Portuguese cork is back on show in London. As a result of a partnership with Corticeira Amorim, the natural cork stopper will be enjoying a prominent place until May 4, 2014 at the "In the Making" exhibition at the London's Design Museum. This exhibition showcases 24 mid-manufactured objects, putting the aesthetic of the unfinished object at the centre of this prestigious stage.
Curated by the internationally acclaimed designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, "In the Making" focuses on corks punched out of a bark strip, an option that reflects the unique manufacturing process of this natural raw material. The perception of the premium value associated with this fine object becomes, thus, intuitive.
In their presentation, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby emphasize that the cork stopper is "perhaps the simplest of all the objects on show. Extracted from the cork oak, cork needs time to reach the ideal thickness to be processed into a bottle cork stopper" and they add that "we've chosen to stop production when the cork strip is only partially cut into, thus revealing both the beauty of the raw material and the actual object."
The set of selected objects shares a distinctive factor or an unexpected quality, which is most easily identified before the objects assume their final form. The exhibition captures thus a peculiar moment and unconventional slice of time in the production of a variety of objects, such as tennis balls or cricket bats, coins, banknotes and even diamonds.
The show gives a glimpse of the designers' ongoing dialogue with manufacturing that is so distinctive to their practice. Throughout their careers, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby have had an unusual fascination with the making process. The way in which things are created has had a profound influence on them and continually inspires their work.
As Edward and Jay comment: "We have always been fascinated by the making process. This exhibition provides a platform to capture and reveal a frozen moment in the manufacturing process and unveils an everyday object in its unfinished state. Often the object is as beautiful, if not more so, than the finished product!"
