14/04/2014

Saying Goodbye to Salone del Mobile 2014

A sofa with an integrated blanket resembling Little Red Riding Hood’s cape, a series of tables reminscing leaves and stems, moiré effect-inspired jewellery, a ‘modern’ interpretation of a classic Tyrolean chair, a chubby foam armchair, a set of furniture customizable through a simple app: these are just a tiny part of an endless and almost entirely senseless list of products presented during last week’s Salone del Mobile. And yet, official figures show more than 360,000 people have visited the fair alone, a number which probably doubles for all the Fuorisalone dwellers, making us wonder what does the Salone actually mean for design practice. Other than spending a fun week trying to source a few clever projects and seeing a few amusing exhibitions, what does it bring to design research? Is the prime event of the design sphere still something we should look forward to?

Some designers, like Martino Gamper, have decided to test a new approach. While his furniture was shown at Nilufar gallery and his repair-shop was set up in front of La Rinascente, Gamper has also presented a new project, aimed directly at potential buyers and producers. The aim of “From-To”, developed as part of “Valore Artigiano” project, was to focus on the interaction between designers and artisans of the Veneto region. By choosing to leave the media out of the event, “From-To” wanted to create an environment for possible future collaborations between designers, artisans and their clients: be it a one-time buyer, an industrial reality or a gallery.

While “From-To” explored the relationship with market logics, other interesting projects were developed on the other part of the spectrum. Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO), is a project by Joseph Grima, founder of Space Caviar, which works as a mobile newspaper unit developing content through an algorithmic journalism machine using software that combines voice recognition technology, extracted from a series of conferences held at Palazzo Clerici, and social media content posted using the #OnTheFlyMilan hashtag.

Seeing projects like “From-To” and “FOMO” in Milan is a rarity, an almost extinct breed of design research, which raises questions about market systems, means of distribution, interaction, production and consumption. And yet, possibly we have got it all wrong, and design is supposed to be just pure fun.

Rujana Rebernjak 
11/04/2014

Style Suggestions: Weekend Getaway

With summer approaching, an abundance of weekend getaways are on the horizon and packing wisely for them is a must. Whether you’re preparing for a girls’ weekend away or visiting family and friends, there are a few key pieces that should always hold a place in your suitcase.

Nicholas Kirkwood, See by Chloé, Raoul, Roy Rogers, Burberry, Stella McCartney, Aesop

Styling by Vanessa Cocchiaro 

10/04/2014

The Glamour of Italian Fashion at the V&A

The history of Italian fashion might sum up the history of the fashion world: its crafts-based approach, impeccable choice of materials, sleek tailoring, soft lines, flawless taste and irresistible flair have left a profound mark on the way we perceive clothes and the fashion industry itself. From the classic glamour and opulence of post-war years, up until the present, Italian fashion designers have dictated the rules of international style, while the quality of their production became a trademark in its own right: “Made in Italy”. A new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London celebrates the ‘Italian way’ of interpreting fashion, in an exhibition that traces nearly 70 years of its history.

Titled “The Glamour of Italian Fashion. 1945-2014”, the exhibition focusses both on womenswear and menswear collections, revealing those individuals, organizations, approaches and trends that have left a permanent mark on the world fashion map. Starting right after the war, where a return to luxury and apparent opulence symbolized “a hunger for glamour after years of wartime deprivation”, examining the relationship between Hollywood and stars of the international cinema and Italian tailoring during the Sixties, revealing the successes of “Made in Italy” throughout the Seventies, and ending with the rising figures of fashion designers as international stars, this exhibition gives a comprehensive overview not only of trends and styles, but also of the depth of research, the use of materials, production techniques and the influence of socio-political context on Italian fashion design.

Around 100 ensembles and accessories by leading Italian fashion houses including Simonetta, Pucci, Sorelle Fontana, Valentino, Gucci, Missoni, Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Marni, Fendi, Prada and Versace, through to the next generation of fashion talent, are on display at the V&A, re-affirming the incredible role of Italian design in the history of fashion.

“The Glamour of Italian Fashion. 1945-2014” will run until the 27th of July 2014 at Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Francesca Crippa – Images courtesy of the V&A Museum 
09/04/2014

Italian Renaissance Theaters: Teatro Farnese

Teatro Farnese (Farnese Theatre) is one of the most breath-taking sites in all of Parma and Italy. Built in 1618 by order of Ranuccio I, duke of Parma and Piacenza, and designed by the ferrarese architect, Giovan Battista Aleotti, the theatre was built to celebrate the passing of Cosimo II de’ Medici through Parma on his way to Milan to visit the tomb of San Carlo Borromeo.

However, Cosimo II de’ Medici cancelled the trip to Milano due to health problems, and the theatre would be inaugurated only 10 years later in the occasion of Margherita de’ Medici’s marriage with Duke Odoardo. For the occasion, the theatre hosted the “Mercurio and Marte” (Mercury and Mars) regal tournament written by Claudio Achillini with music by Claudio Monteverdi. The peak of the spectacle was an extraordinary “naumachia” (naval battle) for which the entire parterre was flooded with pumps located underneath the stage. The theatre also featured a special balcony for the Dukes, a precursor of what would become the royal booth in greatest theatres around the world.

Teatro Farnese was built entirely out of painted wood and plaster, in order to resemble more expensive marble. During the Second World War, the theatre was subject to bombing and almost completely destroyed; a restoration underway during the 50s brought the theatre to its original splendour. The restructured sections were nevertheless left bare in order to highlight the extent of the damage. Some consider Teatro Farnese to be the first theatre with a proscenium arch, that is, a theatre in which the audience views the action through a single frame. The age of Baroque took off from Teatro Farnese with its spectacular stage effects, while its auditorium recalled that of an ancient theatre.

