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Brand-Stretching Installation
Funny Shape, Perfect for the Job
(September – October 2001)
What is a shape? It is the outline of an idea. Some of the most successful shapes from nature and industrial designers seem to defy logic and surprise expectations. This exhibition explained how and why.
Concept
Funny Shape, Perfect for the Job showed things are not always as they appear: reading objects can be deceptive.
The exhibition also explained how the philosophy of shapes concerned Plato, the teachers of the Bauhaus and the designer of the Routemaster bus. Whether a rock musician's guitar, an egg or an organic chair, the only Golden Rule about being a perfect shape is that there isn't one.
The genius of surprise is the only constant and no matter how surprising, the truly great shapes soon seem inevitable.
Photographed by Barry Lategan, curated by Stephen Bayley and designed by Misha Stefan – “whose showspace, Mission in Notting Hill is itself one of the capital's more unusual architectural shapes,” (quoting Stephen Bayley), the exhibition was supported by PG Tips to launch their revolutionary new pyramid tea bag, the exhibition later travelled to Leeds and Manchester.
Exhibits
The exhibition included the ubiquitous Coke bottles, pyramid tea bags, paper clips and coat hangers, rare Carlo Mollino chairs and the Airbus Beluga Transporter.
