The parallel exhibition "Industrial Design and Graphics" at documenta 3 opened on August 22, 1964, at the Staatlichen Werkkunstschule Kassel and was on view until October 31, 1964 9/9. As a member of the documenta Council, the director of the Werkkunstschule, Jupp Ernst, was responsible for the Industrial Design department. He selected several works by renowned designers, among them Bauhaus artists like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Herbert Hirche, and Wilhelm Wagenfeld. Max Bill declined, exhibiting only in the Graphics section headed by Karl Oskar Blase.
However, Bill was not the only one who did not want to make his works accessible to the public. Wilhelm Wagenfeld also decided not to present his works in the “Industrial Design” section. Instead of exhibiting, he wanted to intensify his work with industry and improve his designs, especially after his works have been shown in Zurich, Amsterdam, Munich and Berlin. The curators resolutely disregarded this wish, although Wagenfeld declined twice.
Nevertheless, Jupp Ernst and his team continued listing Wagenfeld's industrial designs, which were produced at Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik, and requested photographs for the catalog.
