One of the most difficult questions for any designer is “why do you work?” From Enzo Mari and design as social consciousness to design as a way of subverting cultural norms, every designer has sought to find their purpose and place in society through the design of three dimensional objects. These wider goals are also often reflected in the ‘process’ designers use, whether it is focused on materials, unorthodox production processes or speculation about the future. Marcin Rusak, a recent graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, is difficult to ‘square’ within any of these categories. Positioned between crafts and technology, natural and artificial worlds, his work tries to challenge the established norms of understanding the material world.
Specialising in storytelling, process and material investigation, Marcin’s work often incorporates research, object and installation as well as visual creations to explore overlooked details of our lives when recreated and reimagined are shown again in a different light. Unrestrained by a specific medium, and consistently inspired by the beauty and subtlety of the natural world Marcin embodies the philosophies of Art Nouveau in a contemporary context. Through research, craft, the utilization of cutting edge technology and a strong personal aesthetic he embraces a total approach to art in order to reevaluate objects and their significance to us while celebrating the organic outcome of natural materials and processes.
This year, Marcin Rusak was selected this year for Perrier-Jouët Arts Salon Prize, which is celebrated in an exhibition at Contemporary Applied Arts in London until August 1, as a way of supporting emerging talent in the field of contemporary craft.
