Draft:Numen /For Use

Numen / For Use is a Croatian-Austrian artist collective founded in 1997, known for its interdisciplinary work in architecture, installation, and spatial design. The group’s practice explores material systems, immersive environments, and the relationship between physical structures and human perception. Numen / For Use has exhibited internationally in museums, galleries, and public spaces, and its work has been discussed in art journals and critical reviews.

History

The group was initially formed in 1997 as For Use, a collaborative effort of industrial designers Sven Jonke, Christoph Katzler and Nikola Radeljković. In 1999, the collective adopted the combined name Numen / For Use to reflect an expanded scope, encompassing more conceptual projects and broader artistic interventions in exhibition design, spatial installations, and interdisciplinary design. Since then, the group has developed a practice integrating material exploration, immersive environments, and site-specific interventions.

From 2008, Numen / For Use expanded its focus toward configuring objects and spatial concepts without predefined function, resulting in hybrid and experimental works such as the N‑Light series and the Tape Installation series.

Artistic Practice

Numen / For Use integrates principles of modernist design with experimental approaches to space, material, and perception. Their artistic practice includes: - Product and industrial design rooted in functionalism and formal reduction, - scenography and set design for theatrical performances, large‑scale immersive installations that explore the material and spatial possibilities of unconventional media such as adhesive tape, nets, and membranes, - work such as the Tape series transforms everyday materials into architectural environments, weaving spatial networks that interact with viewers’ movement and perception.

Critical Reception

Critical discussion of Numen / For Use emphasis on their spatial innovations and material experiments has appeared in art and design publications (e.g. Oris, Die Presse, Novi List). Independent commentary highlights the group’s ability to blur the boundaries between art, design, and architecture.

Awards and Recognition

Parallel to publicly exhibited work, the collective has received international awards for both industrial and spatial design, including recognition at design festivals and professional competitions. 2024

• IKONOGRAD – Best Exhibition Design

2019

• German Design Award Winner – Trifidae Armchair

2018

• Big See Interior Design Award 2018 – Net Rovinj
• Big See Interior Design Award 2018 – Trifidae Armchair
• Golden Key Award 2018 – Trifidae Armchair

2017

• Award for Best Set Design – International Small Scene Theatre Festival Rijeka, Hamlet
• Award for Best Set Design – Yugoslav Drama Theatre, Belgrade, Hamlet

2016

• Award for Best Set Design – Uzice Festival, Hamlet

2015

• Red Dot Award – Oblique Chair
• Borštnikov Scenography Award – The Castle

2014

• Polygon – Excellent Product Design Winner 2015, German Design Council

2013

• Polygon Chair – Interior Innovation Award Winner 2014, German Design Council
• Borštnikov Scenography Award – Black Beast Sorrow and The Master and Margarita

2012

• Red Dot Award – Revolve

2011

• Prague Quadrennial Gold Medal – Best Scene Design
• Prague Quadrennial Gold Medal – Best Use of Theatre Technology
• Nagrada Sterijinog Pozorja Award – Best Set Design, Metamorfoze

2010

• DMY Award – Tape Installation
• Red Dot Award – Corporate Design

2009

• Wallpaper Award – Best Prototype
• Nagrada Sterijinog Pozorja Award – Best Set Design, Kandit ili Optimizam
• Austrian of the Year 2009 – Nominee, Creative Industries

2008

• Croatian Designers Society – Product Design Award
• Best Set Design in Croatia – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Best Set Design – Uzice Festival, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

2007

• Wallpaper Award – Best Domestic Sofa, Satyr

2006

• Award for Special Contribution to Croatian Product Design

2001

• Croatian Designers Society – Graphic Design Award
• Croatian Designers Society – Product Design Award

1999

• Grand Prix – 34th Zagreb Salon

Selected Exhibitions

2024

• Lines of Flight, Palazzo Clerici, Milan, IT
• Art Triennale, Echigo-Tsumari Art Park, Japan
• Festival of Dangerous Ideas, Carriageworks, Sydney, Australia

2023

• Negative Space, aut. architektur und tirol, Innsbruck, AUT
• City Gallery, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
• 3 Slip, The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, UK
• Old Market Hall, Bratislava, SK
• Textilmuseet, Boras, Sweden
• Nova, Museum of Art, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2022

• Wanås Konst Sculpture Park, Sweden
• TAC20, Neuzeit Ost Gallery, Berlin, DE
• K Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, KOR
• Biennale of Scenography, University, Novi Sad, Serbia

