NEW YORK.- For over a decade, the Droog Design collective has set forth innovative and inspired designs for everyday objects using low-cost, industrial, or recycled materials. Comprising more than 160 iconic designs, simply droog, 10 + 3 years of creating innovation and discussion reveals the playfulness, significance, humor, and social meaning imbued in the work of this international design platform.

The exhibition, which has toured throughout Europe and South America since its Munich premiere in 2004, makes its sole North American presentation at the Museum of Arts & Design through January 14, 2007. This presentation will feature products and prototypes created by Droog from its founding in 1993 through 2005, with a significant number of new designs seen in the United States for the first time.

“Our Museum explores the materials and creative processes of contemporary artists, and Droog celebrates this intersection from a unique design perspective,” said Holly Hotchner, director, Museum of Arts & Design.

“Droog considers process as both a physical and conceptual action, and embraces those materials that we as a society often overlook or discard. simply droog is a testament to how the everyday can be rearranged into a finished, enlightened form.”

Droog Design was established in the Netherlands in 1993 by designer Gijs Bakker and art historian Renny Ramakers as a platform for contemporary Dutch design. Under the guidance of Bakker and Ramakers, Droog soon expanded its scope to embrace the work of an international network of contemporary designers. The Dutch word for “dry,” as in “dry wit,” and unadorned or simple, droog refers both to the wry sense of humor that characterizes the designs and to the practicality and simplicity of their objects. In order to be considered a Droog Design, the object must embody an original idea, a clear concept, and a practical and simple end product. In addition, Droog objects often offer both political and social commentary, both in the designs themselves and the processes through which they are created.

“Droog is not a style; it is a mentality and an approach to the creative process. If a design engages and examines existing materials with the goal of creating a practical, simple object—and if the creative concept is both revelatory and inspirational—we can then call that object ‘Droog,’” said Ramakers, director of Droog Design. “A Droog object may be witty or politically subversive or neither, and yet the process of creating a Droog design never ceases to offer sharp commentary on how humans interact with each other and our environment.”

The Exhibition
Organized by Droog with exhibition design by Studio Jurgen Bey, simply droog reflects the collective’s design philosophy and belief in reuse and recycling. A section dedicated to the history of Droog’s projects and commissions will include photographs, videos, drawings, models, prototypes, and finished products, all of which are mounted and displayed on the crates in which they were shipped.

The rest of the exhibition will integrate the designs thematically into eight different interior settings. Grey tape and black rubber silhouettes on the gallery floor replicate Dutch floor plans, including a summer house and a student residence, throughout which Droog furniture and objects are arranged and coupled with fictional inhabitants.