​Point 

Program
 

Friday 31 January 2014
19:00 Opening

Saturday 1 February 2014
11:00 Writer/curator Justin McGuirk in conversation with Michael Anastassiades

13:00 Round Table discussion

Michael Anastassiades - designer/artist,

Hélène Binet - architectural photographer,

Justin McGuirk - writer/curator,

Omar Sosa - art director /graphic designer/ editor of Apartamento.

*Refreshments and a light lunch will be served before the discussion

 

An exhibition catalogue will be available in February.

Texts: Emily King - writer and curator, Eleni Xenou -journalist and writer

Photography: Hélène Binet -architectural photographer

Design: Omar Sosa - art director /publisher/ graphic designer/ editor of Apartamento

 

 

For the next three months Point Centre for Contemporary Art will be exhibiting Michael Anastassiades’ latest work Reload the Current Page, an installation of conceptual objects produced for the occasion of the artist’s solo exhibition in Cyprus.

Anastassiades’ work is characterized by an elegant simplicity that encapsulates poetic and philosophical suggestions, displaying a fine balance between art and design. His creative approach follows a reductive process that removes any excess information and distills the essence of the object. His work is both functional and conceptual: it addresses practical and emotional needs while suggesting a multilayered reading of symbolic associations.

Reload the Current Page explores what Anastassiades calls the “contemporary anxieties of the modern Cypriot”. In this installation he celebrates the optimized freedom of creative expression offered by the gallery space, while remaining consistent with his design principles of subtraction, complexity and simplicity. Inspired by natural landscapes and cutting-edge technology, Anastassiades creates a series of objects embodying personal experiences and anxieties. Materials, forms and titles allude to the sociopolitical events that have recently defined Cypriot society and, at the same time, suggest more symbolic, nuanced connections; the artist amplifies the ambiguity evoked by his objects, which remain free from any nostalgic or didactic references.

Anastassiades experiments with a variety of stones from the local geological landscape, such as diabase and sandstone, which he pairs with materials that are often present in his work, such as bronze, glass and wood. Basic geometric forms such as the sphere are constantly used as metaphoric references.

Realistic sculptural landscapes, miniaturized geomorphological elements and glowing glass spheres compose new sceneries that the visitor is invited to experience at multiple levels. Reload the Current Page is rather an invitation than a command. An invitation to embrace the versatility of the structures and to approach them with a somewhat meditative mood, to re-examine them and re-appropriate them.

Michael Anastassiades launched his studio in 1994 to explore contemporary notions of culture and aesthetics through a combination of product, furniture and environmental design. Positioned between fine art and design, his work aims to provoke dialogue, participation and interaction. He creates objects that are minimal, utilitarian and almost mundane yet full of a vitality one might not expect. Anastassiades' work is featured in permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Crafts Council in London, the FRAC Centre in Orleans France and the MAK in Vienna. Recent solo exhibitions include Time and again at the Geymüllerschlössel/MAK in Vienna, To be perfectly Frank at Svenskt Tenn in Stockholm, Norfolk House Music room at the Victoria & Albert museum in London, Cyprus Presidency at the European Parliament in Brussels - Belgium. He has designed products with various leading manufacturers including FLOS, Puiforcat, Lobmeyr and Svenskt Tenn. In 2007 he set up MICHAEL ANASTASSIADES the company to produce his signature pieces, a collection of lighting, furniture, jewellery and tabletop objects. The studio's philosophy is a continuous search for eclecticism, individuality, and timeless qualities in design. Michael trained as a civil engineer at London's Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine before taking a masters degree in industrial design at the Royal College of Art. He lives and works in London.

