Crumple is the result of a mutli-faceted investigation into material, process and form, and a creative desire to return to richness of form and detail to object design.

'Chaotic, irregular forms are not necessarily ‘ugly’, but refreshing and provocative against the long influence of minimalism in design. Minimalism suffocated the richness and diversity that used to exist, reducing forms to banal geometric structures,' said Pandolfo.

'Recent architecture, visual art and design, including Chair One by Konstantin Grcic and Federation Square by Lab Architects, have identified with this new direction, which represents a shift away from predictable form.

'These two examples move towards provocative and at times chaotic forms, away from the sense of security in form that minimalism in design has provided. They evoke a response ... you either love or hate them.'

Crumple aims to be provocative by its use of a basic, raw material, without high-tech processes or high-performance engineering, but rather using methods and materials that have been tried and tested over hundreds of years.

Crumple opens at 6.00pm on 9 May, and coincides with the launch of the limited edition book Safety Catch. The Safety Catch project invited a group of Australian designers to respond to the issues of safety and security. The works were exhibited at the UTS Gallery in August 2006 as part of Sydney Design 06. Participating artists and designers were: Berto Pandolfo, Korban Flaubert, Bernabei Freeman, Robert Foster, Ruth McDermott, Stefan Lie, Adam Goodrum and Schamburg Alvisse.

DAB Lab Gallery
University of Technology Sydney
Level 4 courtyard 702 Harris st Ultimo
Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building

UTS DAB Lab
Sydney Design