Telling Tales: Fantasy and Fear in Contemporary Design

A wooded entry leads you from the V&A lobby into 'The Forest Glade', the first of three stagey sections; 'The Enchanted Castle' and 'Heaven and Hell' being the other two camper-than-Christmas environments. Looking beyond the theme-parkery, there's a true engagement with the complex nature of these objects and how their ugly or ostentatious aesthetics seem to frustrate the very purpose of furniture or domestic usefulness. The definition of 'design art' is everywhere: when function is not of primary importance, the artistry in the details takes over. So, the 'Fig Leaf' armoire by Dutch designer Tord Boontje is at once a place to hang clothes, on its bronze branches, and a thing of insane beauty, with its 616 hand-enamelled copper leaves. But what makes it art and not just louche design is the comment Boontje prompts on the very act of covering our original nakedness - dressing oneself in the morning becomes an experiential meditation on identity. (OW)