Sight Unseen brings together American and Norwegian designers

23 : 05 : 2017 Design : Culture : Digital

New York – The design magazine’s annual exhibition Offsite explores the style similarities between the US and Norway.

Slash Objects and Thomas Jenkins, Offsite exhibition. Photography by The White Arrow Slash Objects and Thomas Jenkins, Offsite exhibition. Photography by The White Arrow
Visibility and Noidoi, Offsite exhibition. Photography by The White Arrow Visibility and Noidoi, Offsite exhibition. Photography by The White Arrow
Moving Mountains and Runa Klock, Offsite exhibition. Photography by The White Arrow Moving Mountains and Runa Klock, Offsite exhibition. Photography by The White Arrow
Jamie Wolfond and Sigve Knutson, Offsite exhibition. Photography by The White Arrow Jamie Wolfond and Sigve Knutson, Offsite exhibition. Photography by The White Arrow

The second edition of Sight Unseen's Norway and New York collaborations, which premiered at the 2016 NYC x Design festival, continues to examine the similarities between design practices in the two countries. The exhibition explores the decline in brand sponsorship and the rise of in-house production across the board, looking at the effect this has on the work itself.

All of the designers were paired with a foreign partner, working long-distance to create furniture, lighting and accessories. Each of the designs was created using a different workshop process and all can be scaled up for future sales.

‘Like American designers – who, in the past 10 years, have moved away from a reliance on brands towards self-initiated production and distribution – Norwegian designers are also beginning to embrace their independence,' Sight Unseen founders Monica Khemsurov and Jill Singer told Dezeen.

The Big Picture

  • In a New Bricolage world, designers are using the design process to explore the similarities between practices in different countries
  • Sight Unseen Offsite is part of NYC x Design 2017 festival, which celebrates designers from around the world
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