For the Museum of Modern Art—the institution more responsible than any other for the development of American design in the last century—every show about objects, graphics, and the way we interact with them is charged with special import. So, what meaning, exactly, are we to extract from the just-debuted exhibition Pirouette: Turning Points in Design?
Apparently, that’s up to us. “I didn’t want to preach,” said curator Paola Antonelli, speaking at the preview event last week. “I want each work to stand by itself.” To that end, the longtime fixture of the museum’s Department of Architecture and Design has placed each of the roughly 125 pieces in the show—ranging from Post-it notes, to a 1930s stationary hair dryer, to a large drawing of the “@” symbol—in discrete enclosures, most of them hidden in a warren of crimson veils. Guided only by wall text and interrupted by the occasional interactive installation (notably a pair of old-fashioned View-Master stereoscopes), the public is invited to guess for themselves how each item represents “an enzyme necessary to our evolution,” as the show’s prologue puts it, pointing us towards new and varied social futures.
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