DogsEyeNews - Danish cartoons are the new teak

Thanks to the efforts of a handful of cartoonists, Denmark is back on the international stage. After years searching for the something to revive the flagging popularity of Danish design, everyone is talking about the Danes.

Denmark is perhaps the most insular and conservative of all the European countries. At the 2003 Venice Biennale, the Danish art activists Superflex distributed a poster and t-shirt reading: "Foreigners, please don't leave us alone with the Danes!"

Danish modern furniture was introduced to the North American market in the 1940s, where it captured the imagination of artists and designers. By the 1960s half of all furniture produced in Denmark was exported to the USA. Characterized by a lack of decoration, the pared down design aesthetic depended on the strength of hardwoods like teak, mohagany and cherry. Through the 80s and 90s, however, as modernist style spread worldwide and evolved into more eclectic styles, Danish design lost its distinctiveness.

Subsequent efforts to rejuvinate Denmark's international profile have faltered:In 1995, a group of Danish filmmakers momentarily brought Denmark back into the spotlight with a pared down approach to filmmaking called Dogme95. In 2004,
Canada's Bruce Mau contributed to an international exposition called SuperDanish, attempting to thrust Demark into the forefront of future global change by identifying seven visionary Danish projects.

The Danes are still wondering how it was that their modern furniture design became so
popular (e.g., Danish detective at Berkeley), but it seems they have a gift for this sort of thing, having unwittingly done it again. While governments around the world rush to condemn the cartoons -- US state department spokeswoman, Janelle Hironimus, said: "Inciting religious or ethnic hatred in this manner is not acceptable." -- there is no such thing as bad press; the cartoons continue to spread and with them Danish notoriety. We can expect the next decade to find Danish cartoonists in high demand, setting worldwide standards for iconodules.