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Byars: There is no other place in the world in which improvisation and the use of ready-made materials is so prevalent. Masters of improvisation By Yuval Saar Tags: Israel, Mel Byars  It is hard to exaggerate the importance of the book "Improvisation, New Design in Israel" by Mel Byars, edited by Hagai Segev, which will be published in Hebrew in about two weeks by Tel Aviv University Press. Byars, one of contemporary design's main figures, became famous thanks to his "The Design Encyclopedia," first published in 1994. Ten years later New York's Museum of Modern Art published a revised and updated edition. Byars is also known for his "Pro-Design" or "50" series of books covering 50 lights, 50 products, 50 sport wares, 50 tables and 50 chairs - each time he discusses a different design object. Byars not only presents the item, he describes the production stages in detail. Advertisement Byars divides his time between Tel Aviv and New York, and is currently teaching at the Technological Institute in Holon. "It all began with the fact that in the context of my work with the design curator of the Museum of Modern Art in New York at the beginning of the decade, she didn't stop talking about Israeli design," he says. "Of course, I thought she was joking, until in 2003 I received an invitation from Prof. Ezri Tarazi, the head of the master's degree program in industrial design at Bezalel [Academy of Art and Design], to give a seminar in the program. I was very impressed with what I discovered during the visit - I had no idea I would be exposed to so many young talents." The invitations to visit kept arriving, and Byars, who was impressed by the design that had begun to flourish in the academic world here during that period, decided in 2005 to come to live in Israel. It was then the idea of the book was conceived. Tarazi, who at the time organized the Israeli exhibition at New York's Cooper-Hewitt, National Museum of Design, thought of accompanying the exhibition with a book. Because of busy schedules and the exhibition's relatively small size, Tarazi preferred if someone from outside the Israeli design world wrote the book. So he turned to Byars, who accepted the offer. The impressive book covers 204 pages. Byars presents over 300 works from the field of product design for the home, created in the past decade by about 130 designers in Israel. Many of the works are by students, but the book includes familiar designers such as Gad Charny, Ami Derech, Dov Ganchrow, Ofer Zik, Tarazi, Hanan de Lange, Yaron Elyasi and Alon Razgour. It also includes design studios such as Tahana Le'Itzuv, Omami, Reddish and Monkey Business. The book is divided into 11 parts including furniture, lighting, products for children, electrical accessories and products, tableware, lamps and Hanukkah menorahs. Each work has a short text giving the name of the designer, year of manufacture, work process and materials. On the one hand, it's a gift album you can leaf through and look at the pictures. On the other hand, the text takes a comprehensive look at industrial design in Israel. "I did not make a point of choosing things that I like or hate, and I'm certain I left a number of disappointed designers out of the book. The book is not a contest or a survey - you can't please everyone," says Byars. "But when you examine the works included it isn't difficult to notice the large number of prototypes that appear there that will never see a mass production line. When I spoke about that with my students I explained to them that if you don't want to present only 10 works, it's impossible to write a book about Israeli design any other way. "That's the advantage and disadvantage of what's happening in Israel: the use of ready-made and improvisation. On the one hand, the reason for that is clear, and it's related to a lack of budgets. There are almost no organizations today in Israel that nurture the field of design, and there are few entrepreneurs and factories that hire regular designers and reward them with full cooperation over the long term," he says. "On the other hand, improvisation is responsible for the interesting and original designs that appear in the book. I call Israel 'the world capital of ready-made.' There's nowhere else in the world where improvisation and the use of ready-made materials is so widespread." Byars often calls Israel "a strange place," referring to the designers' impossible working conditions. But it's true of him as well: The publication of the book's English version is shrouded in uncertainty, although it was originally written in English, because funding has yet to be found. Israel is also causing Byars difficulties and not allowing him to live here permanently, so he is forced to apply for a residency permit every six months. Bookmark to del.icio.us   WHO knows? The WHO says Israel lets Gazans die in 'avoidable tragedies'. Friendly faces Google, Facebook and Yahoo heads will attend a J'lem technology summit.

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