Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art compliments the Queensland Art Gallery building and opened in 2006 to architectural acclaim, it really is quite a magnificent building as you can see from the exterior photo above. The Gallery of Modern Art exhibits art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and it's flagship project is the Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art. It is the only major series of exhibitions in the world to focus exclusively on the contemporary art of Asia, the Pacific and Australia and the 2012/13 Triennial will mark the 20th anniversary, being the seventh Asia Pacific Trieinnial the gallery has held. This has led to the establishment of The Australian Centre of Asia Pacific Art (ACAPA) which is the research base of the triennial and an invaluable resource for scholars and artists interested in studying Asian Pacific art.

The gallery has a vast collection of Australian, International and Asian works which are continually updated. They run a fantastic Children's Art Centre and Cinémathèque that shows the work of significant international, Asian, Pacific, Australian and Indigenous Australian artists. See their website for more details.  

(above) Zhu Weibing, Ji Wenyu | People holding flowers (installation detail) 2007 | The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art.

Merchants of Virtue is a new book out about us, by independent author and journalist Bill Birchard. He explained why he chose to tell Herman Miller's story over at the HM discover blog;

“The people of Herman Miller showed something even the activists could not: Sustainability in a large, established business—a company making the ’stuff’ we all buy—is sustainable. …In good times and bad, the people at Herman Miller continue to ask new questions, test new ideas, and rethink and restructure the nature of the work to make their business more sustainable.”

The book looks closely our company and examines our commitment to sustainability throughout our history and how we have managed to make it a driving principle. It tells the story of the personalities, designers, products and ideas that all come together to ensure sustainability triumphs. Here's a sample of what's being said about the book;

"Herman Miller has shown extraordinary leadership as a catalyst for industry. Its sustainability strategies for architecture, buildings, and furniture set a standard we feel honored to have helped shape and spread to others. This book tells the story of how Herman Miller charted an innovative path, and shows the temerity of its people to stay on that path." --William McDonough, designer and co-author of Cradle to Cradle

“Bill Birchard’s excellent chronicle of the Herman Miller story brings to light some critical lessons for any company focused on embedding sustainability in it’s core strategy:  Never give in to compromise solutions; seek to shatter apparent trade-offs; draw from the wellspring of enduring corporate values; and challenge people in the company to take personal responsibility.  Perhaps most importantly, Merchants of Virtue shows us that the pursuit of corporate sustainability is not easy.  Like anything worth pursuing, only the creative and committed will succeed.”  —Stuart L. Hart, S. C. Johnson Chair in Sustainable Global Enterprise, Cornell University and Author of Capitalism at the Crossroads

We're proud Birchard chose to tell our story and very proud of the story he tells. You can read the first few pages of the kindle version of Merchants of Virtue at Amazon.

March will be an exciting month for India as New Delhi hosts the country's very first international design event, the India Deign Forum. The nine day event will begin with Design Week, an instructive week of workshops, screenings and exhibitions around the city (March 2-8) and will culminate in a Design Forum, two intense days of design talks (March 9-10) with some big international names making the list ( a few speakers featured above). It's being described as Christian Louboutin meets Subodh Gupta meets Rem Koolhaas - all on home turf. It's great to see India taking the stage for the first time as the host of an international design event, it's sure to lead to good things. See the website for more details on speakers and events.

We had great fun searching through the Vintage Ad Browser website we recently discovered. With over 100,000 ads to choose from sorted into categories such as Beauty and Hygiene, Furniture and Cigarettes and Tobacco - there is something for everyone. We were pleased to find some vintage Herman Miller Ads in the mix, including the one above for a Herman Miller designed Vanity Wall from 1962 that begins with the heading "how to talk your wife out of a frou frou bedroom". We found some real crackers, such as this ad below circa 1970, for avocado green oak paneling (for women... finally!). What's more, many of them are for sale and also include their link to purchase them on ebay... happy browsing.

We enjoyed this article Don't Put Your Neck on The Line (by Oliver Marks, ZDnet, January 18, 2012) that highlights the fact that many people are reluctant to spend on ergonomic office furniture what they will willingly spend on a new Apple computer. He talks of the huge medical cost of postural injuries from sitting incorrectly at the computer and how he has been converted to the benefits of a good ergonomic work chair by purchasing the Herman Miller Embody chair. He goes on to say;

"The Embody chair (principally designed by Jeff Weber and the late Bill Stumpf) I’m sitting in as I write this is a bit of a revelation: it’s one thing to spend a bit of time in a decent chair at a clients, quite another to calibrate your own chair to your body and then get used to spending most of your working day in it. Like good user interface design the chair no longer gets in the way - it’s comfortably supportive but otherwise invisible."

As Mark's points out, this is because of the huge amount of thought and investment Herman Miller makes in working out exactly what creates the most comfortable working environment. The article argues that Herman Miller is "the Apple of office furniture", but points out a good office chair will outlive your new computer tenfold. It's an interesting comparison and one we're very pleased is being made as we at Herman Miller know that ergonomic furniture really is an investment in your health and wellbeing. Check out the Embody product story at our website if you'd like to learn more about a work chair that is good for you.

