If you read Dumbo Feather’s interview with Abi Crompton back in Issue 7, or indeed revisited her story online not too long ago, you may be curious to find out what’s been happening in Abi’s world since then. We at Dumbo Feather had an inkling that she’d have a bunch of exciting news, so we gave her a call and asked her to share it all with the Dumbo Feather community.
It has been a while since I was asked to write about myself for a publication. Although this is a little different as Dumbo Feather has been more like friends rather than strangers, so I suppose this is more like catching up with old friends.
Since my interview with Kate Bezar back in 2005, a lot of things have happened. Third Drawer Down has developed a few extra disciplines under its belt. In 2006 I established the Third Drawer Down Agency after being approached by Tate in London to develop the merchandise for their Louise Bourgeois retrospective. She was such an inspiration to me while at art school so my brain almost popped with excitement at this opportunity. If you have read more recent interviews with me in other publications, I see this experience as a pivotal point in my career as I saw the opportunity to offer these services to all museums around the world. When I first developed Third Drawer Down’s tea towel project, my goal was to develop with museums but I l realised that I needed to prove to them that I had the skills yet I had no formal design background, so I had to go sideways to get through the door.
Since the Louise Bourgeois retrospective, Third Drawer Down has worked with museums including MOMA, New Museum, Whitney and MOCA Los Angeles in the USA and Whitechapel, Design Museum, V&A and Tate in London – plus local work with Australian museums. We have worked with Kiki Smith, Cy Twombly, Yoyai Kusama, John Baldeserri, Andy Warhol Foundation and many other amazing artists. You can see some of our work here. We have continued our relationships with a lot of these artists and have commissioned new work. Our current projects include Louise Bourgeois Bone China Mug Set, Lawrence Weiner block set, and new multiples we are releasing early 2012 (which I cannot talk about yet).
This year was an exciting year for the collaboration work too, as we are working closely with Nathalie Du Pasquier, a collection of textiles and homewares featuring patterns designed by celebrated artist and founding member of Memphis Group, Nathalie Du Pasquier. Throughout the 1980s the acclaimed Memphis Group changed the face of design using unconventional materials, historic forms, kitsch motifs and gaudy colours. Launched at the 1981 Salone del Mobile, Milan, their unconventional approach to architecture, furniture design and art challenged trends of the time and resulted in what was coined as the ‘New International Style’. Nathalie Du Pasquier was one of the founding members of the group and from their outset her playful textile designs formed a key component of their work; they helped to define not only the aesthetic of the Memphis-Milano Movement, but also the quintessential post-modern aesthetic of the decade. We are currently developing our second collection with Nathalie Du Pasquier which we are launching at the international design trade fairs in January around the world.
So all in all, the agency side of things is travelling along nicely. Ohhhh, the other project which I should mention is the Free Condom Project we launched in 2009 in partnership with Victorian AIDS Council and Family Planning Victoria. The Free Condom Project aims to positively change perceptions about condom use, helping to reduce the increasing rate of STIs by making condoms readily accessible to sexually active people in a fun and engaging way that encourages people to take ownership of their health and wellbeing. We are currently working on the second collection of condoms with renowned international and local artists which will be available free in Victorian retail stores early 2012.
In 2008 I moved Third Drawer Down from St Kilda to Fitzroy as I had outgrown the space, and thought it was a perfect time to open a museum store as I had accrued many years of retail experience; too many to ignore anymore! Assembling a curated array of art and designer products, the store functions as both showroom, design studio, museum and retail space with objects either hand picked from various popular cultural contexts or made by Third Drawer Down for leading museums around the world. The Museum of Art Souvenirs Store is nestled behind a graffiti tagged garage door and is Australia’s only trading museum. It’s like visiting all the best museum stores in one spot, and shipped everywhere (even to the moon). Our eccentric and witty taste of products by artists/designers and niche brands include crayon rocks, chocolate pie charts, giant corn cob stools, children’s art supplies, limited edition textiles, bed linens and publications that question the mainstream conditions under which art and culture are bought and sold. We also have an online store here which allows people from around the world the virtual enjoyment of our cultural object findings. My dream is to be the first online store to send objects to the moon!
Inside the store we opened the exclusive Australian outpost of KIOSK. Kiosk is a travel story depicted through objects, a collection of interesting things from around the world, simple everyday anonymous things that generally go unnoticed. It is a study of material culture, a shop, an effort to preserve unique and indigenous objects, an installation, and something different from the every day. Alisa Grifo and husband Marco Romeny create their collection of curiosities on bi-yearly trips, with their most recent collection heralding from Japan. Their travels result in an enticing collection of “traditional goods that have been developed over generations or anonymous design found in general stores, DIY’s and Kiosks: products designed not around one personality but the result of local aesthetic and needs.” KIOSK is an ever-changing exhibition celebrating beauty in the found object.
So we are near the end of 2011 and I already feel like I am in the middle of 2012!!! I have a huge project in the midst of all this to be launched (early 2012) which I really look forward to telling you about soon. The Museum of Art Souvenirs Store has expanded, with a new room of hand made objects curated from around the world (using my old Craft Victoria skills again) and the Agency is continuing to develop beautiful objects and editions with museums around the world. I am excited about the future and all that it brings.
Wishing you all success and happiness. Thanks again for your much loved support over the years, it is through this that I have had continued trust and confidence that I am heading the right way in my journey.
Warm regards,
Abi Crompton