Loaded: Heavyweight Craft Exhibit Showcases Designs Made From Iron and Sugar

One of our favorite exhibits at this year's <a href="http://inhabitat.com/milan-furniture-fair">Milan Furniture Fair</a> was <a title="Loaded" href="http://www.saic.edu/loaded" target="_blank">Loaded</a>, which brought together 15 students and emerging designers from the <a title="SAIC" href="http://www.saic.edu" target="_blank">School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)</a> to explore the history, physicality, and currency of two catalytic materials: iron and <a href="http://inhabitat.com/what-recession-for-cupcake-bakers-business-is-booming/" target="_blank">sugar</a>. Designer <a title="Brian Anderson" href="http://www.studioba.org" target="_blank">Brian Anderson</a> explains: “Sugar and iron are two materials that represent the American history quite well, with references to the times of slavery as well as the glorious industrial days.” Read on for a look at the innovative designs on display -- from lighting to tableware and jewelry.

<a title="Brian Anderson" href="http://www.studioba.org" target="_blank">Brian Anderson</a> showcased a metal necklace that he described as "part jewelry, part cloak, part cartwheel ruff, part affluence". <em>Cake</em>, as it’s called, is a piece communicating the polarities of having something while wishing to consume it too.

Won Joon Lee experimented with the use of sugar as a light source. His modular <em>Stardust</em> light is illuminated by a set of sugar LEDs that exist in a state between taste and sight.

<a title="Nathan D. Paoletta" href="http://www.npdesign.com" target="_blank">Nathan D. Paoletta</a> interpreted the exhibition's theme more concretely and made objects out of coins and various consumer goods that are worth the exact value of 20 US Dollars. With <em>More Than It’s Worth</em> he questions the value of things in a digitally connected, abstract world.

<a title="Charlie McArthur" href="http://www. charliemcarthur.com" target="_blank">Charlie McArthur</a> took a similar approach and made dishes in cast iron. The project's title is <em>Division</em>, which address the income distribution around the world based on statistical models of wealth.

<a title="Zhe Zhang" href="http://www.zhezhangdesign.com" target="_blank">Zhe Zhang</a> explored the way that sugar dissolves into invisible sweetness in food, which we only can taste. Her objects, <em>Visible Sweetness</em>, are designed for different kinds of sugar to make the act of sweetening food visually rich.

Anna Aning's "Traded" calls attention to the world-leading importers and exporters of raw goods.

Stephen Gulau showcased a series of "Hot & Heavy" kettles without handles.

The exhibit explores the fluidity of currency and how objects are shaped by global systems of trade, cultural ideologies, desire and emotions – whether we are aware of it or not. Shown here: OverWeight, by Ryan Chorbagian.

Morgan Carter's "Poured Relations" maple syrup warming and serving vessel highlights the skillful use of cast iron.

The sight of this exhibition during a week packed with glossy, shallow, and ill-conceived products was a welcome mental break. Shown here: Cage and Cotain, by Lauren Mosakowski.

In Kind, by Jordan Morrell, maps the exchange of non-monetary goods.

Horse, by Daniel R. Whitneck, is a set of modular hand-cast iron footings.

Ding!, by Ciara Taylor, allows us to consider achievments as currency.

Even though the theme of the show may have been imposed on the students, it works, and one leaves feeling a bit relieved that there still are responsible and aware designers out there. I am, by Cecilia Gómez Lauría, is a celebration of human diversity.