Thingness by Jasper Morrison, Grand Hornu

Grand-Hornu is pleased to host British designer Jasper Morrison‘s first-ever retrospective. The exhibtion recalls how much he is respected around the world. This major event brings together key moments from his 35-year-long career: developing everything from furniture, kitchenware and home electronics. These pieces are accompanied by archival material in a specially designed scenography that stays true to his principle of beguiling simplicity. Jasper Morrison designs objects that we love to live with but whose qualities might go unnoticed. He believes that good design has less to do with making products noticeable and more to do with making sure they are useful. This retrospective shows us how much work he’s accomplished with leading European manufacturers  including Cappellini, Alessi, Flos, Magis and Vitra; Japanase brands such as Muji; and technology power-houses Samsung and Sony.

With this retrospective people will note that Morrison has never faltered on defining ideals despite the length of his career. His concern is to serve function and to be true to the object itself. That’s the reason why he’s influenced many designers around the world. In each of Morrison’s works – whether sofas, watches or drinking glasses – we are always able to identify simple yet rigorous lines. This design philosophy was affirmed in collaboration with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa throuhg the Super Normal manifesto, published in 2007. This year, he collaborated with Lars Müller Publisher on a new edition entitled A book of Things – tracing his career through work and principles.

For this retrospective, Morrison collaborated with Swiss designer Michel Charlot to devise a simple, reproducible, wooden unit that serves as a scenography for the pieces he created from the 1980s to present day. The chronological presentation is enriched by reproductions of designs and drawings, archive documents, ephemera and photographs that illustrate process. This scenography perfectly emulates the designer’s humble character.

It’s important to thank all the brands for making donations of works designed by the master designer. Indeed, a retrospective like this would not have been possible without their support.

Thingness runs until 13 September 2015 at Grand-Hornu.