Artisan Exhibition Bursts Open Brisbane Design

Brisbane is invited to explore the emerging global phenomenon of "open source design" at

Gallery artisan's new exhibition Burst Open.

Curated by Christian Duell and John de Manincor, Burst Open addresses the notion that today’s design is often labeled as expensive and elitist, and modern day designers often seen as someone operating in a “bubble” of isolation.

This colourful, optimistic exhibition aims to break down the wall between designer and the public through the phenomena of open source design.

Open source refers to free public access to product designs via online platforms. From an initial focus on software, a new movement has spawned - open source design for objects.

Curator Chris Duell explains: “We are living in the midst of a global revolution in information and technology that is disrupting all parts of society. The open source design movement is one of many other global movements that are changing the way we think about living, creating and doing business. Through Burst Open we are exploring this new design movement and asking- what are the possibilities? How might we harness this growing movement to solve some of the challenges we face in the twenty-first century?”

“One way to consider design is that it is the creative adaptation of existing ideas, materials and systems into something special - open sources makes the origin of those adaptations more explicit,” says John de Manincor.

Burst Open will feature work from leading local and international designers along with students from the University of Queensland, School of Architecture. Purpose-built spaces will create an environment for the public where they can interact with and share design in new ways.

The exhibition also features Open Morph, an innovative, gesture- controlled projection by Inkahoots. Passing pedestrians will control the animation with their body movements.

The exhibition will be launched by the Honourable Ian Walker MP, Minister for Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts, at the official opening event Tuesday 14 October, 6 - 9 PM. The exhibition runs from Saturday 4 October - Wednesday 24 December.

Burst Open is presented by Gallery artisan, Queensland's peak craft and design body, and supported by the University of Queensland School of Architecture, inkahoots, ECOply, CarterHoltHarvey, and mMake.