From furniture generated by algorithms to designs brought to life by a robot, the work of experimental Dutch designer Joris Laarman challenges the boundaries of art, science, and technology. Joris Laarman Lab: Design in the Digital Age is the first U.S. museum survey to offer an in-depth look at the designer’s innovative oeuvre.
Showcasing furniture, design experiments, suites of drawings, and videos, the exhibition features a number of works from the MFAH collection. Joris Laarman Lab explores the highly progressive qualities of Laarman’s work, both aesthetically and technologically. Along with his advanced production processes, which often involve digital fabrication methods and robotics, Laarman (born 1979) remains inspired by nature, giving equal attention to organic form and beauty.
In 2004, Laarman and his partner, filmmaker Anita Star, founded the Joris Laarman Lab in Amsterdam. There—together with engineers, programmers, and craftspeople—Laarman creates groundbreaking projects that reimagine traditional forms, many of which are one-of-a-kind and some of which are created only in very limited production. Joris Laarman Lab presents furniture designs and applied projects made throughout Laarman’s career alongside related videos, sketches, and renderings. The exhibition highlights Laarman’s major bodies of work, from projects he created as a student to his most-recent 3-D printing innovations. Joris Laarman Lab: Design in the Digital Age is curated by Mark Wilson and Sue-an van der Zijpp of the Groninger Museum.
| Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, USA) | 24 June 2018 - 16 September 2018 |
| Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (NY, USA) | 27 September 2017 - 15 January 2018 |
| Groninger Museum | 22 November 2015 – 10 April 2016 |
Azzedine Alaïa
Hide and Seek - Maarten Baas
