October 1, 2003
Eva Menz’s Objects
A panel of experts from the industry convened to evaluate the producibility and marketability of emerging designers’ work.
“This collection is an exploration of the ways and means we conceal objects,” London-based designer Menz said. “‘Rupert’ is a Kleenex box made from leather. It has a little compartment where you can store your condoms. ‘Luise’ and ‘Harald’ are candleholders, one conceals a vibrator, the other, cigarettes. ‘Rosalinde’ conceals sweets, and ‘Mathilda’ is a vase that contains liquor.”
ND: We all envy the sound of an evening spent with this young lady.
AM: The vase could be a bit more stable, but the story you’re telling applies to everybody. You’ve met a real need in everyone’s life that hasn’t really been addressed. If anyone in the room hasn’t wanted to hide anything, I’d be pretty surprised.
EM: Yeah, these objects have an ironic double life. They have been given people’s names because they are meant to have an intimate persona. My intention was to accept and encourage you to keep hiding because this is what I assume you’re all doing anyway. And of course, it’s meant to be provocative.
LSB: It’s very healthy to see some fun behind design; we need that. Just the fact that I smiled when you told your story is a good sign. That’s what you want people to do. And I also think that you’re right: this is about real life. And that it’s a task for designers to help people solve their problems, whatever they are.
RF: The story behind them is very interesting, and from a marketing standpoint catalogs are very good at showing before and after. When you first look at them, there is a degree of elegance to almost all of them. They come across as beautiful objects, and then there’s a kinky trick underneath.
ND: You could carry this theme quite a bit further, which I’m sure you already thought of. I’m thinking about the plethora of electronic gadgets coming into our lives these days that are all screaming for attention. If you could sell a number of very bland containers in which they all were hidden, so that you didn’t have to look at them, this might go over very well.