 

 

 

Guest’s biographies

 

Hélène Binet

Hélène Binet is a world acclaimed photographer of both a Swiss and French background and is currently based in London. Binet studied photography at the Instituto Europeo di Design in Rome. Over the years Binet developed a strong interest in architectural photography. She has photographed some of the world’s most influential and powerful buildings. Her client list includes internationally acclaimed architects such as Zaha Hadid, Peter Zumthor, Daniel Libeskind. Binet photography includes both contemporary and historical architecture. Her photographs capture aestheticism without conveying the need to tell too much, allowing them to transmit fact rather than fiction. Her work focuses on details and natural elements such as light and darkness. This unique aspect of her work may stem from the fact that Binet works exclusively with film, as she is an advocate of analogue photography. Binet has collaborated with designer Michael Anastassiades in the past on the project ‘Miracle Chips’ which was commissioned by Wallpaper* Handmade 2013. Binet has also published the monograph Composing Space that features a compilation of her work.

 

Emily King

Emily King is a London-based writer and curator with an interest in graphic design. King is also often described as a design historian. She wrote her MA thesis on film title sequences at London's Royal College of Art, where she obtained her Masters degree.  She also completed a PhD at Kingston University on typeface design of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Some of her recent projects include the book Restart: New Systems of Graphic Design and the British Council exhibition The Book Corner. Some of her books include C/ID: Visual Identity and Branding for the Arts, M to M of M/M (Paris) and Robert Brownjohn: Sex and Typography. More so, King is the design editor of Frieze magazine; she is also a regular contributor to an eclectic selection of international magazines and journals, including Print, Eye and Fantastic Man. In 2009, she was the curator of Quick, quick, slow exhibition at the Experimenta, in Lisbon. She has also curated the exhibition Sidelines a multiple-venue show spread across several small museums and institutions in Lisbon. King has curated a number of exhibitions, of the British graphic designer Alan Fletcher for London’s Design Museum and the interdisciplinary exhibition Wouldn’t it be nice: wishful thinking in art and design for the Centre d’Art Contemporain in Geneva.

 

Justin McGuirk

London based Justin McGuirk is an award winning journalist, critic and writer. He is the director of Strelka Press, the publishing arm of the Strelka Institute in Moscow. He has been the design critic of The Guardian, the former editor of international architecture and design magazine Icon, as well as the design consultant for Domus. In 2012 McGuirk was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture for the Tore David,Gran Horizonte exhibition he curated with interdisciplinary design studio Urban Think Tank and photographer Iwan Bann. His book, Radical Cities: Across Latin America in Search of a New Architecture will be published by Verso in the spring of 2014. Justin McGuirk's writings on design culture range from the architecture of Palestinian refugee camps to the design of electric shavers. His writing consists of diversity without losing its identity, whether it argues technological development strategies or whether objects are good or evil. McGuirk is also a regular commentator on design issues for national newspapers and the broadcast media.

 

Omar Sosa

Omar Sosa is an art director, publisher and graphic designer. He obtained a degree in graphic design from the Barcelona design school EINA. Sosa began working in the graphic design industry and later formed a studio with Albert Folch. In Folch Studio, he developed graphic design projects and worked as an art director for national and international clients including the likes of Camper, Museo Marco de Vigo, Musac, Sala Rekalde, Mango, Peres Projects, ICEX and Marset (to name a few). As well as these projects Sosa also developed editorial projects working with various magazines such as Metal, Kilimanjaro and Fanzine 137. He also took charge of the art direction of the Corriere de la Sera design magazine, Casamica. In 2008 Sosa founded the design magazine Apartamento together with his business partner Nacho Alegre. Two years later he went on to win the prestigious Yellow Pencil Award and Apartamento was awarded the best complete magazine of 2010 by the Designers and Art Directors Association (UK). After 2010, Sosa left Folch Studio, living between both Barcelona and Milan working for his own clients. 

 

Eleni Xenou

Eleni Xenou is a Cypriot journalist, cultural editor and writer. She discovered her passion for writing whilst she was studying in Athens. Xenou has built a strong career in Cyprus, having worked at some of the islands most popular newspapers. She was the Chief Editor of Ysterografo at Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros for eight years.  Xenou is currently working as a journalist for Kathimerini newspaper.  In 2012 she published her first book, "PS. I was born during an April" («Υγ. Γεννήθηκα έναν Απρίλη»). The book is a compilation of short stories about Xenou’s journeys that are intended to be relatable to everyone, rather than being autobiographical. She herself and her writing style go by the priority of living before writing.