Essential Design

The need for to engage new audiences and stay relevant was the number one most critical issue identified by Australian museum directors in 2014 (CSIRO). The Holloway 'Essential Design' Series was an attempt to redefine the role museums might play in the future, through the lens of industrial design and material culture. Given that museums are primarily concerned with collecting, preserving and researching the natural and cultural world, it stands to reason that this knowledge of how the world manifests through the products and artifacts of the age could be applied to the creation of new objects. Indeed museums may be ideally placed at the nexus of knowledge and custodianship to produce timeless and intensely valuable cultural artifacts. 

The following videos document the 'Essential Design' Series keynote talks, masterclass and workshop. The second video goes deeper into the detail of how the final lens are made and integrated with the frames

Sprezzatura - coined in the 16th century by a renaissance author, Baldassare Castiglione means "a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it".  The 'Sprezzatura' frames are a veritable layer cake of interpretive potential. Representing the collaborative efforts of over 20 designers, applying 'essential design' principles to create a bespoke piece of  essential contemporary fashion from recycled materials. Not only this, the 'Sprezzatura' frame is also the first piece of the Queensland Museum collection to have been made BY the museum, representing a landmark departure from 'business as usual' and exploration of what the future might hold for museum business models.