Everyday or Not at All

April 7 – August 28, 2022

Featuring work by three design studios located in Mexico—APRDELESP, Fabien Cappello, and Andrés Souto—the exhibition explores new approaches to design driven by the everyday, from concept to fabrication.

Philosopher Henri Lefebvre argued that to overcome the alienation of contemporary life “Man must be everyday, or he will not be at all.” Only by embracing the trivial, mundane, and familiar, by fully inhabiting the world as it is, can the world be changed. This insistence on the potential of the ordinary clashes with a routine understanding of design as driven by novelty, progress, and individual vision. Everyday or Not at All presents works outlining methods for a design driven by the everyday from three studios in Mexico: APRDELESP, Fabien Cappello, and Andrés Souto. Throughout their processes—from concept, to design and fabrication—these designers challenge prevailing systems of design and raise questions of equity, access, and use of designed objects.

The assembled projects reflect novel practices of design research—ethnographic, virtual, collaborative, and experimental—that do not simply reference the everyday as an ideal but also offer avenues for responding to the empirical complexities of the world as it stands. As part of this exhibition, the designers worked in dialogue with ArtCenter students, fabricators, and makers in Los Angeles to deploy and adapt their design approach to address our region’s distinct resources and concerns.

Everyday or Not at All is curated by Robert J. Kett, professor in the Humanities and Sciences department at ArtCenter College of Design. The exhibition is made possible in part through an anonymous gift.

Todos los días o ninguno

Del 7 de abril al 28 de agosto de 2022

Con trabajos de tres estudios de diseño ubicados en México - APRDELESP, Fabien Cappello y Andrés Souto - la exhibición explora nuevos enfoques del diseño impulsados por lo cotidiano, desde el concepto hasta la fabricación.

El filósofo Henri Lefebvre argumentó que para superar la alienación de la vida contemporánea “el hombre debe ser cotidiano o no lo será en lo absoluto”. Solo aceptando lo trivial, mundano y familiar, habitando plenamente el mundo tal y como es, se puede cambiar el mundo. Esta insistencia en el potencial de lo ordinario choca con una comprensión rutinaria del diseño impulsado por la novedad, el progreso y la visión individual. Everyday or Not at All presenta trabajos delineando métodos para un diseño impulsado por lo cotidiano desde tres estudios en México: APRDELESP, Fabien Cappello, y Andrés Souto. A lo largo de sus procesos—desde el concepto hasta el diseño y la fabricación—estos diseñadores desafían los sistemas de diseño imperantes y plantean cuestiones de equidad, acceso y uso de los objetos diseñados.

Los proyectos reunidos reflejan prácticas novedosas de investigación en diseño—etnográficas, virtuales, colaborativas y experimentales—que no se limitan a referirse a lo cotidiano como un ideal, sino que también ofrecen vías para responder a las complejidades empíricas del mundo actual. Como parte de esta exposición, el ArtCenter invitó a los diseñadores a trabajar en diálogo con los estudiantes del ArtCenter, los fabricantes y los creadores de Los Ángeles para desplegar y adaptar su enfoque de diseño para abordar los distintos recursos y preocupaciones de nuestra región.

Everyday or Not at All está curada por Robert J. Kett, profesor del Departamento de Humanidades y Ciencias del ArtCenter College of Design. La exposición es posible en parte gracias a un regalo anónimo.

Thursday, August 11th, 5 pm

Designer Fabien Cappello is fascinated by ordinary means of making, exchanging, and using everyday objects. This online event will reflect on his research and work within the design economies of Guadalajara, Mexico.

Thursday, July 28th, 5 pm

For the exhibition Everyday or Not at All, Mexico City architecture collective APRDELESP created Notes on Ease, a reflection on the “easiness” of design methods that embrace ubiquitous resources and tools. In this online event, the group will share and discuss an extended version of the film.

July 23th, 3 pm

Join Humanities and Sciences professor Robert Kett for a tour of Everyday or Not at All, an exhibition of work by three design offices in Mexico exploring the possibilities for a vision of the field centered in the ordinary.

Friday, April 8, 2022, at 12pm (PST)

Mexico-based architect and artist Andrés Souto shares his research across built and digital landscapes in Mexico.

Join us for an online conversation with architect and artist Andrés Souto as he shares his research across built and digital landscapes in Mexico. Taking an ethnographic view of the galleries of SketchUp artists and contractor groups on Facebook, he considers how ubiquitous digital tools, rather than advancing the homogenization of design, serve as resources for debating, preserving, and disseminating popular approaches to common space.