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AN EXPLORATION OF THE X-FACTOR OF DESIGN IN A NEW EXHIBITION AT SVEN-HARRYS KONSTMUSEUM

MASSPRODUCTIONS - SCULPTURES FROM THE FACTORY

Sven-Harrys konstmuseum launches 2023 by asking the question: “Where does the art start?” The museum has invited designers Magnus Elebäck and Chris Martin, founders of the internationally renowned Stockholm-based furniture company Massproductions to explore the link between industry and art while honing in on that mysterious “X-factor” – the element that makes good design great.

Sven-Harrys konstmuseum launches 2023 by asking the question: “Where does the art start?” The museum has invited designers Magnus Elebäck and Chris Martin, founders of the internationally renowned Stockholm-based furniture company Massproductions to explore the link between industry and art while honing in on that mysterious “X-factor” – the element that makes good design great.

8 FEBRUARY - 19 MARCH.
SVEN-HARRYS KONSTMUSEUM

The exhibition asks questions in a series of playful, artistic and informative installations. What is that immeasurable special ingredient that distinguishes certain products? Is it pure magic, logical thinking, or a combination of both? With seven works based on seven different designs and 13 different industrial processes, Chris Martin and Magnus Elebäck take a deep dive into the complexity of manufacturing the products we take for granted in our daily lives.

Massproductions – Sculptures from the Factory opens 8 February in conjunction with Stockholm Design Week 2023, and will be shown through 19 March at Sven-Harry’s Art Museum in Stockholm.

"This exhibition picks up where our craft exhibition left off. In it, we showed the people behind the works, work processes that are sometimes told, sometimes shown. Now we’re going from showing the physical craftsmanship, where production is literally in your hands, and taking the step further with this exhibition to show design objects and the industrial manufacturing process – in a poetic and modern interpretation. It will be so much fun to welcome visitors to a playful and artistic design exhibition."

- Dragana Kusoffsky Maksimović
CEO of Sven-Harrys

"What happens when industrial manufacturing tools and processes move from the factory floor to an art gallery? Tools and processes that were originally intended to give life to beautiful objects, but that are never actually front and centre themselves. Suddenly, brutal and utilitarian items are transformed into beautiful sculptures and installations."

- Chris Martin,
Designer in Chief

"The whole reason we started Massproductions was from our obsession with what the ultimate conditions for fantastic design are, and the answer is to find the balance between art and industry. When Sven-Harrys konstmuseum asked us for a show, it was natural to create one on this subject."

- Magnus Elebäck
CEO

Sven-Harrys konstmuseum will be presenting its third design exhibition in a row in 2023.

Book 4PM Self-Build Workshop here

Visit Sven-Harrys Here

Special presentation with Magnus Elebäck and Chris Martin of Massproductions

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Overseas Blue at Fondation Maeght

OVERSEAS BLUE AT FONDATION MAEGHT

BLUE SHADES OF CÔTE D'AZUR Le Corbusier's architectural colour scheme, the French Riviera and the La Fondation Maeght art museum were the inspiration when Massproductions set out to develop a new colour for their Tio collection. The outdoor collection is now launched in the colour Overseas Blue. March 24 - 2022 Le Corbusier is considered one of the most important architects of the 20th century. Colour and its effect on architecture is said to have been as important to him as the room and its layout. In 1930, Le Corbusier created a colour system called "Claviers de couleurs" consisting of 43 colours in twelve scales. The Tio Collection's new colour Overseas Blue is taken from this scale, which is well suited for a company based on modernist ideals. The collection was photographed by Martin Runeborg at the La Fondation Meaght outside Saint Paul De Vence, where it takes its place in the Sculpture Garden and the Miró Labyrinth. Fondation Maeght Some of the biggest names in 20th-century European sculpture, including Georges Braque, Joan Miró and Alberto Giacometti, came together to help create La Fondation Maeght, which has become France’s most important art foundation and is among the world’s leading cultural institutions. La Fondation was established by Aimé and Marguerite Maeght, a visionary couple who were publishers and art dealers, and who represented and were friends with some of the most important artists of the era, including Braque, Miró and Giacometti, as well as Alexander Calder, Fernand Léger, Marc Chagall, and many others. "The Tio Chair is the contemporary design classic that started Massproductions journey." Le Corbusier's architectural colour scheme, the French Riviera and the La Fondation Maeght art museum were the inspiration when Massproductions set out to develop a new colour for their Tio collection. The outdoor collection is now launched in the colour Overseas Blue. "Outdoor environment differ from indoor environment in so many ways. Of course, high demands are placed on the material to be able to withstand the influence of the elements. But you also have other types of spaces to relate to, ranging from a park to an outdoor terrace or balcony. Overseas Blue is a nice addition to our range, it is a lively but balanced blue shade, which fits just as well into nature as in an urban environment. " - Magnus Elebäck,CEO and co-founder ABOUT TIO During the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2009, Chris Martin and Magnus Elebäck launched both Massproductions as a brand and their first product: Tio Chair. Tio quickly gained recognition in the industry and in Massproductions first year of operation it won the Swedish Association of Architects’ Golden Chair design award.

