FIX: Care and Repair
Design Museum, Helsinki
April 06, 2024 – January 05, 2025

Objects and buildings are constantly changing. They age, get dirty, and break. Maintaining and repairing things are active practices that reflect our prevailing values. What objects and things do we invest time and money in caring for? What is left outside the scope of care? The exhibition features selected examples from the fields of architecture and design, along with four newly commissioned contemporary art installations.

In their works, contemporary artists contemplate our relationship with dirt, power, and the seemingly mundane choices we make. The exhibition encourages active participation from visitors, who will have the opportunity to contemplate questions related to repair, cleaning, and maintenance, as well as participate in events woven around the exhibition. The FIX exhibition presents various maintenance methods but also challenges the viewer to contemplate what is worth maintaining or repairing in the first place. Museum visitors encounter objects that have aged, become dirty, and worn out during their life.

Image courtesy of Design Museum

Image courtesy of Design Museum

Image courtesy of Design Museum

Why is the aging of some objects seen as valuable patina, while for others, wear and tear are undesirable? FIX highlights examples of both careful and detrimental maintenance. For example, two of Paavo Tynell’s Domus floor lamps are presented: one naturally patinated and the other a victim of “improper care”. Is an object ruined when its surface is streaked with traces left by cleaning agents? Or does inappropriate surface treatment emphasize the form of the object, guiding the hand that cares for it?

Image courtesy of Design Museum

Image courtesy of Design Museum

Image courtesy of Design Museum

The primary mission of a museum collection is to endure and preserve, and therefore the relationship between museums and objects is unique. Collection items do not hold utility value like everyday objects; instead, they are preserved and cared for due to their intrinsic value and the knowledge associated with them. By maintaining and repairing their collections, museums sustain cultural history. Museum collections consist of both acquired and donated items, some carefully chosen and others ending up in the collection by chance.

Image courtesy of Design Museum

Image courtesy of Design Museum

Image courtesy of Design Museum

However, there is always something left outside the choices when deciding what is essential and worth preserving. When a museum selects items for its collection, much is also left unselected. Artist Jessica Andrey Bogush addresses questions of exclusion and marginalization in her work, constructing an alternative museum collection from them. The care of the items in the collection is presented through the Diamond chair designed by Harry Bertoia for Knoll. Alongside the chair, images and videos depict its conservation process, demonstrating that no time or effort has been spared in its maintenance.

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Image courtesy of Design Museum

Image courtesy of Design Museum

Image courtesy of Design Museum

Image courtesy of Design Museum