Tim 'Rosso' Ross reveals Australia's overlooked design gems in debut exhibition

The debut exhibition from comic, writer and all-round Renaissance man Tim Ross uncovers Australia’s unsung design heroes.

He chats to Domain Prestige about how it all came together.

You’re a self-confessed design nerd. Where did this passion originate?

My dad has only recently retired as an antiques dealer. We always had interesting objects in the house and he was fascinated about their providence.

The idea of unpacking the themes of things that were manufactured in my youth has also been a bit of an obsession.

Can you tell us about your debut exhibition, Design Nation?

I was lucky enough to be asked by the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences to pick 15 items from the museum collection from the golden era of Australian design, ranging from the 1960s to the late 1980s.

They’re everyday design items that many of us have used but haven’t necessarily delved deeper into their stories.

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Why was this the golden age of Australian design?

There was a population explosion. We were blessed with a whole bunch of very good designers.

We were rolling around in our own Australianness and had a strong sense of national pride.

Because we had tariffs protecting our industry, we could still manufacture things here quite successfully.

How did you go about selecting the items?

I went to the museum warehouse and I spent a lot of time on the website.

Initially, I thought I would have more furniture but as time went on I quite liked a lot of the smaller things, like the Stackhat or Wiltshire Staysharp knives, which enjoyed enormous international success.

What’s this about a connection between Australian furniture and the US prison system?

The Integra chair, which is an injection-moulded chair we’ve all sat on at school halls, tennis courts, swimming pools, cafes – they’re also the most popular chair in prisons in America because you can pick one up and hit someone with it without really hurting them.

And you can’t really hide anything in them or fashion a shiv out of them because they’re made out of plastic. They turn up in all the prison shows on Netflix.

How well do you think Australia preserves its architectural heritage?

Fundamentally, I’m not sure any country is doing a particularly great job at it, off the top of my head.

I’m saddened by this culture of people who enjoy the concept of knocking things down – of wanting to destroy buildings that tell the story of who we are. We need people to care.

People travel because they want to be transported somewhere else. These people who think history is not important are probably the kind of people who enjoy cruises. And don’t even get off the boat.

Design Nation is at the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo, Sydney, from March 2 to December 2. Tim Ross will also tell the stories behind the objects on March 9 and 10 as part of the Sydney Design Festival. For information and tickets, see maas.museum and sydneydesign.com.au.