Guerilla by Design-An ambush style furniture exhibition in downtown Minneapolis

What would you do if a group of 16 furniture designers invaded your space and replaced your items with furniture designed specifically for your site? Guerilla by Design is an ambush-style furniture exhibit by a group of local designers who are transforming the city’s design reputation by proving that smart and beautiful furniture design isn’t only reserved for New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Stylish furniture is being designed right here in the Twin Cities.

The show is happening Friday, August 10th from 2pm-7pm, Saturday, August 11th from 4pm-11pm with an opening party from 7pm-11pm, and Sunday, August 12th from 11am-3pm.  The space located at 25 N. 4th St. I had the opportunity of speaking with Maya Khaira, the show’s spokeswoman and local furniture designer about the inspiration behind the idea.

How did the idea come about?
I have a background in studio furniture where designs are mostly pre­sented in a gallery con­text, like art, with min­i­mal inter­ac­tion from the viewer. I wanted to put together a show where the fur­ni­ture was pre­sented in a more lifestyled con­text with oppor­tu­ni­ties for peo­ple to actu­ally inter­act with the design.  I want to make design less intimidating and more accessible to a wider audience.  Chairs in my opinion are for sitting in.
Tal­ent was another thing that inspired the show. I know so many tal­ented design­ers in the Twin Cities, and I wanted to cre­ate a plat­form to show­case that tal­ent.  The Twin Cities really does have a very healthy design scene, but I felt like the designers were isolated in their own studios with minimal interaction with each other.  I wanted to bring all this talent together to prove you don’t have to go to New York or Milan for great design.  Great design is right here.  My hope is that an event like this could really start some kind of Midwestern Design Movement.

What process was used to select which furniture artists could participate in the show?
I studied furniture design at MCAD (Minneapolis College of Art and Design), so I know a lot of furniture designers in the Cities, and those designers know designers.  This is the first year for this event, so it was less of a juried process, and more of a “hey is this something you would be interested in” proposition.  I wasn’t sure I could get 15 people to commit to making multiple pieces of furniture for what is basically an experiment.  But everyone I approached seemed really excited about the idea when I pitched it.