SEX OR COLLABORATION?                 Picture this: you see a person across the bar and think “Wow, this is the cutest, coolest person I’ve ever seen.” You want more, so what do you do? You make eye contact and as soon as you can, you turn on your most seductive charms.

Would you do this in real life? And what if you could act it out like a real actor?

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The exhibition I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING pushes you into these kinds of scenarios. How it works? One person stands on one side, while another person stands on the other side. The next step is for each of you to read the text facing you, everything else follows automatically. You might feel that you both have the same scenario, but I’m constantly misleading you, because you each get to see a different story! The only thing you have in common are the actions you perform, like a handshake, eye contact or eating a strawberry.

SEX & COLLABORATION

Why don’t people want to talk about sex? Are they afraid? Not used to it? Is it a taboo? Please help me because I still don’t understand it … And sadly enough, if I speak for myself, I do exactly the same. Is this because I don’t like it or it’s a secret forbidden rule? To be honest, I don’t have an answer but at least I’ve seen what the word ‘sex’ does to people. And I can tell you, it’s a lot! From kisses to hugs, to a laugh, to teaching children, to a red face looking desperately for the back door. Amazing! In comparing it to the word sex, I haven’t had to explain the word collaboration, everyone understood it straight away and could imagine the different situations. Is my thinking so strange? Are sex and collaboration not the same?

Inspiration

I get much of my inspiration by observing everyday life. That’s how I came to discover that the words sex and collaboration have many similarities. I was amazed that we hardly ever use these words in the same sentence. Even though the emotions we feel in both scenarios are formed through our own hearing, smell, taste, sight and touch. So our senses dictate how we interpret our surroundings, which directly shapes our decisions. And this is exactly what I, as a spatial designer, visualise; I am more than just design. I think in an analytical way, where every detail is important. It’s in my nature to look at the world differently. Because I am naturally curious, with a love and passion for people and daily life.

For the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven I wanted to create a unique interaction based on our senses. Because I believe that senses make people move in spatial design. With the exhibition I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING, I created excitement, emotions and a personal experiment which continues into the future.

Unexpected

In both my personal life and my private life, I love to collaborate, at all kinds of levels. For me, this is a collaboration. STUDIO &lotte and me, both of us would love to collaborate with you as a client, partner, designer, supplier or – more important – you as a person. And this is happening right now, because at the moment I’m having talks with the VENICE DESIGN 2019 (Design exhibition of the Venice Biennale) where I still looking for sponsorship as well as with a few museums for a follow-up!

I’m really excited about this! I’d love to know what you’d be more interested in – a museum or the VENICE DESIGN 2019?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Lotte de Jong

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