As part of the 2025 London Design Festival, Alsolike Gallery presents Secondary Function, a group exhibition exploring how function, once abandoned in the name of conceptual freedom, returns as a generative force in contemporary craft and design. Running from 16 to 21 September 2025 at 16 Chance Street, London, the exhibition features innovative works in jewellery, object design, sculpture, wearable art, and interdisciplinary practices from emerging and established creatives worldwide.
Since the 1980s, de-functionalization has been a recurring strategy in contemporary art, used to challenge normative systems and shift focus toward the conceptual or spiritual. Yet in the field of applied arts, function has never truly disappeared. Instead, it lingers, sometimes at the margins and sometimes at the core, continually redefining its role in shaping experience, form, and narrative.
Secondary Function brings together international artists, jewellers, designers, and makers who re-activate the concept of function in compelling ways. Their works do not merely “perform” utility but question how function itself might disrupt visual dominance through multisensory or spatial interaction; act as a narrative axis between the body, viewer, and environment; and serve as a lens to unpack cultural patterns, material ethics, and social agency.
Whether through interactive objects, relational installations, or wearable forms, each piece in the show considers a central provocation: After function withdraws, in what ways does it return?
“It’s a pleasure to introduce Secondary Function, a week-long exhibition presented as part of the London Design Festival 2025. The show captures the inventive spirit and critical curiosity at the heart of contemporary craft and design. As Head of the Silversmithing and Jewellery Department at The Glasgow School of Art, I am delighted to see our graduates and artists in residence—Alice Biolo, Militsa Milenkova, Misha McLean, Kristina Merchant, Amy Findlay, Monica Findlay, Helen Russell, Caiyang Yin and Sheng Zhang—contributing to this ambitious project within the London Design Festival. The provocation at the core of this exhibition—how function returns once it has been set aside—resonates deeply with our field. Jewellery and object-making continually navigate the tension between utility and expression, intimacy and spectacle, materiality and meaning. In this balance, function is never simply present or absent, but rather transformed into a language through which new narratives and experiences emerge. The works in Secondary Function demonstrate the imagination, skill, and reflective practice that define our community at GSA. By rethinking what it means for objects to serve, perform, or connect, these artists ask vital questions about the role of craft in shaping social and cultural dialogues today. I congratulate all the participants and look forward to the conversations their work will inspire.”
– Anna Gordon, Head of Department and Programme Leader, BA (hons) Silversmithing and Jewellery Design at the Glasgow School of Art.
“This exhibition celebrates the vitality of function, with close attention to how it gives rise to actions, relationships, and cultural meaning. Through the agency of materials, the fine oxide layers on titanium and silver surfaces refract hazy illusions, evoking a perception of memories that are absent and invisible. A handful of soil, a fragment of plaster, or a cluster of found objects become translations of collective emotion. When a cube flows across the body, when a rubber band is shaped by the viewer’s hand, when a steel pin trembles against the chest, function shifts from questions of use to the orchestration of behaviour—opening space for the surrender of authorship and for provocations against established norms. Secondary Function brings together works spanning fashion design, furniture, and contemporary jewellery, developed in collaboration with artists from the Glasgow School of Art. It reveals how function—once unbound from the confines of utility—re-enters the broader narrative of contemporary craft in exciting and unexpected ways, offering new inspiration for the ontological dialectic between technique and concept.”
– Yating Xie, Founder of TaJo Studio, MA Jewellery and Metal at the Royal College of Art
Artist List:
Ai Studio, Alice Biolo, Thierry Bontridder, Oriana Catton, Lena Esaulova, Caodi Fang, Amy Findlay, Monica Findlay, Helen Hae Young Kwon, Ariel Jingyan Zhu, Minjeong Kim, Barbora Kukula, Merlin Lentz, Jingyi Li, Xi Li, Yutong Liu, Yier Lu, Yitian Luo, Katia Lyubavskaya, Misha McLean, Kristina Merchant, Militsa Milenkova, Hiroki Nakayama, Helen Russell, Shane Shi Yan, Studio EAST x EAST, Wenbin Sun, Yujin Sung, Kai Wang, Chuhan Xiao, Yejia Xu, YUAN, Caiyang Yin, Odile Yu, Zoe Yuzhe Zhang, Sheng Zhang
Exhibition Dates: September 16 – 21, 2025, 10:30 AM – 6:30 PM
Private View: September 15, 2025, 6:00 – 8:30 PM
About Alsolike Gallery:
Alsolike Gallery is a contemporary art space based in Shoreditch, London, specialising in showcasing small-scale art pieces and objects. Established in 2022, the gallery has rapidly gained prominence for its innovative approach to blending art and everyday life. Alsolike emphasises the craftsmanship, materiality, and narrative aspects of contemporary craft, making it a significant hub for artistic dialogue in London. The gallery has collaborated with over 50 international artists, presenting works that explore diverse cultural and conceptual themes. The gallery has also actively collaborated with prestigious institutions such as Central Saint Martins, London College of Fashion, Kingston University and Istituto Marangoni, fostering the development of young talents through placements and practical educational initiatives. The gallery is also an official partner of London Design Festival and London Craft Week, and participated in Collect 2023 with FIVE.
About London Design Festival:
Established in 2003, the London Design Festival was created to amplify the city’s vibrant design scene through an annual celebration of creativity. Its founding vision was to bring together the UK’s most influential thinkers, designers, retailers, and educators for a landmark event showcasing the power of art and design. Over the years, the Festival has become one of the world’s foremost design events, serving as a model for similar festivals worldwide and remaining a key highlight of the global cultural calendar.
