A&D Alumni Designs for a Better World: Milan Design Week

Known as the international reference point for all things new and innovative in furniture and object design, the Salone Del Mobile Milano (Milan Design Week) is an unmissable opportunity for anyone interested current design trends.  This April the city will hand over its cobblestone streets, shop fronts, and cultural venues for a week of exhibitions, talks, and special events.

As part of this international showcase, emerging Australian designer and UNSW Art & Design graduate, Blake Griffiths, has been selected to exhibit two new works, both of which interrogate materiality and the use of synthetics in the modern world.    

Home is where you carry it is portable flooring made entirely from recycled plastic bin liners and hand-spun nettle. Paying homage to the origins of the humble quilt, from the Gudari quilts of India to the Boro patchworks of Japan, Griffiths has created a 21st Century equivalent that questions the definition and destination of home.  Griffiths says, “In an age where, for thousands of people, displacement has become normal, where temporary measures have become permanent and where home has become wherever you are, this quilt, this mat provides comfort and protection in the unsettling time of the Age of Man.” 

His second work selected for exhibit, Bag to drag your life across the border, furthers consideration of the same theme. Constructed entirely of recycled materials, the bag is tough, flexible, and made-to-last.  Griffiths’ goal is to create an unequivocal link between sustainable living and dedicated effort.  He says, “We have to believe that the future can be positive, but to move forward in sustainable ways will require an enormous amount of work – universal hard work.  My designs don’t shy away from the hard-slog we have to get there, however, they also promote the notion that Man’s best days lie ahead.”  

Milan Design Week is on from 4-9 April 2017