Nooka also appeared in three exhibitions. I also participated in a panel discussion hosted by a company.

One of the things I've always grumbled about NYC (short for New York City) is that there hasn't been a proper Design Week. But it looks like I won't be able to complain about that anymore!!

This is because the groups that exhibited at Milan Salone last month, from May 13th to 18th, participated in "INTERNI Offsite Design Week," which was held concurrently with "ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair)," and it was truly wonderful!

Of the more than 100 offsite exhibitions, I think I saw about half of them? In addition, Nooka participated in three exhibitions, and I also took part in a panel discussion hosted by a company called PSFK... It was a really busy weekend.

What were those three exhibitions?

CITE goes America
At CITE SHOWROOM, an exhibition titled "Welcome to the New American Home" was held, focusing on over 400 years of exchange between New York and the Netherlands.

To feature designs by New Yorkers and Americans, a 400-square-foot home was created under the direction of curators Alissia Melka-Teichroew and Jan Habraken (a Dutch designer based in NYC). Nooka's products were displayed here and there, making for a very good presentation. Here is an overview of the exhibition.


From the perspective of a single nation to a melting pot of cultures. Following last year's successful exhibition "400 Years Later, CITE Goes Dutch," CITE SHOWROOM presented its 2010 version at ICFF, "400 square feet later, CITE goes America," featuring new American design.

Curators Alissia Melka-Teichroew and Jan Habraken built a 400-square-foot skeletal house, and then filled the space by selecting contemporary works created by designers and companies based in America, regardless of age or fame. Their aim is to allow visitors to experience strong and interesting contemporary design through the contents that occupy the home, by creating the sense of a new American home.

This exhibition highlights designers and companies currently living and working in America, despite their different nationalities and backgrounds, projecting the fact that this dynamic, melting pot of culture is the unique and unparalleled face of America.

Sounds Like
We also participated in the exhibition "Sounds Like," a collaboration with Joey Roth, an independent designer based in Brooklyn who designed ceramic speakers.

I collaborated with Miho Hatori to create a soundtrack for my work, and I personally felt that a perfect and wonderful object was created! Old furniture, ceramic speakers, lighting, and Miho Hatori's wonderful sound flowing – it was like a time machine. I have to say, it was very well received among the eight exhibiting works.


Ceramic speakers first released by Joey Roth earlier this year. The ceramic body and natural birch wood stand appear as a blank canvas to many. Therefore, Joey gave a set of these speakers to nine selected artists and designers, and each customized them using their own visual techniques.

Furthermore, the collaborators worked with musicians to create music to match their reinterpreted speaker systems. During the exhibition, these songs continuously played from their corresponding speaker sets, allowing each collaborator's concept to be exhibited as both an object and a piece of music.

Uncomfortable Conversations
Design Glut is also a Brooklyn-based design team. In addition to creating conceptual accessories, the duo, active in the design community, organized the exhibition "Uncomfortable Conversations." Perhaps this was the most enjoyable!?

Using lower body mannequins, like sculptures, to express a woman spilling wine and an erect male form (laughs) was very interesting to viewers, literally creating "Uncomfortable Conversations," and it was declared a great success! Here is an overview of the exhibition.


We believe that the role of creativity is to initiate these "Uncomfortable Conversations" to encourage people's maturity.

Timothy Ferriss famously said that success in human life is measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations one is willing to have.

Inspired by the above quote, we challenged designers to create something that would provoke uncomfortable, yet important, conversations. The participating designers were given complete freedom regarding the type of objects they created, the materials they used, and the topics of conversation they aimed to provoke.

The result was a wonderfully diverse range of works: housewares, furniture, jewelry, fashion, graphics, and video. However, all the pieces exhibited here share one thing in common: the intention to make people uncomfortable. Now, it's time to judge how successful they are.