The Offbeat Sari

FEATURES The first book to dive exclusively into Ai Weiwei’s approach to design and collecting, shedding light on the value we ascribe to everyday objects. It brings Ai’s vast collections together for the first time, from Neolithic stone tools to modern, mass-produced objects, creating a dialogue and tension between traditional craftsmanship and modern-day manufacturing. Featuring essays by leading experts – including Wang Shu, China’s most popular architect – covering urgent, contemporary themes which are recurrent in Ai’s work, such as craft, collecting, and the urbanisation and industrialisation of China. It also includes an interview between British Israeli architect Eyal Weizman and Ai himself. Showcasing new and never-beforeseen work that has been created for the exhibition at the Design Museum, including, among others, Glass Helmet, Toilet Paper, and a new iteration of his renowned Study of Perspective series.

EXHIBITION

the Design Museum

7 April – 30 July 2023

Justin McGuirk is the chief curator at the Design Museum and the director of Future Observatory.

April 2023 270 x 205mm 208pp 150 colour and b/w illustrations Hardcover | Worldwide rights £34.95 | $45.00 978-1-872005-63-8

Ai Weiwei: Making Sense

Edited by Justin McGuirk

Ai Weiwei is one of the most significant and recognised artists working today. Known around the world for his powerful art and activism, Ai does not differentiate between disciplines: his practice glides across art, architecture, design, film, collecting and curating. Through his engagement with material culture, Ai explores the tension between past and present, hand and machine, precious and worthless, construction and destruction. Titled Ai Weiwei: Making Sense, the Design Museum, in collaboration with the artist, will stage the first major exhibition to present Ai’s work as a commentary on design and what it reveals about our changing values. It will be the largest show on Ai Weiwei in the UK since 2015, and will feature works never exhibited before in the country as well as new work that will displayed for the very first time. And it will not be just another Ai Weiwei exhibition: it is a unique, site-specific set of installations which uses the Design Museum as a place to reflect on shifting cultural values. This book will be the official catalogue for the exhibition. It will be one of the first to focus on Ai’s approach to design and collecting, inviting the reader into a meditation on value and humanity, art and activism. Richly illustrated with over 150 images, from those vast collection fields to new works created specifically for the Design Museum, it will also feature essays by leading experts, covering many of the dominant themes in Ai’s work, such as craft, collecting and the urbanisation and industrialisation of China. It concludes with an interview between renowned British Israeli architect Eyal Weizman and Ai Weiwei himself.

FEATURES One of the few books that explores the enduring impact of Surrealism on contemporary design, from Schiaparelli’s ground-breaking fashion to Mary Katrantzou’s innovative pattern, and from Tim Walker’s otherwordly photography to Google’s work with AI.

Featuring commissioned essays by leading writers in the field, such as Glenn Adamson and Susanna Brown, and interviews with cutting-edge designers, artists and photographers, such as Viviane Sassen and the Campana Brothers.

Taking inspiration from the Vitra Design Museum’s Objects of Desire exhibition catalogue, this book will feature new objects and exhibits which will be exclusively shown at the Design Museum.

EXHIBITION

the Design Museum

14 October 2022 –19 February 2023

Kathryn Johnson is a curator at the Design Museum, London.

October 2022 240 x 170mm 208pp 160 colour and b/w illustrations Softcover | Worldwide rights £24.95 | $35.00 978-1-872005-62-1

Surrealism and Design Now: From Dalí to AI

Edited by Kathryn Johnson

This autumn, the Objects of Desire exhibition will be held at the Design Museum in London, and to accompany our rendition of the Vitra Design Museum show, the Design Museum will publish Surrealism and Design Now: From Dalí to AI. This book will focus on key themes and objects from the exhibition and expand upon them and will also contain new objects and exhibits that are specific to the exhibition at the Design Museum. The book will be divided into five thematic chapters, each taking a notable object from the exhibition as its starting point. Commissioned essays by renowned writers, including Glenn Adamson and Susanna Brown, will introduce each object and theme, followed by a richly illustrated series of plates featuring highlights from the London show. Each chapter will conclude with interviews with a diverse range of designers and artists, from Dunne & Raby to Viviane Sassen, showing Surrealism’s enduring legacy and impact on contemporary design.