rebuke that is needed against patriarchy in the design field. The show offers visitors a space where they find themselves drawn to wander around for their own pleasure, while being called to question ideals of suppressive normativity.
With:
Alma Teer (NL)
Anna Aagaard Jensen (DK)
Barry Llewellyn (IE)
Dae Uk Kim (KR)
Flora Lechner (AT)
Hsin Min Chan (TW)
Kurina Sohn (EN/KR)
Leo Maher (UK)
Natalia Triantafylli (GR)
Noam Youngrak Son (KR)
Curated by:
Liv Vaisberg (FR)
Scenography by:
The DIRT (Florine van Rees (NL) and Jeroen Dijkstra (NL))
On view from 26 November 2022 until 29 January 2023.
