As a part of Prague’s annual design show, Designblok 2012, the Czech creative firm Okolo unveils its new exhibition, “The Mirror,” based around the relationship between design and mirrors. Opening today, 1 October and curated by one of Okolo’s founders, Cool Hunting contributor Adam Štěch and Klára Šumová, the exhibition features works by more than 30 artists and design studios. The diverse interpretation aims to show the versatility of the mirror in both a practical and symbolic sense.
The presentation showcases the ways in which mirrors have evolved into a motif in contemporary art and design, with works ranging from the decisively functional to the conceptual. While pieces like Michael Bačák’s illustration, “Mirrored Landscape” and Leeda and Dušan Tománek’s photograph, “Like a virgin, hey” take a more symbolic approach, exploring the mirror as a medium of reflection and self-discovery, other pieces like “The Robinson Mirror” by Simon Donald simply strive to improve the mirror’s everyday practicality.
Themes of reflection and refraction populate the exhibition, but no two artists envisioned the mirror and its purposes quite the same. The literal hall of mirrors exposes how pervasive the mirror has become as a fixture of contemporary design. With each piece and artist adding another layer of meaning, the result is a thoughtful reflection on the mirror and our connection to it. “The Mirror” runs for the duration of Designblok 2012 through 7 October.