We continue the reports from the design schools around Stockholm. Next up is Beckmans College of Design.
If Konstfack and Handarbetets Vänner were proper and nice, then Beckmans is messy and emotional. And that is good. Don’t get me wrong. Proper is good but sometimes you want these younger talents to be a bit “strange”. And so is Beckmans. I am focusing my report on the Form students and eventhough graphic design and fashion is part of the school, this is focused on the form studentes.
Messy and emotional. Chatrine Schumacher made these glass pieces. It’s about light, darkness and contrast. Shadowplay. Are the shadows your friends or the opposite?
Top glass pieces is a candle holder but can also work as vase. The piece itself might be pretty “normal” but the context and setting is upsetting and strange. I like that.
I like how Chatrine took all these emotions and made a proper product. Here the candleholder with a gold shade to give shadowy effects.
Reuse, upcycle and waste. We have seen this before. Here Malin Kristiansson is working with waste wood and textiles to a new furniture. Malin is talking about “the butterfly effect” and the effect on her life. I wish the piece had more actual waste from her life. Maybe a crib or a kid’s chair made into this. Or old t-shirts she wore at a certain age. Now it is an upcylce project. I like it but get just luke warm.
This is SUPER STRANGE. And I love that. This is a furniture for sitting. Yes. By Maja Berthin Tingström. No, of course this is not something I want in my livingroom but I love the concept. For many, many years man sat on wool in caves. This is basically it – but updated. Almost a bit folklore and mystical. Love.
More mystical. This is a jewellry collection based on a folklore legend where someone dropped gold and silver in the lake. If you go to the lake at night, you can see the precious metals at the bottom of the lake. And if you reach for it – you could drown. Folklore and Lord of the Rings. The pieces might not be super different from other things we have seen but I love the story. By Iris Arlert.
Almost a sibling collection. By Max Svensson Palmdahl. A story of people in an alternate dimension. Or is it just a fairytale. A fisherman of silverfish (yes, that animal) where gender is irrelevant and nudity is optional. The glass pieces feels like something we’ve seen before but the STORY is amazing. Vases above and below.
Now and then. Is it a kinght’s armour or a car? Edward Weinhofer talks about guilds. Is there a guild for product designers? Should there be? Is this a piece that would pass? The cabinet is made if steel and just made beautiful with these shiny elements. Dreamy. But is it a good dream or a nightmare?
Not everything at Beckman’s was about dreams, folklore and nightmares. Here a fully perfect bench by Alexander Moren.
A set of wood tools by Tove Östlund to make kids with “restless legs” (or ADHD) sit still.
A chair woven in one piece of rope by Svea Tisell.
And a bit of ABBA. By Sigrid Mårtensson.
I quickly walked around Beckman’s for the other departments and found this mirror intallation by Ebba Qvinnström. Mirrors used to be status symbols. What are they now?
After visiting Konstfack and Handarbetets Vänner skola I mentioned I missed talks about AI. At Beckmans you can find it. Here student Ernst Lilja is using AI to reenact his childhood. What did he look like as a running child?
Justus Skördeman made this installation about fake news and trust. It is about power and money. Who to trust in an information driven society.
So, as some kind of summary. I am happy with Beckman’s. It is a strange generation of designers graduating. But strange is good. I am glad they are opinionated and want to talk about difficult things as folklore, need, behaviour and AI. The future looks bright.