Exploring the shifting landscape of design in California since the digital revolution, this exhibition focuses on designs that are socially conscious, and driven by new technologies. Retreating from the commercialism of Modernism’s ‘good design for all’, California designers in the 1960s and ’70s sought to design with more political, social, and environmental awareness, as seen in the multimedia presentations of Ray and Charles Eames and AntFarm, and in the pages of the Whole Earth Catalog. The lure of being both on and off the grid continues to draw designers to California. Yet, the digital revolution has greatly changed design. The designs on view in this exhibition place California at the centre of an evolving and expanding field. Find out more about the ‘Designing in California’ exhibition from SFMOMA’s website.
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Charles and Ray Eames, Eames Office conference room, 1944–89; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Tom Bonner
Solo drone (2015), Jason Short. Courtesy of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, photo: Giulio Sciorio
Prototype for Apple Macintosh touch-screen tablet (1984), Hartmut Esslinger. Courtesy of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, photo: Katherine Du Tiel
Cyberdesk (1993), Lisa Krohn. Courtesy of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, photo: Ian Reeves and Katherine Du Tiel
Wishbone Chair (1970), Arthur Espenet Carpenter. Courtesy of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, photo: Katherine Du Tiel
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Has the Fitzwilliam lost the hang of things?