We’ve all had that moment at a party where someone turns, looks you in the eye, and asks if “anyone” has a bottle opener. Hands rustle through pockets, keychains are produced, lighters are proffered and the strong men of the group smile and show glinting teeth and point to sharp counter edges with worn hands.
The simple purpose of the bottle opener belies its variations in form—both formal and impromptu. In celebration of their new gallery space, the Prague-based design publication OKOLO/Pedal Project Studio presents Open & Drink! an exhibition of 24 contemporary, historical and informal bottle openers from around the world. The exhibition explores the myriad of shapes and materials that can be employed for the singular function of taking a metal cap off a glass bottle. Works from the Castiglioni brothers, Adrien Rovero, Fort Standard, Iacoli & McAllister, Oscar Diaz, Eero Aarnio and Brendan Ravenhill sit beside swiss army knives and lighters. Playfully, the editors of OKOLO share:
We don’t just evaluate the typology of the opener as it is, but also about the process of opening the beer, which can be opened with many things not purposed for it.
In addition to the curated selection of bottle openers, OKOLO commissioned two products—a bottle opener from the young Czech studio deFORM and their own lager beer. “Act,” the deFORM bottle opener, was designed and prototyped in under two weeks; metal wire is bent in three places and welded at two points. As OKOLO editor Adam Štěch tells MOLD, “It’s produced in a very economical and practical way. It’s a bonus that we initiated a new product with it.”
OKOLO beer was a natural extension of the publication’s editorial mission to, “document, present and promote design, architecture and other branches of human activity.” So it should come as no surprise that they were able to transform one of their favorite activities, drinking beers with friends, into an editorial product. A collaboration with Vyškov brewery, a regional Czech brewery that dates back to 1680, OKOLO beer is a lager with a simple identity printed right on the brown bottle. The graphic design for the bottle is by Matěj Činčera and Jan Kloss from OKOLO.
Open & Drink! is on view at OKOLO/Pedal Project Studio now and will be traveling to Poland in October for Łódź Design Festival.
OKOLO/Pedal Project Studio
Bořivojova 77
Prague 130 00
