2007 五十凳 × The ideal 50 Benches



「2007 點.心設計邀請展」以民間常見的「長凳」,作為邀展的主題。




相較於博物館中收藏的眾多文物,在中國出現超過千年歷史的長凳,至今都還在生活中隨處可遇。早在北宋張擇端的清明上河圖中,就可看見長凳出現在生活的各個角落,與人產生各種互動,而且形式幾乎與今日無異。長凳是坐具,卻又不只是坐具。長凳可以登高,可以支撐,可以當成雜耍的道具,也可以充作工匠的機床‥。長凳在民間幾乎可以說是萬用的。可惜這麼一件處處顯露民間「隨機置宜」智慧的器物,總不得人青睞。

於是我們邀請近五十位台灣年輕的設計師,透過他們的生活經驗與真實感受,為「長凳」娓娓道出五十個混合著熟悉與想像的故事。受邀的設計師來自國內知名企業與具代表性的設計公司,「五十凳」這個題目希望能讓設計師在傳統與生活中,找到一個能探索文化、發揮設計能量的具體平台。重新回歸自我創作價值的設計師,或也可找到一個與自身平日工作不同之關照點,進而與其企業中的設計工作,產生積極的對話效果。


Dian Shin / Design Refreshment Design Exhibition 2007 took "Bench" as the main theme.

Comparing with museum collections, benches were playing a big part of more than thousand years in the ancient Chinese history and still exist until today's everyday living. Back then, Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145) -a painter from Northern Song period-often illustrated benches in his famous painting "Along the River during Qingming Festival" as a part of people's daily lives and social interactions which are still the same until now. Bench is not only a piece of furniture designed for sitting, but also can function as an elevator, supporter, bed and even a useful tool for variety shows. It also can be said that bench is a ubiquitous and multifunctional tool. Unfortunately, people never really pay attention and appreciate it.

There were fifty young designers invited to participate in this exhibition to share their life experiences and emotions through designing these fifty benches. These designers come from prominent design companies all around Taiwan. "The ideal 50 Benches" is meant to give these designers freedom of exploring the culture and expressing their design, as well as to be a platform for developing design skills. Through giving such chance to be involved in personal creative process, they may discover some new, fresh perspectives that are different from what they usually encounter in their working days and eventually will spark a reinvigorated dialogue in their design.