Ed. Nathan, L, Profile Helmut Lueckenhausen, Design is Art That Makes Itself Useful, Australian Wood Review, Issue 3, 1993.
The first lime I saw the work of Helmut, some ten or more years ago, I remember being intrigued as much by the forms as the precision of the workmanship. Here were strange shapes from another world fashioned in a most unorthodox manner. Even today much of his work still looks non-terrestrial and he is still bending the materials to his shapes. While wood has and remains an important choice of materials for him he is in no way voluntarily chained to a tree like many other furniture designer makers nor is furniture his only output.
In a typical week Helmut is found at Swinburne University of Technology as senior lecturer in 3D design (three days), in addition to chairing co-ordinating committees, designing furniture and interiors for both corporate and domestic clients, working with Stale Crafts Councils (he is immediate past president of the Crafts Council of Australia). Deputy Vice President Asia/Pacific of the World Crafts Council. Hon. Secretary of the World Crafts Council, and being a father and husband. Obviously the man is a great advocate and supporter of craft.
Furniture is however, probably what he is best known for. In the beginning Helmut made all his pieces alone, working from a studio in the house backyard. Today the bulk of the pieces are made by others, although he will still put his own handwork into a piece for certain details, or sometimes even make ail of certain exhibition pieces.
The stamp of a Lueckenhausen work is the sense of humour and fantasy - the signature biomorphic and xoomorphic forms – legs, limbs, tails, wings, lips and sculpted curves usually in wood, set upon a variety of bases and functional forms such as tables, chests, cabinets and chairs. Earlier works were almost entirely in wood.
Later works see the use of MDF for bases and cabinets or other forms upon which the sculpted animal and teraph forms sit. Recent works have employed veneer board as a major component, utilising its qualities of stability in construction. There has been a return to cleaner lines, still with the Lueckenhausen details, albeit more stylised. He has in the past been accused of using overt sexual metaphors in his pieces, a point that he denies, claiming that there is a great difference between sensual (where he is coining from) and sexual (where the viewer may be coming from) perceptions.
So where do the ideas come from and where is he going. In his own words: 'My work was an attempt to turn the skills and talents that I had, to producing images and products that were particularly, recognisably and possibly even exclusively mine." It is (his clear stamping of a Lueckenhausen piece that has contributed to his success, and made his work resistant to imitators. Lueckenhausen is well aware of (he advantage of his work being highly recognisable, "My next challenge was to have the work be sufficiently
interesting and challenging to make it desirable, have people want to buy it and therefore begin to make some impact on the environment in which furniture and objects were produced, sold and used." In terms of general success he also points to the mushrooming effect that one achievement (securing a particular commission or having a piece acquired for a particular collection) can have. He notes that conversely, it is also possible to become trapped on a downward spiral.
Lueckenhausen only makes what he wants to. To he able to survive and be selective he has diversified into other areas such as lecturing and paper engineering. Recently he has completed work for the Australasian Meatworkers Employees Building as the art/craft and interiors consultant, having within his brief the fixtures, carpels, parquetry floors, reception desks, cabinets and tables.
Why do people buy his work, or for that matter the work of any designer or designer maker? Lueckenhausen defines basic human needs as being quite modest: some food and shelter. People don't need hand made or individually designed objects. Just as the maker wants to place his stamp or leave his mark in the world, so the buyer wants those qualities that the hand made or individually designed object can give. The modern designer/craftsperson is someone who can satisfy the buyer/ owner's desires for the specialness, individuality, sensuality, spirituality or whatever that object is imbued with. Lueckenhausen says: "My pieces are all functional in the accepted sense that one can put things in them, sit on or at them and have them make (he basic contribution to the quality of life that we expect from the objects we buy." The ability of the designer to create something that will appreciate in value should not be forgotten either.
How does this designer then see design, as a process or a commodity? "In one sense it is a problem solving method, which may be a natural and innate ability. Organising a shelf or an appointment may all be aspects of design. In another sense it is the word used by design professionals in an affirmation of faith in technology in its own right. In another, design is a counter culture, with a 'look', and can prescribe language, behaviour, dress and at limes, an inflexible aesthetic."
From an Australian standpoint Lueckenhausen views sternly the past worship of what he terms Euro-chic: "One of the damaging aspects of mainstream design is that the very internationalism which was to have been such a workable formula for arriving at the big answers to the big questions approves only of designers in its own image. The perpetrators of that "culture' within Australia approve mainly of work from Europe, in respect of furniture for example, particularly Milan." Hand made and designed objects are made to a high standard in Australia and their identity as Australian works does not rely on the application of koalas and gum leaves.
And lastly "A designed object as a commodity has the chance to have creative thinking impact on the wealth generating part of our community. Craft at this point can be a significant part player in a network of niche industries and niche markets". The values of "action within' rather than "reaction from without' are those being aspired to by contemporary craft practitioners like Helmut Lueckenhausen who is a forceful advocate for the crafts and a world standard designer.
