Double Dutch – Appetites and Emotions

An unusual and highly sensual contribution to the 2008 London Design Festival came from the Flower Council of Holland.

Double Dutch is an installation of floral design which draws on the talents of two highly innovative design partnerships with strong links to the Netherlands.  This ‘guerrilla installation’, curated by Jane Withers, was created especially for the London Design Festival and can be seen for the rest of this week (15th – 19th September) at 29 Thurloe Place, South Kensington.

Double Dutch

Shows how effective flowers can be to bring an emotional edge to interior design.  The show merges decoration with desire in a botanical banquet which tempts the eye and captivates the mind.  Flowers have an almost visceral effect on humans.  Whilst the colours and images of flowers have been used for centuries in designs which please and decorate, there is also a provocative side to blooms and to the tantalising shapes, colours and textures of petals and leaves.  In form, colour, texture and print, floral images have wound their way into fashion and design season after season, combining nature and culture in a visual and sensory feast.  However, there are also secret meanings in flowers.  When arranged in a certain way they become symbolic of emotion or of mysterious, hidden intent. Design partnerships Lisa White & Graham Hollick and Niels van Eijk & Miriam van der Lubbe have woven together these conflicting elements to create an inspiring and intriguing installation in two parts: Appetites and Emotions.

Appetites

A floral feast, created by Lisa White with Graham Hollick - offers a tempting tableau, a groaning board of seductive blooms, beckoning orchids, blushing roses, luscious carnations and voracious carnivorous plants.  The visual ‘orgy’ incorporates contemporary and vintage design elements to create a hybrid of nature and culture.

Lisa White & Graham Hollick	Bouquets of Emotions: Jealousy by Niels van Eijk and Miriam van der Lubbe

Bouquets of Emotions

Displays five different bouquets created by Dutch designers Niels van Eijk and Miriam van der Lubbe representing different emotions: sympathy, love, happiness, anger, and jealousy.  With the creation of ‘Bouquets of Emotions’ – flowers were used to evoke the passion and power of these emotions through expressive, abstract and striking floral art.  For example, Anger is conveyed through snipped rose stems and withered branches.  Happiness, by contrast, uses distinct, brightly coloured flowers to create a field of colour.  The designers use contrast and texture, hot and cool colours, soft or spiky, angular or curling plants and flowers to convey emotional intensity.

Flowers may be ephemeral but the impact of this show will be intensely memorable.  Flowers will be donated to local Hospitals on the last day of the show.

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