BUMMER

March 21–November 11, 2014
The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue

The Wolfsonian’s collection of art and design is an astonishing accumulation of human documents. Some are immediately exquisite, while others at first seem rather ordinary. And on occasion, these artifacts—from gorgeous paintings to domestic pleasantries—turn out to be a really big bummer. This was the concept behind BUMMER, an installation curated by Todd Oldham from the museum’s collection.

Factory scenes with a dreariness that glows. Frank Lloyd Wright prototype chairs that are elegant to the eye and simply torture to the sitter. And how easy to be put at ease by the coziness of totalitarian dinnerware! These modest objects find ornament obscuring danger; form concealing peril. With the revelation of each deceit, beauty becomes a BUMMER.

BUMMER was organized in conjunction with Power of Design 2014: Complaints, a multi-day, multidisciplinary ideas festival conceived, curated, and presented by The Wolfsonian in partnership with WLRN and The Miami Herald Media Company. The project was supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, an anonymous donor, Northern Trust, and Terra Group and its president and CEO, David Martin, with generous collaborative support from our partners: Intelligence Squared London; FIU School of Architecture; FIU School of Music; FIU Honors College; Centro Cultural Español; Miami Beach Cinematheque; and Fontainebleau Miami Beach.