GetOut Magazine

Exhibit offers coffee, tea cups in thought-provoking designs
By ERIN CONCORS
Get Out

Do you make time to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, in your kitchen or on your patio?

Or, are you among the throngs of Americans who jump in their cars and gulp hot java from a paper cup while cruising down the freeway?

Think twice about the way you down your favorite hot beverage as you take in the latest exhibit at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.

In “Tea and Coffee Towers,” you'll see sleek, futuristic coffee and tea sets made from steel and glass. You'll see the curved, petallike shapes of a tea set designed by the Greg Lynn FORM architecture firm, constructed from thin titanium sheets designed in a process used by the military to make stealth aircraft.

Beginning Oct. 7, you can “Charge Up on Fridays” — drop by the museum 10 to 11:30 a.m. Fridays and have free gourmet coffee and pastries from Coffee Reserve, Bella Luna and My Florist Cafe, while viewing the exhibit.

“Tea and Coffee Towers” was created by Italian design house Alessi, which commissioned 20 architects to craft the sets. The unorthodox and creative vessels were designed to provoke people to think about how they interact with their environments and the ways they drink tea and coffee.

“It comes out of a European tradition that can be traced back to the Bauhaus, the idea of good design and incorporating that into everyday life,” says SMoCA assistant curator Cassandra Coblentz.

“It's the notion of more fluid boundaries between the fine arts and design and everyday culture, and that there's less of a gap between the things we use every day, and art that has a specific aesthetic purpose.”

Architect Zaha Hadid of Iran and the United Kingdom used silver to make Space Age forms. Her interlocking tea set resembles a puzzle, inviting people to “interact with the set,” according to Coblentz.

Hadid's idea behind the piece “was not to make the act of drinking coffee just about grabbing something really quick to give you a jolt of caffeine, but about the process of sitting down with these beautiful objects and forms,” Coblentz says.

Chinese architect Gary Chang looks at the culture of Hong Kong and the traditional food dim sum — dumplings served in small, stackable containers — through his set.

“Hong Kong, especially, is a city where space is very precious, and things are stacked on top of each other,” Coblentz says.

‘Charge Up on Fridays' event and ‘Tea and Coffee Towers' exhibit

When: Event is 10 to 11:30 a.m. Fridays, October 7 through Dec. 30. Exhibit is open through Dec. 31 during gallery hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, 7380 E. Second St.
Cost: $7 adults, $5 students. Free during “Charge Up on Fridays” and on Thursdays.
Information: or www.smoca.org