Designmuseum Denmark: The Art of Thought
By: Isabella Karmis
As someone who has dedicated much of her life to experiencing, analysing, and creating visual stories, museums have always been a safe haven for me. Books on museums (From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler altered my mind as a child), school field trips to museums in Los Angeles (Getty Villa & MOLAA two favourites), and visiting museums with my family on holiday (how can one never visit the Louvre or Musée d’Orsay when in Paris?), among various influences the institutions have had on my life. However, I would be remiss to say that I do not believe that we as a society need to challenge the narrative over what we constitute as “art”. In the twenty-first century, in the midst of technological evolution and AI, we are finding ourselves trying to connect even more so with creating art (or at least we should). But surely the pinnacle of art isn’t the experience of standing and shoving in a cramped line to view the Mona Lisa (as gorgeous as she is). How do we challenge the narrative?
I recently took a trip to Copenhagen with a few friends, and upon reflecting we realised our favourite excursion was visiting the Designmuseum Denmark. Visiting Designmuseum Denmark challenged how I understand art in an international setting, how art builds off of the past, present, and future, and what embodies “art”. In short, and not through exaggeration, this museum single-handedly changed how I think both as an artist and a person. Three exhibitions in particular stood out to me: In Love & War, The Library of Change, and The Future is Present.
In Love & War is a display of Japanese woodblock prints that tell the stories of prostitutes and government propaganda, overlapping from the Edo and Meiji periods respectively. The exhibition was centred around the famed saying “All is fair and love and war” when truly, nothing is ever fair in love and war. To me, In Love & War was the perfect culmination of (what once was) innovation, art, history, and politics.
The Library of Change challenged what both “library” and “art” meant to me before viewing. The Library of Change is a stringed, collection of multicoloured glass panels that verbalise the questions we often internalise (can you buy health, are friends better than romantic partners, personal data and the internet, etc.). This installation was not a ‘typical’ library, but instead, it was a library of how information was displayed and discussed, challenging our societal perception of what a library means (and in both English and Danish, aiding accessibility to knowledge). The installation became art through how one viewed the questions being presented to them, and when the glass colours would blur into one another, the art was through the creation of new questions by combining old ones. This installation challenged the art of perception and henceforth invoked a reflection on my future based on my present.
The other exhibition that left a deep impression on me was The Future is Present. The Future is Present visually articulated how dire the state of the future is, and its complete dependency on the present. However, this exhibition stood out to me because it not only addressed a problem we have as a society, but it was a physical collection of innovation working to reverse our damage, rather than aimlessly preaching for change. Two prominent designs were: 1.) a lamp shelling made out of cow intestines, and 2.) a chair made from mycelium and hemp fabric. These aren’t ideas or materials I would have ever considered to help combat our consumption issue, but the art that I found most meaningful in this installation was the creativity of using what we already have to meet the needs of what we need.
I adored Copenhagen as a city: the historic sites, the cafes, the ambience, everything. But when I return (and I know I will!), my first stop will always be the Designmuseum Denmark. This museum challenged everything I know about art, showing me that the art of memory and the art of thinking are arguably the most powerful of the forms. If I’m still reflecting on all three exhibitions over a month after my visit, I know that they’ve changed how I perceive art and its impact on the past, present, and the future. If there is only one reason to visit Copenhagen, I implore you to visit the Designmuseum Denmark. It might change your life too.