12 % of the Norm by Bartosz Mucha

„12% of the norm” is a collection of 11 objects (plus one unrealized) designed by Bartosz Mucha during the last year and partly produced by the Design Gallery – BWA Wrocław. In this exhibition, Bartosz Mucha - the child prodigy of the polish design scene - recapitulates 5 years of functioning of the famous, one person design studio POOR design. For the last few years the designer was fighting with the absurd mechanical activities assisted by objects of daily use. Studio's credo – functional fixation and play with form and material - led the artists to the most radical enterprises, such as a production of the ghost-chair. In this chair the crouching user either leans his back against a wall or in a more decadent version he sits on the ground leaning against a wall or just lays down. The rich portfolio of POOR design studio does not lack commercial successes such as already famous „Spinacz” (wooden clothes peg as USB), for which Bartosz Mucha was awarded the main prize in the prestigious competition „Make me” for young polish designer in 2008.

In the project „12 % of the norm” Mucha again explores the classical forms of objects that surround us in our closest environment. Sometimes he changes the use of for example a classic night lamp or a clothes hanger. By playing with our habits and expectations, he creates something that we don’t expect. A special place in this collection belongs to the shelter, a herald of a new paraachitectual project hidden under the code name PARARCH, the new enterprise by Bartosz Mucha. This white, inflated cocoon designed for the victims of natural disasters, ensures intimacy in crowded, temporary places where people await help and return to normal life. A place for the PESEL (personal identification number) is printed on the material, which allows the people to keep a feeling of ownership even in such a provisional situation. As Mucha explains it: „The profile of the roof and walls allows the shelter to be useful also in the open-air and during small rain showers”.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog of works, critical texts and a report by the author.

Venue: Design Gallery, BWA Wroclaw, Swidnicka 2-4