Herein lies the main difference between Memphis and earlier
The Memphis group, established by a group of postmodernist designers in Italy during the early 1980s, had liberating effects on design far beyond the Italian context. The name of the group refers to the song “Memphis Blues” by Bob Dylan, and was selected more or less randomly by its founders.
Membership included Ettore Sottsass, founder and spiritus rector of the group, Michele De Lucchi, Andrea Branzi, Masanori Umeda, Aldo Cibic, George J. Sowden, Marco Zanini, Nathalie Du Pasquier, and a number of other young international designers. The first Memphis exhibition was held in 1981 in Milan, and created quite a stir at the time.
The furniture and product designs exhibited represented far more than a selection of postmodern, stylistic trends. The designs made frequent use of collage and protrusions, as well as opulent colors and patterns on large surface areas. Most importantly, Memphis designers distinguished themselves by breaking with accepted conventions of the time.
They favored artisanship and the production of limited series over processes of industrial mass production, and deliberately designed objects that were apparently nonfunctional rather than adhering too strongly to the tenets of rationalism (Razionalismo) or functionalism.
This is not to say, however, that Memphis was solely defined by its critique of prior design movements; as Barbara Radice, the group’s chronicler and art director, writes: “Memphis does not design utopias and, unlike the radical avant-garde, does not assume a critical position toward the design process. . . Memphis sees design as a means of direct. . . communication, contemporizes its content and perfects the potential of a dynamic semantics.”
Memphis designers cultivated an open, flexible design culture, and considered the designed artifact to hold important symbolic and cultural significance regardless of its origins. They did not reject commercialism but believed consumer behavior to be an important indication of individual social identity.
Herein lies the main difference between Memphis and earlier, more radical or avant-garde movements such as Radical Design or even Alchimia, which was regarded as the forerunner to Memphis. In this respect, Memphis marked the beginnings of a true “new design” (Nuovo Design).
The Memphis phenomenon was eventually picked up by the furniture industry, commercialized, and ultimately turned into a “style.” Memphis also triggered another important development in Italian design by placing it in the international context.