Enter the Design Age

December 4, 2018–June 27, 2019
The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue

Enter the Design Age, an installation by the Paris-based creative studio H5, was a response to a challenge. The Wolfsonian asked H5 to make a statement about the richness of the museum’s collection on the façade of our building. H5 chose its favorite medium, typography, to issue a giant appeal for people to enter and discover what’s inside. The installation highlighted the richness of The Wolfsonian’s holdings—which date from 1850 to 1950, a century when design emerged as a profession and transformed the visual and material world—by embedding a timeline with information about key pieces in the lettering. Extending and animating Enter the Design Age was a pulsating black-and-white video screened at night on the north side of the building.

H5’s fusion of playfulness with cultural and political critique made the studio a natural partner for The Wolfsonian. Founded in 1996 by Ludovic Houplain, H5 is composed of art directors, graphic designers, illustrators, filmmakers, and producers who collaborate on music videos, branding campaigns, and independent artworks. H5’s Logorama was awarded an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2010.

Major support for Enter the Design Age was provided by Dr. David and Linda Frankel, and Oui Design, a joint program initiated by the French Embassy Cultural Services, FACE (French American Cultural Exchange) Foundation, Canal+ International, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.