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Joining us will be visual artist Katie Merz as we unveil our newest collaboration. Drawing inspiration from architecture, the dynamism of cartoons, and her own NYC upbringing, Katie Merz is perhaps best known for her large scale murals like her piece at 80 Flatbush, Brooklyn. Together we’re creating a series of urban inspired engraved bunk beds; starting with our Brooklyn themed bed.
“As the Bauhaus turns one hundred, artist Katie Merz and designer Roberto Gil join forces to produce a new piece of furniture that, even if not intended, both celebrates and defies the legacy of the legendary German school. Their graffiti-engraved bed almost thumbs its nose at the modern ethos of clean, undecorated surfaces. Yet, in a deeper sense, it embodies the original impulse of the Bauhaus, that brought together artists and designers in the manner of the medieval guilds (or Bauhütte, the inspiration for the school’s name) where decoration was very much an integral part of the artifact.
Think of Merz and Gil’s bunk bed as a little building that tells stories. And telling stories has been one of the main purposes of buildings since time immemorial; actually, it may even be the reason why we use the word story to talk about the floors or levels of a building. In that sense, the engravings on the bed recall all sorts of narrative decoration, from Egyptian hieroglyphics, to Pre-Columbian inscriptions, to Roman friezes, to the carvings of medieval cathedrals, all the way to New York graffiti, and even body tattoos.
This collaboration demonstrates that it is possible, even today, to integrate clean design lines with whimsical, free-flowing calligraphies. But once you let the genie out of the bottle...”
Casa Kids x Katie Merz will be featured at the upcoming Brooklyn Designs show May 10th - 12th, 2019 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Find tickets here and make sure to check out our booth for a lot of fun surprises and a live performance by Merz!
Learn more about Katie Merz here.