4PM Self-Build by Hank Grüner

4PM SELF-BUILD BY HANK GRÜNER

4PM Self BUILD BY HANK GRÜNER While fantasy is natural to a child, Hank Grüner had, perhaps more than his fair share. “Mine was so overloaded I had five psychologists hanging around,” remembers the Swedish artist. Born in Brazil, Grüner was adopted by a Swedish family and moved to a small town outside of Gothenburg at six months old, where he developed a rich alternative universe with his childhood toys. February 7 - 2022 Words by Mairi Beautyman The 1996 movie “Space Jam,” in which basketball player Michael Jordan travels to the animated Looney Tunes’ universe, was lifechanging for the teenage Grüner, who now canonizes his rich imagination into ceramics and large-scale paintings. “Eventually I learned drawing could help me with all of the things that I had in my head,” he notes. Here he shares the journey behind his customization of the 4PM Self Build chaise, and its mystical world including a squid, a devil, and characters taken from popular animations. How did this reoccurring love affair with toys of the 1990s develop in your work? The dreams that you have enable you to chase something. I chase to understand myself as a younger person. I take all of my imagination from what I loved as a child and still love to this day. I still have all of my childhood toys on a shelf in my studio, like Sailor Moon [a schoolgirl superhero from the Japanese anime series]; Street Sharks [characters that are half-man, half-shark]; Power Rangers [a team of superheroes], Transformers [giant robots that change into cars and other objects]; and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [turtles with superpowers that fight evil]. I also buy a lot of old toys from online sites. There are particular colors and shapes – such as the Transformer form – that I involve. Could you describe a few of the drawings you made?Right as I began working on the chaise, I picked up two new Street Sharks figures. That meant I really wanted to draw them. On one of the biggest spaces on the chaise, the wood plate where you lay your feet, I drew a 10-centimeter-long, five-centimeter-wide Street Shark. There’s also another cartoon character, Casper the Friendly Ghost, as well as a skeleton dressed as the Grim Reaper, a dragon, a squid, and a devil riding a motorcycle in the desert with lightning coming down. ...A devil riding a motorcycle? Say I start drawing a devil and then I add a motorcycle and then I think about a narrative to place yourself in...maybe the devil is going somewhere. Often they are ideas about what I want myself to be able to do, from flying to being a squid or big green fire-breathing dragon or riding a motorcycle... While fantasy is natural to a child, Hank Grüner had, perhaps more than his fair share. “Mine was so overloaded I had five psychologists hanging around,” remembers the Swedish artist. Born in Brazil, Grüner was adopted by a Swedish family and moved to a small town outside of Gothenburg at six months old, where he developed a rich alternative universe with his childhood toys. "Eventually I learned drawing could help me with all of the things that I had in my head” Your 4PM Self Build is like a big collage. I filled every spot on the three large front panels. There are a lot of clippings, drawings, and tags made from mixing old English or Germanic letters with current letters – although there are no words. Using acrylic, markers, pen, and paper, I left what you might call the skeleton of the chaise clean as the wood is so nice. A lot of stuff has been torn off in order to take on something new. What remains is worn out and layered. "I started thinking about furniture accessible to everyone. The laminated wood used for the 4PM Self Build is very similar to that of the basketball court benches I remember from my childhood. These wooden benches were covered with tags and burn marks, and people were always drawing, for example, the name of a girlfriend. Somehow writing on the benches made them accessible to everyone, made them feel like it was their court. The court also had places where concert posters were repeatedly put up – after someone tried to rip off all of the concerts that had been, creating big clusters of papers. When I was making the chaise, I could see in my head all of these layers of concert posters. Your collage effect is really unique. How did you create that? Out one night, I met a girl who had been collecting National Geographic magazines for 20 years. She gave me a bunch, and now a big shelf in my studio is stacked with around 100 different ones. I rip out colorful pieces and then use brushes to apply acetone. Say it’s a butterfly – the color bleeds out and it gets more abstract. For the 4PM Self Build chaise, I chose a lot of photographs of coral with fish and underwater flowers. After drawing the squid, I pasted fish and underwater flowers around it in order to make a world mixed together. What impression do you hope to give with your 4PM Self Build chaise? "Really, it’s a big toy. I hope people might think, looking at the one I made, ‘I can do tags, I can draw, I can make another collage...hey, I could also do that in my own style." Hank Grüner on instagram

