Photography: Niklas TalebWRITERS: NILS BINNBERG, JONATHAN BELLWith his Objects for Voters project,
Frieder Bohaumilitzky has created a still
life of the democratic process. Inspired
by last September’s ultimately indecisive
federal election, Bohaumilitzky decided
to redesign the required voting items for
the elections of the German parliament.
‘Political communication has changed,
but the procedure of voting itself is
still remarkably undesigned,’ he says.
The ballot box, polling booth and
supervisor’s table are all reinvented with
style and seriousness, as sober, neutral
objects with a friendly curve and a
colour scheme that’s studiously neutral.
‘I used only black, white and the natural
colour of wood,’ the designer notes. The
bent wood is also meant to evoke the
interiors and facilities in German public
buildings. Bohaumilitzky combined his
design studies with a course in Political
Science, and the Objects for Voters take
a welcome cross-disciplinary approach.
bohaumilitzky.deSet menu
Art is the first course at a newly refurbished Düsseldorf brasserie‘I don’t believe in cooking as an art form,’
admits German artist Rosemarie Trockel,
famous for her machine-knitted works.
‘I have never cooked anything in my
entire life, and neither have I personally
knitted anything,’ she admits. But this
lack of culinary ability has not stopped
Trockel from recently redesigning a
Düsseldorf restaurant called Lido
Malkasten. Located in a 1950s addition
to the legendary Malkasten, which
translates as ‘paintbox’ and has been
home to the city’s artists’ association
since the 1860s, Lido Malkasten features
site-specific artworks and bistronomy-
inspired cuisine by chef Florian Ohlmann,
who has worked for Alain Ducasse in
Paris. The centrepiece is a 400 sq mcarpet, Trockel’s largest artwork to date,
which she created in collaboration
with manufacturer Desso. ‘The carpet
was supposed to be yellow,’ says Trockel,
‘but there’s always the possibility of
a bottle of red wine tipping over.’
In the main dining room, the carpet
is teamed with custom-made, colour-
coded Thonet chairs and round tables,
while a safari theme prevails on the
mezzanine. On the wall of the open
kitchen hang black and white prints –
featuring stoves, pendants and a theatre
curtain, created by Trockel for the space
and referencing her earlier work. ‘The
philosophy of the kitchen is a favourite
subject,’ Trockel says. ‘It’s a place where
communities and families gather – it’s
the birthplace of our lives.’ On another
wall, the artist has placed her own work
alongside loans from friends such as
Barbara Kruger and Jenny Holzer, whom
she met in New York in the early 1980s.
The display will change regularly, as
Trockel plans to eat in the restaurant
regularly. ‘I have always loved to eat,’
she says, ‘and I am lucky enough to have
friends who are very skilled in the kitchen.’
Jacobistrasse 6, lido1960.deVoting inventions216 ∑
Germany
ABOVE, THE COLOURFUL MAIN
DINING ROOM, DECKED WITH
TROCKEL’S 400 SQ M CARPET
AND BESPOKE THONET CHAIRS
LEFT, THE CARPET FEATURES
TROCKEL’S SIGNATURE STRIPES
AND GEOMETRIC SHAPES