Studio Job - Oxidized

17 mei 2003 - 21 september 2003

Like a good narrator who progressively gets into his stride, Studio Job (Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel) consistently add a new chapter to the story. At first, the typical design of the objects is rather humorous but becomes increasingly grim as time goes on.

Oxidized, a narrative exhibition, raises issues that are linked to feelings of anxiety, hope, discomfort and (false) happiness. The artists initially capture their ideas in a series of drawings that resemble frames from comic strips rather than design drawings. The objects themselves also seem to be becoming increasingly figurative and narrative.
The exhibition presented several large-scale works on pedestals: a sturdy candlestand in the shape of a castle, a bust of an ominous man with a military cap and sunglasses, a treasure chest wound in a heavy chain, an old-fashioned-looking clock pierced by a sword, and a trophy-like cup. All of these have been realised in verdigris bronze.
Other striking objects included an ant, an elegantly decorated dagger, a diamond, an arrow and a ring as large as an armband. During the design stage of this project, Studio Job stated that they wished to express feelings of confusion – confusion about our juncture in which the dividing line between good and evil is increasingly difficult to draw. This resulted in a personal unease that they wish to communicate to the public. With these objects, Studio Job is balancing on the border between design and autonomous art.

Job Smeets (1970) is one of the most distinctive young artists in Dutch design. After graduating from the Design Academie in Eindhoven in 1995, he established his reputation with a number of remarkable designs, including the Curved Chair. At all cost, he wishes to avoid being forced into the straightjacket of conventional design practice and strives towards freedom in the elaboration of his ideas, even if this means that the things he makes are not always practically applicable. Work by Job was first shown in the Groninger Museum in 2001, where the Craft series was displayed as a part of the Stroomversnelling (Rapids) exhibition. This series comprises bronze objects such as a hammer, sickle, candlestick, cups and spoons that are so heavy, massive and coarse that they can hardly be described as usable. The Groninger Museum bought in 2002 The Candle Man (2002), a gigantic wall candlestand, weighing 450 kg, which seems to be more suited to a castle wall than to a plaster wall in an average family home.
Oxidized was on show in the new presentation of the Museum’s own collection in Mendini 1.

Picture
Studio Job, Chest (from the series Oxidized), 2003 (detail)