Cranbrook Art Museum - Exhibitions


CROSSING FLATLAND: NEW DESIGNS BY SCOTT KLINKER February 4 - April 2 Members’ Opening: Friday, February 3 6:30 - 8:30 pm Scott Klinker, Designer-in-Residence and Head of the 3D Design Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art, explores the potentials of digital customization as the industrial world moves from mass production toward niche production. The exhibition includes a new collection of furniture and lighting as well as the Spaceframe Builder’s Kit, which was chosen by Fortune magazine as one of the top 25 products of 2004 and currently is a featured product in the Design Within Reach launch of the new JAX catalog devoted to products for children.
SELECTED EXHIBITION INSTALLATION IMAGES (Click to view larger.)

SELECTED EXHIBITION IMAGES (Click to view larger.)

PRESS COVERAGE >>
AIGA - Scott Klinker's exhibition is currently featured on the Detroit AIGA chapter's website. The Detroiter - This technique of turning flat, simple forms, into playful, elegant toys, is the same guiding principle by which Scott Klinker creates his distinctive furniture designs...
ARTISTS TALK >>
Scott Klinker Sunday, March 12, 4 pm Klinker will present an illustrated lecture discussing his current exhibition, “Crossing Flatland,” and his investigations for creating new furniture and lighting designs with digital tools. Following his lecture, he will lead a gallery tour of the exhibition.
PRESS RELEASE >>
Media Alert Contact: Felicia E. Molnar, 248-645-3329 November 8, 2005 Crossing Flatland: New Designs by Scott Klinker Opening at Cranbrook Art Museum February 4, 2006Bloomfield Hills, MI -- The exhibition Crossing Flatland: New Designs by Scott Klinker features new products and furniture by the designer Scott Klinker, Klinker, who serves as Designer-in-Residence at Cranbrook Academy of Art, explores the potentials of digital customization as industry moves from mass production toward niche production. The exhibition of will include a new collection of furniture and lighting. Crossing Flatland: New Designs by Scott Klinker will run February 4 through April 2, 2006 at Cranbrook Art Museum. Klinker, in conjunction with his position at Cranbrook also founded the design office Scott Klinker Product Design, which focuses on developing product designs and patents for licensing in the area of contract furniture, household goods and toys. In 2004, Klinker's Spaceframe Builder’s Kit for Offi & Co. was chosen by Fortune magazine as one of the top 25 products of the year and it is currently a featured product in the Design Within Reach launch of the new JAX catalog devoted to products for children. Additionally, Klinker has both practiced and taught internationally, and his award-winning work represents a wide range of designs including electronic products, furniture and office environments.
RELATED PRESS RELEASE >>
New Furniture by Cranbrook Designer to be Introduced at International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York Collection Follows in the Tradition of Eames Bloomfield Hills, MI—The Truss Collection of furniture and lighting for the home designed by Scott Klinker--- Designer in Residence and Head of the Department of 3D Design at Cranbrook Academy of Art--- follows in the footsteps of Charles and Rays Eames. Klinker’s Truss Collection will be formerly introduced at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York in May. The collection is currently on view at Cranbrook Art Museum in a solo exhibition entitled Crossing Flatlands: New Designs by Scott Klinker. The exhibition is open to the public through April 2, 2006. Not unlike the Eames, who began their career together at Cranbrook, Klinker explores the use of new technologies to create forms for his Truss Collection of tables, benches and chairs. Using a digital laser cutter and computer-controlled milling machine, each piece represented in the collection is uniquely manufactured out of flat sheets of birch plywood. Resembling a building’s girding and support elements and finished with a rich palette of bright colored veneers, the collection will be manufactured and distributed by the Context Furniture Group of Royal Oak, Michigan. “The history of design at Cranbrook is one where many of the designers, from the time of Ray and Charles Eames to the present, have been interested in looking at new technologies and finding ways that this new technology can create new forms,” says Gregory Wittkopp the Director of Cranbrook Art Museum. Klinker, who is also a graduate of Cranbrook Academy of Art, was drawn to the Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan because of its rich tradition of design. Before joining the Academy in 2001 at Designer in Residence and Head of the Department of 3D Design he worked on assignments with Ericsson, IDEO, and the Kanazawa International Design Institute in Japan. He founded the Scott Klinker Product Design Office at Cranbrook and focuses on developing designs and patents for licensing in contract furniture, household goods and toys. His SpaceFrame Builders Kit for Offi products was chosen one of the 25 top new products for 2005 by Fortune magazine.
CREDITS >>
Crossing Flatland: New Designs by Scott Klinker was organized by Cranbrook Art Museum. Cranbrook Art Museum’s 2005-2006 Exhibition Season, including Crossing Flatland: New Designs by Scott Klinker, is generously sponsored by LaSalle Bank. The exhibitions also are presented with the support of the 2005-2006 Museum Committee of Cranbrook Art Museum including Adele Acheson, Maggie Allesee, John Berry, Jonathan Boos, Deborah Bragman, Keenie Fieger, Maxine Frankel, Ralph Graham, Stanley Grandon, John Henke, Jonathan Holtzman, Diane Kirkpatrick, David Klein, Til Klem, Wendy MacGaw, Diane VanderBeke Mager, James Nichols, Michael Poris, Cathy Rosenthal, Jane Schulak, Gilbert Silverman, Ronald Swanson, and Gary Wasserman. Additional support for Crossing Flatland: New Designs by Scott Klinker is provided by: Context Furniture Interface Carpets Offi & Co. Pure Design Yupo Corporation America Cranbrook Art Museum is a non-profit contemporary art museum, and an integral part of Cranbrook Academy of Art, a community of artists-in-residence and graduate-level students of art, design and architecture. Cranbrook Academy of Art and Cranbrook Art Museum are a part of Cranbrook Educational Community, which also includes Cranbrook’s Institute of Science, Schools and other affiliated cultural and educational programs. Cranbrook Art Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums. For information call toll free 1-877-GO-CRANBrook (1-877-462-7262). To become a member of ArtMembers@Cranbrook call 248-645-3032. Museum Hours Wednesday through Sunday, 11am – 5pm Fourth Fridays, 11am – 9pm Closed Mondays and Tuesdays and the following holidays during the exhibition: Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Day, New Year’s Eve and Day Cranbrook Art Museum Members: Free! Adults: $6 Full-Time Students with ID and Teens 13 and over: $4 Senior Citizens (65+): $4 Children 12 and under: Free! No credit cards accepted Personal checks welcomed U.S. currency only For more information, please call 1.877.GO.CRANBrook. (1.877.462.7262)