MADISON, WI--This spring’s Design MMoCA will present more projects by
more designers working in more design disciplines--and for a longer
period of time--than ever before. A signature event for the Madison
Museum of Contemporary Art, Design MMoCA celebrates the intersection
of art and design with an exhibition of projects by top area
designers. Each participant is challenged to develop an
out-of-the-box, no-holds-barred design inspired by a work from the
museum’s permanent collection.

This year’s Design MMoCA will add to the event’s established
repertoire, which in former years was limited to interior design and
architecture. The 2012 Design MMoCA will expand to include graphic
design, industrial design, and other related disciplines. The
resulting projects will be on view in the galleries and lobby of the
museum--itself designed by renowned architect Cesar Pelli--during
regular museum hours from Thursday, April 26, through Sunday, May 6,
2012. Admission to Design MMoCA 2012 is free.

The Design MMoCA Process

Whatever their medium, training, or focus, each participating designer
begins by selecting a work of art from the museum’s permanent
collection to use as inspiration for their design installation. The
museum’s collection of 5,000 works includes paintings, prints,
photographs, drawings, and three-dimensional works by nationally and
internationally acclaimed artists. Among the pieces chosen by this
year’s Design MMoCA participants are works by Christo and Jean Claude,
Jim Dine, Sol Lewitt, and Claes Oldenberg, among others.

Visitors to Design MMoCA will be able to view all of the chosen
artworks, as well as the projects they have inspired. Each work will
be either incorporated within the installation or hung adjacent to it.
Installations will include rooms, interactive media displays,
furniture pieces, and graphics projects.

Participants and Projects

Participants in Design MMoCA 2012 are:

Chapa Design
Matt Cook and Molly Wallner
Karina Cutler-Lake
Design Concepts
Erdman
Hiebing
Steven Driscoll Hixson
Heejin Hwang
InteriorLOGIC
Heath Matysek and Julie Vondervellen
Mark S.C. Nelson
Doug Pahl and Kate Pahl
Pitch Interactive
Pleasant Living
Sager Designs and UW-Madison Interior Design Students
Lauren Slattery
Philip Stankard
University of Wisconsin Design Studies Students

Initial project descriptions reflect a wide variety of concepts,
scale, and interests:


Rick Shaver and Lee Melahn of Pleasant Living will create a glamorous,
industrial-chic dining room inspired by Carl Corey’s 2008 photograph
titled 2090--At Random, Milwaukee.



Pitch Interactive, a data visualization firm, will design and build an
interactive artwork powered by a Kinect sensor. Inspired by the bold,
candy-colored stripes of Gene Davis’ 1969 screenprint Battle for
Grown-Ups, a screen of vertical stripes will change in color and
thickness based upon what the viewer is wearing and his or her
distance from the screen.



Sager Design, working in collaboration with UW-Madison Interior Design
students, will take inspiration from the primary color scheme and
basic geometrical forms of Pat Stier’s Abstraction, Belief, Desire
(1981) to create a cardboard disaster relief shelter. Students will
engage in the process of design thinking--a human-centered,
collaborative, optimistic approach to design--to create a shelter
intended to give its residents a sense of place during a time of
homelessness.


Gala Opening and Related Events

A gala preview from 6 to 9:30 pm on Wednesday, April 25, will support
the museum’s year-round free-admissions policy. In addition to
previewing the exhibition, guests will have the opportunity to mingle
with members of the design community and sample delectable hors
d’oeuvres from Fresco, the museum’s rooftop restaurant. The cost to
attend is $65 for museum members and $75 for non-members. Tickets may
be purchased beginning in early March; contact the museum at
608.257.0158 for further information.

Other special programming includes a free public meet-the-designer
session on Sunday, April 29, and a series of gallery talks focusing on
the installations. Additional information about Design MMoCA 2012,
including a detailed schedule of related talks and events, will be
available at mmoca.org.

Sponsors

Hiebing, the Madison-based integrated marketing and brand management
firm that created marketing campaigns for Design MMoCA in 2008 and
2010, will again sponsor the event by branding Design MMoCA 2012 on
the museum’s behalf. Hiebing’s earlier campaigns for Design MMoCA
earned national awards, including a first-place prize in the annual
design competition of the National Association of Museums. In response
to the expanded scope of Design MMoCA 2012, Hiebing has taken
inspiration for this year’s campaign from a work in the museum’s
permanent collection: Richard Bosman’s 1984 woodcut print titled The
Fall.

Generous support, to date, for Design MMoCA 2012 has also been
provided by The Century House; Ben and Katie Marcus; Iconi Interiors;
and Associated Housewrights; with media support provided by Madison
Magazine; and WISC-TV Channel3/Channel3000.com.

_______________________

Hours at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art are Tuesday–Thursday
(noon–5 pm); Friday (noon–8 pm); Saturday (10 am–8 pm); and Sunday
(noon–5 pm). The museum is closed on Mondays.

Admission to exhibitions at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art is
free of charge. MMoCA is supported through memberships and through
generous contributions and grants from individuals, corporations,
agencies, and foundations. Important support is also generated through
auxiliary group programs; special events; rental of the museum’s
lobby, lecture hall, and rooftop garden; and sales through the Museum
Store.

www.mmoca.org