Critical + is a collaborative formed in the Netherlands by jewelers Annika Pettersson, Adam Grinovich and product designer Charles Mathis. The group originated as a form of aggressive discourse revolving around fine art, design, and perceived limitations governing the creative field.

 

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Critical + is interested in nomadic urban living. The group’s spirit is grounded in the reality of living as outsiders in unfamiliar places, with no certain futures or concrete stability. Critical + is driven by compulsion, desire, necessity and the need to create functional pieces that address new ways of living. A keen eye for selection and local sourcing are combined with personal articulation, combining the power of the ready-made with an expressionistic spirit.

 

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Critical + utilizes a web-based platform as its primary means of sales, display and exhibition. The group also takes part in exhibitions, commissions, and other artistic endeavors as a part of its creative practice. Each member of Critical + maintains his or her own personal career alongside collaborative projects.

 

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All photographs for Collection 1 by Dorothea van der Staaij.