(above) Mann Singh with his 'phul' chair. Image courtesy of designboom

Mann Singh's Indian culture is thoroughly embedded in his designs. By using traditional Indian craft methods in his practice, his design pieces are an amalgamation of his contemporary design aesthetic, the physical properties of materials and the methods and experience of the craftspeople he works with. The Italian company Driade recognised Mann Singh's talent for "showing us a different world of non-globalized design" and commissioned a series of bowls as part of their collection. To create the bowls, Singh has used decoration as a structural element, which is a recurring theme in his work, to create "silvered baskets like interwoven branches, bowls made of stiffened leaves to be raised in the palms of one’s hands in sacred gestures and tree-like candleholders" (ref:driade). Mann Singh recently shared with us some thoughts on design from his studio in India. Enjoy our interview below.

(above) Chitai bowl for Driade

What is it that you enjoy most about design?
What I enjoy most about design is the experimentation and the learning. Most of my work is based on making trials and working with material. Material and the processes of working with them are really fascinating. In that sense one works from within taking into account the characteristics of the material one is involved with and the logic of the process. In experimentation one finds certain notions to push forward. Also exciting are the ups and downs of the design process i.e the elation of solving the difficulties one encounters when developing something new. One has to find a way, hence the ups and downs of elation and dejection. When one finally achieves the result which feels right, its the best feeling in the world. To design only on paper and have someone else figure out the making would be just too boring. It's great fun to learn from the people I work with and it's fun when there are joint discoveries.

(above) Kachnar I bowl for Driade

A lot of your pieces reference traditional Indian decorative elements and techniques. How has India’s culture of decoration and craftsmanship become embedded in your work?
More than referencing traditional Indian design elements I think my work is more about using traditional craft methods. I think the process of working with craftspeople influences the final outcome of the products. My work is not about the imposition of my will but of assimilation of practices, so its complex considering its very difficult to pin down tradition. Its a slippery slope. The products are the children of the successes and failures one encounters along the way. The final outcomes are not entirely predetermined. I am very interested in the idea of developing products based on praxis. It's only by studying what we do and how we do them can we develop products which are appropriate. It also keeps the designs contextual and in some cases can influence how we do things. Take the practice of drinking water. Many people drink out of a glass and many people prefer not to let the vessel touch their lips. So practices and experiences- or rather the creation of an experience guide the development of products. As regards decoration, I regard it as a natural human tendency and not something specifically Indian. What I try and do is use decoration as a structural element. In my chair for instance the leaves form the seat and back of the chair and are not applied to another surface. Without the decoration there would be no chair. The influences and references are myriad.

(above) Kachnar II bowl for Driade

Can you tell us a little about the contemporary design scene in India?
The contemporary design scene in India is still at a nascent stage and the trajectories which individual designers are following are quite different from each other. There is not enough discussion happening about the practice and industry still largely thinks of design as something used to "sex things up". There are a few individuals doing some exceptional work and I do not consider myself amongst them. Design is one of the most abused terms being bandied about. India has a huge population and faces a lot of challenges as does the world with the environment and the wellbeing of the people. But for any success to be achieved effective models of design practice have to be developed. The models seen in the developed world aren't going to work and we need to wise up.

(above) Kachnar III bowl for Driade

What inspires you?
Seeing people do things that I'm afraid of is really inspiring.

Who has influenced you?
I was very heavily influenced by my teachers MP Ranjan, Gajanan Upadhayaya and Aditi Ranjan and peers and at some point I revolted. I think the doing of the work creates its own influences. One is very often influenced by the work one has done and by extension the people one has worked with. The small influences all add up. There are a lot of designers whose work I really admire but since I never met them I don't know if they influenced me. When we were studying my entire class of 4 students was in thrall of one of our own classmates Longri Temjen Namo.

(above) Muqarna bowl for Driade

What have been your most rewarding achievements?
My work developing bamboo furniture as a student has been my most rewarding experience. That particular project is when it all came together for me.

(above) Shamadan for Driade

What’s next?
That's whats most exciting. I don't really know whats next. Good opportunities show up unexpected and the surprise is super good. I look forward to whats next.

(above) 'Phul' chair and detail. Image courtesy of designboom

How do you want your work to be remembered?
I have never thought about it. I don't know about work but I definitely want to be remembered in a happy way.

Mann Made is Singh's blog, where is you learn more about his work and design process.
You can also see coverage of his work as exhibited at the 2010 Asia Now exhibition courtesy of designboom.

Posted by Lauren Evans

Herman Miller has a long association with museums and galleries. Some of you may not know that in 1988 we established the Herman Miller Consortium to share our historical furniture collection with a wider audience. This consortium collection is now held between 13 museums across the United States of America and comprises of over 750 pieces of furniture and a range of product documentation (such as the brochure above, from 1960). The good news for those of us outside of the States is that you can also browse through the collection and records online via The Herman Miller consortium online database. We thought it might be interesting to explore some museums that hold the consortium collction in the coming months as well as have a closer look at some of the ourstanding museums and galleries from around the Asia Pacific region. We hope you'll join us on our travels... stay tuned! 

Posted by Lauren Evans

A snapshot of a Herman Miller showroom in San Francisco circa 1967. Check out that fabulous cabinetry!