Klubben: On Time

Klubben’s second exhibition, held this summer at the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture brought together 17 objects by emerging Norwegian designers, to explore the limitations and possibilities of 24 hours.

For the young Norwegian designers of the initiative Klubben, the act of looking in to seek out makes for a compelling time.

Founded in 2011, Klubben, or The Club, is the brainchild of Sara Polmar, Victoria Günzler and Sverre Uhnger, three Norwegian product and furniture designers with a desire to provide what they saw as an underknown component of the Norwegian design scene – young, emerging designers – with a platform to show work. The trio devised Klubben to function as a support network with a business plan that enables both themselves and members to remain young and relentless bright-eyed creatives while pursuing a professional path that might otherwise have been unreachable on one’s own. Klubben fulfils the large and previously unmet need for a professional network among young designers – members have viable access to industry contacts and opportunities to show work. In turn, this membership, which has expanded to 25, steadily fuels the club’s collective fire, proving that there is power in numbers.

Top: Kristine Five Melvaer: lanterna Multi, prodotta dall'antica fabbrica vetraria norvegese Magnor Glassverk. Above: Kristine Bjaadal: 11.21 is both a break and a cup of coffee. It is a product that requires some time to use – in order to make the coffee break not just about the coffee, but as much about the break. Something that will make you forget about the work andfeel present in the break. Photo Ellen Johanne Jarli

At Klubben’s first small show in Oslo last autumn products combined traditional Norwegian design heritage with reminiscences of nature – a lamp designed by Siv Lier imitated a solar eclipse, while Maria Bjørlykke’s mushroom-shaped table recalled foraging through the country’s forests. “On Time” is the group’s second exhibition, held this summer at the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture (DoGA). It brings together 17 objects by emerging Norwegian designers, to explore the limitations and possibilities of 24 hours.

Hallgeir Homstvedt: Herman clock. The Herman clock is designed for the bedroom and other rooms that shifts between daylight and darkness. The dail of the clock paints a graphic picture of black and white lines, dividing the display in 12 zones, one for each hours of the day. The white lines are made of a fluorescent material that is "charged" by daylight and creates a glowing display in the dark

Forming the outline of an imaginary clock, each product represents a certain time of day as seen through the perspective of the designers, who looked at everything – from 150 years into the past, to personal experience – to understand their given moment. For example, Erlend Bleken, who is based on the west coast of Norway, translates the time 18:26 to the year 1826, an important age for the development of lighting technology. His resulting desk lamp has a quiet simplicity – its solid wooden base creates the starting point for slinky feet leading to the main lighting element– but through its exploration of LED, the history of lighting is brought into a contemporary setting.

Klubben — View of the exhibition at DoGA, Oslo

Other designers have taken a very personal route, asking questions such as “What surrounds me at 12:01?”; “How do I feel when the time is 11:21?”; “Where do I usually find myself at 07:06?”. The answers take the shape of a table with an engraved wooden structure, a hand-operated coffee grinder communicating the stages of wood and porcelain production, and a bedside clock inspired by visual distortion.

Siv Lier: No worries, — Siv Lier: *No worries*, bedside table with integrated storage for worries. Instead of lying awake pondering, you put your worries in the worry compartment. The morning after you can decide whether to open the lid and let them loose or just leave them be

While a number of exhibitors have asked questions about themselves, others have turned to their Norwegian design heritage – a gesture that resonates through reasoning as well as materials. Through the guise of the time 22:41 Kristine Five Melvær has used the long-standing Norwegian glass factory, Magnor Glassverk, to produce her Multi lanterns. Mild, inviting and subdued in form, their interlocking structures allow users to create new combinations of shape and colour. Through both production and output she is using the concept of working together and expanding it to a larger audience, and for users the lanterns can become a signifier of their own further explorations of form.

Erlend Bleken's desk lamp has a quiet simplicity: its solid wooden base creates the starting point for slinky feet leading to the main lighting element but through its exploration of LED, the history of lighting is brought into a contemporary setting

Melvær’s work, as well as others, seems to indicate that the designers of Klubben possess a desire to move beyond the product itself and create something that speaks to a narrative beyond design – one of not only Norwegian heritage, but also of the designer herself. In the case of “On Time”, the designers are looking to themselves to look out.

In recent years the design field has become more than a profession; the word “design” now connotes a lifestyle that caters to an informed audience, or consumers, with a need for products that communicate knowledge and awareness of production, and the story of how they came to be. This requires designers who are able to work with strong conceptual ideas while making products that point to sustainable models. Therefore telling one’s own story through the physical translation of design may very well lead to establishing a common ground with wider audiences.

“On Time” introduces a cast of young designers who are aware of the present challenges and opportunities of their profession. They present themselves as protagonists in a rapidly evolving field. In the midst of it all, we find strong products – playful in the sense of concepts and serious when it comes to developing a business model and professional network. Through the use of history and an understanding of contemporary practice, Klubben’s designers are positioning themselves in the moment. “On Time” tells a story of personal history and heritage, but it is this moment in time, open for exploration and dedication to their field, which is set to launch them into the design business.

The show was on display at DogA until the 25^th of August. On the 9^th of September it travels to Paris Design Week

Klubben: On Time

Klubben’s second exhibition, held this summer at the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture brought together 17 objects by emerging Norwegian designers, to explore the limitations and possibilities of 24 hours.

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