November 15th, 2012 | 6:30pm to 9:00pm
Ongoing until November 30th, 2012
Cappellini Showroom
152 Wooster Street New York | Map
Hors d’ oeuvres and cocktails will be served
RSPV | rsvp@contaminatenyc.com
Contaminate NYC is pleased to present Social-Unit, an exhibition dedicated to Dutch designers Wouter Kalis and Corinne De Korver. This is the third and final show of the series dedicated to the winners ofOneHundredDays.us, an international juried-art competition launched by Contaminate in the fall of 2011, which challenged artists to create a project inspired by the principles of sustainability. This exhibition will showcase Wouter’s and Corinne’s design piece Social-Unit, winner of the competition for the Economic Track.
In Holland, homeless people are being sheltered in single rooms of approximately 16 square meters. Aid organizations, such as the Salvation Army, have progressive goals for the homeless they accommodate. Their aim is to reconnect them to society. In sharp contrast to these positive goals are the interiors of the facilities. In many cases, the interiors are old, broken and too large for the space. Wouter and Corinne, founders of the Social-Unit design studio (social-unit.com), devised a solution to better align the Salvation Army progressive goals with the interiors of the shelters with simple criteria in mind: it had to be easy to clean, space saving, not very expensive and very strong. The team wanted to add an extra basic condition: creating a positive emotional experience of space and its surroundings. The design for the cupboard bed is a combination of a sleeping compartment and a storage space in 3 square meters. It is produced out of recycled consumer plastic waste such as bottle caps and beer crates, mainly polypropeen and polyetheen. Wouter and Corinne have designed the bed in such a way that it can be manufactured using very simple woodworking techniques, such as sawing, milling, cutting and drilling. It is manufactured in social working projects that provide simple day routines for homeless and drug addicts, thus adding an economic and social value to the process. The production of the units in social wood workshop provides a feeling of contribution to the participating individuals and increases their feeling of self-worth and confidence. It forms an element of the process of reintegration into the labor market and into society. Instead of emphasizing the problems and needs of the homeless they offered them a home and focus on the potential and the possibilities of the Salvation Army and their guests.
About Wouter Kalis and Corinne De Korver
Social-Unit is an Amsterdam-based design studio created by Wouter Kalis and Corinne de Korver. They are dedicated to design that solves problems and improve situations, by producing simple, smart and positive designs that incorporate recycled materials and contribute to social employment projects. They have been recently invited to participate at the prestigious Milan Furniture Fair, presenting their award-winning Social-Unit project produced from recycled waste plastic. Social-Unit.com
About One Hundred Days:
ONE HUNDRED DAYS is a biennial international competition for emerging and undiscovered talent worldwide ideated by Contaminate NYC. For the 2011 edition artists were asked to create a visual or installation project aimed at raising awareness about sustainability issues, demonstrating the creative potential of the fine arts with regards to environmental, social, and economic issues and their role in a much needed societal transformation process. In three months, the competition generated more than 25K page views, with an average duration of 2.50min and 50 percent returning visitors.
This grassroots competition touched 1,133 cities, 97 countries for a total of more than 300 art projects submitted. Sponsors and Partners of the competition included: Artists Wanted (ArtistsWanted.org); Roomorama (Roomorama.com); Lifegate (Lifegate.it); ADV (ADVassociated.net), Kristin Hanson Gallery (KristinHanson.us); Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimó (CasaItalianaNYU.org); ContestaRockhair (ContestaRockHair.com); Tunetree (TuneTree.net), Arte Nascosta (ArteNascosta.com); Vias (Viaswine.com); Izze (Izze.com); Peroni (PeroniItaly.com).



















