Witches of Design: Ann Lee: Design, Trance and Feminism

Publisher: Mudac, RADDAR Editions,  ISBN: 9782378966317 , Authors: Alexandra Midal, Format: Softcover, 12 x 19cm,  64pp

Draw­ing on the story of Ann Lee, founder in 1774 of the egal­it­arian Shaker sect, Witches of Design brings together Shaker design – famous for its rock­ing chairs, flat brooms, and other iconic objects – with the rebel­li­ous figure of the witch. In 1837, ecstatic trances disrup­ted the estab­lished order of rituals, and the sect entered what became known as the “Era of Mani­fest­a­tions.”

Anim­ated by the spirit of Ann Lee, a group of unruly sisters begin to vibrate, whirl, and repur­pose objects of design in order to reclaim the free­dom that had been insi­di­ously taken from them over the decades. The result is a narrat­ive in which the history of design inter­twines with insub­or­din­a­tion, trance, and the creat­ive power of women.

The Hexenhaus is a testament to the early, radical style of the Smithsons, to the corrective and anti-aesthetic character of their finest designs – and at the same time, a monument to the professional work of influential architects themselves.