Elliat Rich is a women Austrian designer based in Alice Springs. She devotes to increase equality between people bymaking exhibition design, public art and furniture, product developmentin a studio called Elbow Workshop that founded by her and her partner in 2014, (Elbow workshop, 2018)I was impressed and touched when seeing some of her works in the Melbourne Design Week Designing WomenExhibition, which in my impression they were surprisingly eye-catching without their functions disappeared. I could see designer’s fearlessness and creativity, especially from her work Weaver (2018)from the Other placeseries. In this case study, I realized that there is a tendency unavoidably to see designing women are far less prominent than mendue to a narrow lens of modernism, which has resulted in the marginalisation of women’s careers and work, with their works being obscured from the historical record. (LeAmon,2018)However, women whohave boldly challenged this gender prejudice at this time make their own works stand out and precious since they allow us to see the ongoing role of female designers as a dynamic and critical force in shaping a contemporary society with more diverse creativity. (LeAmon,2018)
Elliat’s “Weaver”, looks like a huge wig, which in fact is an amazing dangling cupboard, (The Design Files, 2018),a cabinet of curiosity and a sculpture in equal measure.(Carolan,2018)According to Carolan, Weaver is a 1000 * 300 * 300 mm cylindrical shelf suspended from the ceiling. It’s very long at the first sight. With it sheathed in a curtain of turquoise synthetic fibre – the kind which is used in wigs, this novel work looks incredibly interesting. Inside, four aluminiumshelves are coated in pearlescent chameleon paint that glitters, becoming iridescent as the light falls on it. Carolan stated that “The invitational tactility of its shape, the unexpected weight of the curtain of hair and the verisimilitude of the synthetic material is near irresistible.” (Carolan,2018)On one hand, this work is quite playful both in form and in the sensuality of the materials, and also the blue- green colour, which covers the most of its body, showing the designer’s ability to experiment, and the sense of freedom that comes from the place in which she works. On the other hand,its magnetic qualities are amplified by the practical utility of the piece and its alien allure is heightened by the familiarity of the gesture that inspired it – the hair of curtain begging to be pulled back and affixed behind a metallic “ear”. (Carolan,2018)
I was fascinated by the futurist idea of the human-like element – a woman head shape with a blue wig, is surprisingly integrated into a furniture concept. The designer didn’t create any amazingly new forms but just played around with something that we are familiar with, which at the end came out with a visual surprise. It seems not just the designer showing off how her work is aesthetically pleasing but its novel elements are also practically functional. It’s funny to see when a user tries to open the curtain but it is just like someone brushing away her bang and tucking hair behind her ears. It seems the designer was giving her design a human personality while providing users a sense of optimism and excitementand crafting a new vision of future furniture.(Barr, 2018)
By the vivid capsule form of Weaver, Richtries to lead us to consider the possibilities of a brighter, more hopeful future by the aid of design, and to look at the people, places and events that matter to us most. Rich stated that “I really feel as designers that we have this amazing opportunity to inspire visions of the future. At the moment there’s this dark, dystopic idea that the future is dark and that technology is going to kill us. There are very few beautiful visions of the future that give us hope and instructions or a clear vision of where we can go.”(Carolan,2018)With her many interesting projects on the horizon, Rich are always positive about the future and insists on spreading her spirit. (Barr, 2018)She is also working on an extraordinary project of designing and manufacturing a new product in Alice Springs. (Barr, 2018) She seems consistently grateful for all the opportunities and freedom her unique location – a city with central desert landscape, that have offered her, which maybe the basis of her optimism. Rich sees it as her responsibility to find the positive meaning in what her do and believes that as a designer, she can make a valuable contribution to her community, as well to live as close as possible to her own ethical belief systems. (Barr, 2018)
The Weaver has less chance to be achieved by a man designer because this unique way of using the design as a way of combining figure and furniture, and as a means of navigating toward the future more based on the feminine traits of gentleness and sensitivity. Cooperate with machinery and technology, contemporary design is being questioned, challenged and transformed by both male and female designers. Rich believed that anyone who is working in a creative field has the innate potential to make startling propositions that can in turn lead to collective consensus and a new fascinating view of modern design industry.
Simone LeAmon. (2018). Designing Women. Retrieved from https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/designing-women/
Elbow Whop. (2018). About Eillat. Retrieved from http://www.elliatrich.com/elliat-home
The Design File. (2018). Designwork 02 At Sophie Gannon Gallery. Retrieved from https://thedesignfiles.net/2018/03/designwork-02-at-sophie-gannon-gallery/
Nicholas Carolan. (2018). From the Red Centre to the Heart, Design That’s Going Places. Retrieved from https://grazia.com.au/articles/elliat-rich-interview/
Philippa Nicole Barr. (2018). Australia. A profile of Elliat Rich. Retrieved from https://www.domusweb.it/en/design/2018/08/10/australia-a-profile-of-elliat-rich.html
Design Ideas 
I really like this piece that has been written about Elliat Rich. Upon reading this I had never heard of Elliat Rich but after reading it I feel like i have learnt a lot about her. The art of weave is one that often isn’t noticed and recognised as much as other art forms, however personally I really appreciate it. One thing that I really like about the artwork ‘weaver’ is how the weave is so well done that out almost look fluid. The idea that the woman form in a wig is created is really impressive, on initial glance I thought that it was just a weave, however once pointed out the idea that it was a wig with the ‘hair’ tucked behind the ear became more and more clear. I feel as if every aspect of the art has been has been carefully thought through and that the piece has an amazing amount of attention to detail. The colour of the shelf and that it reflects a pearlescent colour looks really good. I really like how the piece has been done by an Australian female and this piece definability deserves more recognition, If the sculpture was done by a man it would defiantly not have the same impact, with the flow of the weave and how the weave falls on the ‘ears’ of the sculpture it really captures the woman like essence of the piece. Overall I really like the piece of art and I feel like the written piece that goes along with it was well done, I feel as if I have a better understanding of the weave art form and also have learnt about about an amazing woman in design.
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