2021

• Old Market Hall, Bratislava, SK

2019

• Brewer Street Car Park, Anya Hindmarch, London, UK
• Mall Plaza, Santiago de Chile, CHL
• Sinnesrausch, OK Center for Contemporary Art, Linz, AUT
• Trekantfest, Bispen, DK
• K11 Kunsthalle North, Shenyang, CN
• The Coming World: Ecology as the New Politics 2030-2100, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, RUS
• Navy Yard, Philadelphia, US
• Biela noc, Bratislava, SK

2018

• Mall Plaza, Santiago de Chile, CHL
• Lichtrouten, Lüdenscheid, DE
• UNFINISHED Festival, Bucharest, ROU
• Bangkok Art Biennale, Bangkok, THA
• Biela noc, Bratislava, SK
• Beijing Design Week, K11 Beijing, CN

2017

• Le Quai, Angers, FR
• Storage, Hyundai Card, Seoul, KOR
• K Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, KOR
• Grand Projects, 21_21 Design Sight, Tokyo, JPN
• Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, US
• Manchester Science Festival, Manchester Science Museum, Manchester, UK

2016

• Productions: Objects, Surfaces and Atmospheres, University of Texas, Austin, Mebane Gallery, US
• Chromatic Momentum, Muriel Guépin Gallery, NYC, US
• Art & Nature, Merano, IT
• ZigZagCity 2016, Rotterdam, NL
• INTO NATURE, Biennale Drenthe, Assen, NL
• Photography Playground, Olympus, Cologne, DE
• FILE Sao Paulo, BR
• Arte BA Buenos Aires, AR
• Fiber Art, WEAVING & WE, Hangzhou, CH
• Miniartextil, To Weave Dreams, Como, IT

2015

• Shine Festival 2016, Hertogenbosch, NL
• Out of Balance (solo exhibition), aut. architektur und tirol, Innsbruck, AUT
• Migrations, Cardiff, UK
• Metropolis Festival 2015, Copenhagen, DK
• Photography Playground, Olympus, Munich, DE
• Brave New World, DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague, CZ
• Glow Next 2015, Eindhoven, NL

2014

• Inside, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR
• Bright Matters, Muriel Guépin Gallery, NYC, US
• Miami Project, Muriel Guépin Gallery, Art Basel Miami, US
• Time Space Existence, Biennale Architettura 2014, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, IT
• Höhenrausch 2014, OK Center for Contemporary Art, Linz, AUT
• Out of Our Heads, ARTinART, Shoreditch Town Hall, London, UK

2013

• Košice – European Capital of Culture 2013, Košice, Slovakia
• Photography Playground, Olympus, Berlin, DE
• Arte Sella (solo exhibition), Borgo Valsugana, IT
• Open Art, Örebro, Sweden
• Zou-no-hana Terrace, Yokohama, JPN
• Maison de l'architecture Ile-de-France, In Vitro, Paris, FR
• SPIRAL / Wacoal Art Center, Tokyo, JPN

2012

• Z 33 (solo exhibition), Hasselt, BE
• Sveta Srca (solo exhibition), Pula, HR
• Danish Design Center, MATERIALS, Copenhagen, DK
• Endmoräne, LineaRES, Berlin, DE

2011

• London Design Museum, Brit Insurance Award, London, UK
• Ars Electronica Centre, What Machines Dream Of, Linz, AUT
• Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi (solo exhibition), Florence, IT
• Lexus Art Festival, Moscow, RUS
• Mikser Festival, Belgrade, SRB
• Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, Prague, CZ
• Z 33 (solo exhibition), Hasselt, BE
• Fed Square, Melbourne, AUS
• Rizzordi Art Foundation, Expression Beyond, St. Petersburg, RUS
• Wattis Institute of Contemporary Art / CCA, WBA3, San Francisco, US

2010

• Mikser Festival 2010, Belgrade, SRB
• DMY 2010, Berlin, DE
• Wien Museum, 2000–2010 Design in Vienna, Vienna, AUT
• Schirn Kunsthalle, Playing the City II, Frankfurt, DE

2009

• Vienna Design Week, Carte Blanche, Vienna, AUT

2008

• Vienna Design Week 2008, Pasionswege, Vienna, AUT
• Numen – Light exhibition, Milan, IT

2004

• Est, est, est., Udine, IT

2003

• Solo exhibition Numen 99/03, Zagreb, HR

2002

• International Biennale of Design, Saint-Étienne, FR

2000

• BIO Ljubljana, Ljubljana, SI

1999

• 34th Zagreb Salon, Zagreb, HR

References

(You will need to move these from the draft citations into proper <ref> format with publication details for Wikipedia. Reliable independent sources are particularly important for notability.)