Matthias Megyeri Billy B. Old English Padlock, from the Sweet Dreams Security series (Prototype) 2003

  • Not on view

The Sweet Dreams Security Series of safety products is Megyeri’s comment on the growing demand for personal security and the exaggerated cuteness that has become a big part of contemporary culture. Megyeri’s work as a student at the Royal College of Art in London largely focused on security in domestic environments, taking a critical and ironic look at contradictory attitudes. A response to an assignment to design a placebo product for a client with a psychological illness or phobia, the Sweet Dreams Security Series focuses on the heightened fears associated with home security. The resulting products merge the need for protection with a desire for beauty, redefining padlocks, chains, fences, and razor wire as lovable objects. Megyeri’s photographs of London, which juxtapose the need for protection and the desire for beauty in the urban landscape, were the inspiration for this project.

Gallery label from Rough Cut: Design Takes a Sharp Edge, November 26, 2008–October 12, 2009.
Medium
Steel and brass
Dimensions
3/8 x 2 3/4 x 3/4" (10 x 7 x 2 cm)
Credit
SAFE Exhibition Fund
Object number
148.2006
Copyright
Photo by Mathias Megyeri
Department
Architecture and Design

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