>> Don't laugh. I've not even exchanged contracts yet on my soon to be new abode and I've got a comprehensive interiors moodboard folder on my Desktop, an Excel spreadsheet of costs and have started researching independent designers to work with on "custom shelving solutions" and "statement furniture". Custom shelving solutions?! Statement furniture??? I told you not to laugh but I myself am chuckling away nervously at my rabid enthusiasm. Everything I'm looking at seems to involve some sort of geometric element be it in the print or shape.
When came across Berlin-based conceptual jewellery designer Nhat-Vu Dang's work (thanks to a helpful tweet from the folks at Fash Gif), I was obnoxiously wondering how his pieces would look perched nonchalently on a beech wood designer coat rack tree. His latest work, which is on display at the Galerie Rob Koudijs in Amsterdam is entitled "Activate!". Dang enjoys creating little moments of humour in life that that means his jewellery brings up unexpected yet subtle surprises. Hidden elements in his necklaces can be turned "on" or "off" as Dang plays with the contrast between a bright neon shade and the muted tone of white. Same goes for his deceptive brooches which from one angle appears to be wholly white with a mysterious glow of colour being reflected from the reverse side of solid neon. There's no grandiose statement and rather it's the little gestures and mini pleasures in life that Dang revels in.
It's Dang's previous graduate project, having studied at Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, that perhaps gets the bigger laugh just by virtue of being physically more imposing. Constructed out of gray bogstandard cardboard, bracelets, necklaces and brooches have pull out elements that scream with colour and in one particular case, multi-coloured confetti. Have a gander at the mini videos, which show all the pieces in all their animated glory. You can imagine the joy of a really good pop-up book or a very clever toy, when playing with these effective pieces. It seems Dang is already well on his way to translating this original vision into something for the real world but I hope he retains that quiet sense of humour which permeates his work. Oh, and if he wants to get into large scale furniture design, I could do with a pull-out, pop-up coffee table.
