Gert Selle, Designkritiker und Kunstpädagoge

Gert Selle was a seminal figure in German design theory and art education. He studied German language and literature, art history, and art education in Frankfurt am Main. This combination shaped his thinking, in which the interconnection of intellectual reflection, aesthetic experience, and social development were inseparably linked.

In 1967, he began working as a drawing instructor at the Werkkunstschule Darmstadt on the Mathildenhöhe. He viewed the site as a living foundation of design history, whose architecture had already marked the dawn of modernism around 1900.

Selle addressed the lack of a theoretical foundation in German design through seminars and publications. He criticized the ideological overemphasis on design and played a key role in establishing the field as an independent discipline, in part by advocating for a fundamental overhaul of design education in the wake of the 1971 higher education reform.

The exhibition brings Selle’s life and work to life through a scenographic presentation. At various stations, visitors can see how he reflected on art, consumerism, and the early days of digitization—in other words, an era in which objects were increasingly disappearing from our everyday lives. A particular highlight is an AI installation based exclusively on his own writings, which invites visitors to engage directly with Selle’s world of thought.

His legacy proves to be surprisingly relevant today. In a world increasingly shaped by algorithmic processes, his emphasis on subjective human experience serves as a reminder of what constitutes the essential qualities of creative works.

A 400-page companion publication will be released.

Opening:

Sunnday, 01.11, 11:00

Opening hours:

Thursday and Friday, 16:00–20:00

Saturday and Sunday, 11:00–18:00

Institute for Design Research, with the kind support of Hessen Design, as well as Gert Selle’s son and a long-standing friend and former student of Gert Selle, Gerd Ohlhauser.