STUDIO JOB BLOW - PEACE / SELETTI

Where is the line between art and design? The Dutch company Studio Job doesn’t seem to give any thought to the problem, probably because the problem simply doesn't exist. In a period that someone once defined as neo-baroque – in which the boundaries between expressive categories are so flexible and dilated that they do not exist and genres invade each other prolifically to spite reactionaries – merging styles and genres is almost an obligation. But above all, it represents an extraordinary possibility to expand expressive potential and the aesthetic aspects of a design. And so, once the passage was opened, we saw an influx of sculptural objects, golden surfaces, historical references, pop revolutions, animals, everyday objects with new-found power, hamburger armchairs, and so on. The work of Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel is brimming with baroque influences, from collaborations with more refined brands such as Bulgari and Bisazza, to concert sets for Mika, as well as exuberant pieces for Seletti, which rightly ended up in the MoMa in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and another forty or so museums around the world.