Monday, November 8, 2010

Designer Marlon Darbeau Showing at MAD

man among the peeras courtesy Damian Libert

Marlon Darbeau is a Designer and Creative Director of Trinidad’s leading Design and Branding firm, Abovegroup. He is also a collaborator at the Alice Yard art-space initiative. He comes from a family tradition of making things in a workshop that was at home or very close to home.

Designer Darbeau is showing his PEERA project at the Global Africa Project show opening on the 17th of November 2010 and continues through to 2013 at the Museum of Art and Design, NYC.

The show brings together over 100 artists working in Africa, Europe, Asia, the United States, and the Caribbean. The exhibition actively challenges conventional notions of a singular African aesthetic and identity, and reflects the integration of African art and design without making the usual distinctions between “professional” and “artisan.”

The ‘PEERA project’ is a contemporary re-interpretation of the traditional wooden benches that are a household presence in Trinidad and Tobago. Darbeau’s interpretation mixes the familiar with the innovative to create a design object that is both utilitarian and aesthetically desirable. A concept he attributes to discussions with Architect Sean Leonard who challenged him to see what more could be done with this object to make it more than just a place to sit. This new ‘PEERA’ employs a number of manufacturing processes and collaborations from cnc routing to traditional joinery and even powder coating by PANLAND. The end result is an art object that provides two benches, one metal and one wood with a unit space that allows the adding of specially designed ice trays to keep wine or beer chilled. This makes it great for cricket or just carrying around tools in your car.

Darbeau no stranger to showing his work has exhibited at Alice Yard, Woodbrook, POS. and the BECA Art Gallery, New Orleans. PEERA launches commercially in Trinidad soon.

for more on MARLON DARBEAU click here.
for a short film about ALICE YARD click here.
for more about ABOVEGROUP click here.


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