Buffer Storm Edition

BUFFER STORM EDITION

BUFFER BOOKEND - PINK EDITION X STORM Massproductions presents its latest product in The Little Things collection – Buffer, a bookend made of powder-coated steel. Massproductions presents its latest product in The Little Things collection – Buffer, a bookend made of powder-coated steel. Bookends aren't just for holding books, they are like mini pieces of art with a history. They've been around since ancient times, made from all sorts of materials like stone, metal, and wood. When Massproductions' founder and design chief, Chris Martin, designed the Buffer bookend, he drew inspiration from the railway's "buffer stop," a device that halts trains at the end of the track. During the design process, Chris explored various materials before settling on powder-coated steel. "A stop sign. A parchment coloured ghost. A pretentious intellectual green. An unpredictable group of colours, that funny enough, enjoy each others company." - Magnus Elebäck   BUFFER Designed by Chris Martin, 2023 Material: 20% recycled steel from Finland Measurement: 98mm x 120mm x 172mm Finishes: Warm red, Ivory, Blue Green "The idea of referencing a railway buffer for the design was a good starting point but I explored quite a few materials and shapes before I came to a pleasing solution, in the end 8mm steel plates gave the best weight, function and expression” - Chris Martin The bookend consists of three laser-cut steel plates made from 20% recycled steel from Finland. With a weight of over 1.7 kg and non-slip feet, the bookend stands firmly in the bookshelf. Buffer is available in Massproductions Red, Ivory and BlueGreen and adds a pop of colour to the end of any row of books. In the end, whether your bookends are classic and refined or quirky and fun they all share one thing in common: they bring a charm to your bookshelf! Signal Yellow is sold exclusively through SCP in London.

ORDER OF THE MASS – THE ASTRO CHAIR LAUNCH AT STOCKHOLM DESIGN WEEK 2025

ORDER OF THE MASS – THE ASTRO CHAIR LAUNCH AT STOCKHOLM DESIGN WEEK 2025

ORDER OF THE MASS – THE ASTRO CHAIR LAUNCH AT STOCKHOLM DESIGN WEEK 2025 Massproductions presented its new Club Chair Astro at Soho House during Design Week 2025, together with the party Order of the Mass to mark the occasion. Massproductions presented its new Club Chair Astro at Soho House during Design Week 2025, together with the party Order of the Mass to mark the occasion. "The starting point was imagining how a contemporary club chair could be. I like the idea of a generous, enveloping chair, but I wanted to make one with a lighter look and feel. Replacing large volumes of fabric and foam with an elegant tube frame seemd to be the answer to me. " - Chris MartinDesigner-in-Chief   The chair is set to launch later this year, 2025.   Thank you for coming! A special thanks to Soho House and Porsche.   The new Club Chair is inspired by planetary orbits. Its unique steel tube rings create an outer frame that holds the seat and back, reducing the amount of foam used while still offering maximum comfort for a more enjoyable sitting experience.   "What better place to launch a club chair than in a club? And what better club to join than Soho House." - Magnus ElebäckCEO of Massproductions