The Artsy Guide to Collective 2
Collective Design Fair returns to New York for its second edition with a top selection of emerging and established contemporary and 20th-century design galleries. In addition to a comprehensive vision of design today—through 36 exhibitors from Mexico City to Paris—this year’s fair offers a focus on Scandinavia, a design talks program, and a Cadillac exhibition.
1. When? Where? How?
Collective 2 takes place May 8th–11th, 2014, at Skylight at Moynihan Station (360 West 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001, Between 8th and 9th Avenues). The fair is appropriately situated within this McKim, Mead, and White Beaux-Arts icon that is the James A. Farley Post Office.
2. Why Visit?
Running concurrently (and conveniently) with Frieze New York and May art auctions, Collective 2 offers a unique opportunity to explore the best of design, with specific emphasis on design history and innovation. The inaugural edition last year was a great success, receiving over 5,500 visitors.
3. Collective Settings
Collective Settings is a section of the fair where interior designers are paired with exhibitors to present “domestic contexts” that integrate the gallery’s furniture and objects. The section aims to spotlight the visual and aesthetic potential of juxtaposition and placement. The designer/exhibitor pairings are:
Jonathan Adler/Donzella 20th Century Gallery
Robert Couturier/Cristina Grajales Gallery
David Mann/Maison Gerard
Alan Wanzenberg/1950 Gallery
4. Collective Focus: Scandinavia
Glenn Adamson, of New York’s Museum of Arts and Design, has curated an exhibition of Scandinavian design, a theme at this year’s fair, which includes representative works from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Presented together at the fair this capsule will offer visitors insights into Scandinavia and the breadth and accomplishments of design within its boundaries. To learn more about design from this region, read Artsy’s Scandinavian Design 101.
5. Hella Jongerius at Collective 2
The fair presents a solo exhibition of works by Dutch contemporary designer Hella Jongerius. Curated by Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell, the exhibition offers a representative survey of the Berlin-based designer, who is known for vessels, textiles, and furniture, which are realized through a unique sense of ingenuity, and a playful aesthetic.
6. Collective Conversations
This year’s talks program features a series of conversations between esteemed members of the design community. Each talk will address current trends and issues in design and the creative process, from the mouths of influential designers, gallerists, and creatives, in a bespoke structure designed by designed by BroLab. Some highlights from this year’s program include:
“Nordic Influence: Designers Discuss the Scandinavian Legacy”
Participants: Glenn Adamson, Director, Museum of Arts and Design; Wendell Castle, designer; Cathrine Raben Davidsen, designer; Joseph Walsh, designer.
Saturday, May 10th, 1:00pm.
“Jewelry Design: Quick Changes in an Ancient Medium”
Participants: Jane Adlin, Associate Curator, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Michele Oka Doner, designer; Jennifer Trask, designer.
Saturday, May 10th, 4:00pm.
Manufacturing In Place: The Next Wave in Making and Process
Participants: Rama Chorpash, Director of Product Design, Parsons, The New School for Design; The Haas Brothers, designers.
Saturday, May 10th, 5:30pm.
See the full schedule of Collective Conversations, here.
7. “Self Unself” by Design Academy Eindhoven
“Self Unself” is an exhibition of student work from the graduating class at Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands. The exhibition showcases interpretations of “self-initiated projects with an unselfish inclination.” The projects are meant to “raise social issues and are geared towards the collective good.” Previous realizations of the exhibition have been presented at the recent 2014 Salone del Mobile in Milan and at the Loft Creative Festival in Shenzhen, China.
8. Tours
Visitors to the fair have the opportunity to take tours, which are free and open to the public. Groups assemble at the ticketing desk. Tours are as follows:
Thursday, May 8, 5:00 pm: Led by a representative from the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt.
Friday May 9, 11:30 am: Led by a representative from the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt.
Saturday, May 10, 11:30 am: Director’s Tour with Steven Learner, Founder & Creative Director.
Sunday, May 11, 11:30 am: Led by a representative from the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt.
9. “Evolution of the Coupe” by Cadillac
Two iconic Cadillac cars—the 2014 ELR and the 1967 Fleetwood Eldorado—will be presented in an installation together at the fair. While embodying important milestones in visual and technological innovation during the past 50 years, the two vehicles together resonate with the fair’s overarching juxtapositions of historic and contemporary design.
10. Official Institutional Partners and Museum Day
This year the fair partners with four cultural institutions to enrich its program; these include: the Glass House, the Museum of Arts and Design, the New Museum and the Smithsonian’s Cooper- Hewitt, National Design Museum. Additionally, on Friday, May 9th, Museum Day, admission to the fair will be free to fairgoers who present proof of current membership to a museum.
