Lucas Muñoz Muñoz’s Temporal

It’s often said that speculation – as expressed in the form of art or design – has little practical value. However, when considering the equally abstract and subversive visual stimulation that defines the day to day of our material culture, it’s hard to disregard the impact of such iconography. Looking to indirectly materialise and visualise the ‘statistics’ of consumption in his native Spain, Eindhoven-based Lucas Muñoz Muñoz debuts the Temporal furniture series constrained by conducive material volumes. On view at Madrid-based Machado Muñoz gallery, the conceptual collection factors in as his first solo show. In fact, the designer’s latest oeuvre attempts to rectify the ambiguity of media-published data by offering highly tangible and comprehendible alternatives. Reflexively employ the frame of design – perhaps best associated with consumption and capitalism – Muñoz’s aim is to inspire awareness about human space and our collective footprint. In doing, the designer seems to be making a larger statement about the state of a society rife with deceptive information. As to provide sharp contrast – a way of emphasising the importance of his overall goal – two divergent elements within the Temporal collection are defined as objects before object; purely physical prior to containing meaning. With an education that spans the European Institute of Design Madrid, Central Saint Martins London and the Design Academy Eindhoven, Muñoz’s craft-based approach results in highly-charged designs that address the realities of our artificiality. If looking to the role of speculation within this field, the designer’s heavily research-based work does not shy away from employing the power of humour and personification.