MADE‘s Julie Nicholson and Shaun Moore continue to be amazing and dedicated promoters of Canadian design. Radiant Dark Assets & Values is the third event of its kind.

I’m not going to lie. This years Radiant Dark suffered a bit at the hands of a bank (surprise surprise). Although Commerce Court makes sense as a location in relation to the theme, awful fluorescent lighting, distracting granite floor, and bank branding detracted from what was an otherwise interesting sampling of new independent Canadian design. The following is but a sampling:

Top marks go to Anneke van Bommel’s Silhouette Cutlery Series (Poutine Fork, Ice Cream Spoon, Knife). Maybe we have poutine on the brain (we did go there for dinner after Radiant Dark) but love her play on disposable utensils.

Anneke van Bommel continues her exploration of cutlery in the Lost & Found Series. Using antique and vintage cutlery she re imagines them into new forms and designs.

Lubo Brezina in collaboration with Scott Eunson’s Shrine Dedicated to the Memory of Demolished Barn and Fallen Trees was also a major attraction for us, seeing as Lubo built our amazingly beautiful reclaimed wood desk at the mjölk shop. With this piece, they explore the abandonment of farms for urban sprawl, aiming “to preserve the memory of the farm land, the barn and its structure, the space and the wood”.

Grant Heaps’ Garden Chairs 1-6 references the stitched work of Rosie Lee Tomkins and vintage needlework patterns.

I wish I took a close up of the textiles, because they were beautiful…

Jill Allan’s Bacon Savers (Piggy Banks) reference the fragility of the economy and our relationship to money.

Kristen Lim Tung’s Between the Covers (storage box) are porcelain book covers that contain a secret hiding spot.

Bev Hisey’s gorgeous hand knotted carpet, titled Blue Gold, is an ode to Canada’s lakes, rivers and tributaries.

Stay tuned for IDS 2010 coverage!