Exhibition “The Great Seduction: Karl Ernst Osthaus and the Beginnings of Consumer Culture” through April 28, 2024
Theme Night “The Art of Poster Design,” February 15, 2024
Krefeld Art Museums
In her contribution to the catalog for the exhibition “The Great Seduction: Karl Ernst Osthaus and the Beginnings of Consumer Culture,” Prof. Petra Eisele examines the role of design in the present and future, as well as the influence of design on our society.
“Design conveys ideas about values and identity—and thus holds great potential to transform society, but also carries a great responsibility. Accordingly, in the future ,there must be an even greater focus on emancipatingdesign from its traditional role as a ‘profession’ that follows the commercial interests, wishes, and instructions of clients or employers. What is needed is collaborative and participatory design on an equal footing. Designers should see themselves even more as agents of change who use their aesthetic power to influence social, political, economic, ecological, cultural, and scientific developments. After all, design achieves its impact in part by visualizing what has not yet been seen or what has not yet existed. Speculative design, in particular, can help visualize and implement future scenarios. Thus, the primary question is how design affects society. What is needed is a sensitive design that, on the one hand, uses design to combat social—including intersectional—discrimination (such as sexism, racism, classism, lookism, ageism, ableism, etc.), and, on the other hand, reexamines the relationship between humans and nature and promotes sustainable behavior.”
(Eisele, Petra: Design for Tomorrow. In: The Great Seduction. Karl Ernst Osthaus and the Beginnings of Consumer Culture: Exhibition Catalog at the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld Art Museums 2023/2024, Wienand, 2023, pp. 298–299)
Exhibition:
The Great Seduction. Karl Ernst Osthaus and the Beginnings of Consumer Culture
Nov. 24, 2023–Apr. 28, 2024
Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Kunstmuseen Krefeld
Further information on the exhibition
On February 15, 2024, the Krefeld Art Museums will explore the theme of poster design under the title “The Art of Poster Design” in conjunction with the exhibitions “The Great Seduction” and “Sarah Morris. All System Fail.”
Guests include René Gronert and the design duo M/M (Paris).
Theme Night:
The Art of Poster Design
Thursday, February 15, 2924, starting at 5:30 p.m.
Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld Art Museums
Further information on the theme night
Visit the Communication Design program website
@hsm.kommunikationsdesign