Due to its complicated nature and extremely high costs of show production, the theatre was only used nine times from its inauguration, mostly for ducal marriages or important state visits. The last show dates back to 1732, after which it was left to ruin until the bombardment of 1944. In the meantime, many well-known artists came to visit the theatre, expressing their complete astonishment both by its beauty and state of decay, among them Montesquieu, de Brosses and Dickens, who even mentioned it in his “Pictures from Italy”.

Dickens wrote: “There is the Farnese Palace, too; and in it one of the dreariest spectacles of decay that ever was seen—a grand, old, gloomy theatre, mouldering away. It is a large wooden structure, of the horse-shoe shape; the lower seats arranged upon the Roman plan, but above them, great heavy chambers; rather than boxes, where the Nobles sat, remote in their proud state. Such desolation as has fallen on this theatre, enhanced in the spectator’s fancy by its gay intention and design, none but worms can be familiar with. A hundred and ten years have passed, since any play was acted here. […] The desolation and decay impress themselves on all the senses. The air has a mouldering smell, and an earthy taste; any stray outer sounds that straggle in with some lost sunbeam, are muffled and heavy; and the worm, the maggot, and the rot have changed the surface of the wood beneath the touch, as time will seam and roughen a smooth hand. If ever Ghosts act plays, they act them on this ghostly stage.”

Giulio Ghirardi 
08/04/2014

Salone del Mobile 2014

Milan furniture fair was founded back in 1961, a historical period when, due to the economic growth and extensive reconstruction after the Second World War, the local public showed a growing need for quality products necessary to furnish their newly built homes. The fair was conceived, in fact, as a meeting point between the manufacturers, many of them artisans working with wood, and their consumers. Even though the fair has grown exponentially through the years, becoming the most significant event in the design world, its initial aim appears to be lost.

This year’s Salone del Mobile opens its doors today and many of its visitors probably won’t even set foot at the central fair. In fact, the city centre itself hosts hundreds of events, shows, exhibitions and talks: an entire universe of contemporary design that is often difficult to grasp. From the prominent, historically traditional, venues such as Triennale di Milano, to more experimental settings such as Ventura Lambrate, the city is overflown with design projects – so much more than you could actually see in a week.

Thus, if you are looking for glimpses of what design is all about at the moment, here is a short selection of highlights of this year’s Salone. Starting from the Triennale is actually not a bad beginning. Even though the famous ‘design museum’ has through the years transformed itself into a fair more than a temple of design, you can nevertheless check the 7th edition of Triennale Design Museum, together with exhibitions about sustainable design, cooking tools, Mark Newson’s eyewear, and domestic landscapes. While Tom Dixon has abandoned its scenic setting at the Science Museum and set-up his English club-inspired stand at the fair, there are still a few gems around town where you can wonder. Moving to the heart of the city, you should stop by Martino Gamper’s “In a State of Repair” workshop at La Rinascente, developed as a twin project of his exhibition at Serpentine Gallery in London. Walking towards the central station, you can stop by Via San Gregorio, where you will find Droog, Kvadrat and Wallpaper magazine.

Fabrica design studio’s Hot and Cold exhibition at Garage Milano, Formafantasma’s “De Natura Fossilium” at Palazzo Clerici, Foscarini and Inventario’s textile exhibition at Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Kartell’s new tableware collection or Molteni&C’s re-edition of Gio Ponti’s chairs, are just a few things you might see before moving on to Ventura Lambrate, zona Tortona or even Brera design district. And if your head actually stops spinning and you manage to discern ‘novelty’ from ‘quality’, you will find out that Salone del Mobile might even not be that exhausting.

Rujana Rebernjak 
07/04/2014

Piero Manzoni 1933 – 1963

This is a good period of the year for art lovers visiting Milan, since the city resurfaced out of its winter stupor with a high-level exhibition schedule. Besides its mainstream shows devoted to grand masters Kandinsky and Klimt, Palazzo Reale is also the home of a retrospective devoted to the genius of Piero Manzoni (1933-1963), one of the most significant and innovative Italian artists of the 20th century avant-garde.

The show, guided by a clear and essential path and a well-arranged set-up, retraces the short but striking career of the Milanese artist, displaying a selection of works that represent the main topics of his distinctive research: from the informal pieces of the early years, partially influenced by Enrico Baj and Lucio Fontana, to the famous Merda d’Artista (1961), undoubtedly his best-known work. It is amazing to see how Manzoni, within a short lapse of time, was able to leave his mark, bringing to question and satirizing the status of art object as it was conceived until that period.

In 1957 the artist initiated the series Achromes, white canvases soaked with glue and coated with gesso and kaolin (white clay often used in the manufacture of porcelain), which created three-dimensional surfaces; then in 1958 founded, together with Enrico Castellani and Agostino Bonalumi, the magazine “Azimuth” and the Azimut gallery, where he first exhibited his Lines, continuous ink marks traced on stripes made of paper of different length, rolled and closed into a tube with a tag explaining the content and sold by the meter – this work reached its peak in Linea Lunga (Line 7200m) created in Herning. During the ‘60s Manzoni worked on the Corpi d’aria (Bodies of air) and produced Fiato d’Artista (Artist’s Breath), a series of red, white and blue balloons, inflated and attached to a wooden base inscribed “Piero Manzoni- Artist’s Breath”. The material necessary to create the work was wrapped in a wooden box and sold with a user’s guide, while balloons inflated by the artist himself had to be payed extra. As in later Merda d’artista, this work also looked into the value of each artist’s act, underlying it in an ironic and provocative way.

Beyond the Basi Magiche (Magic basis), a series of wooden plinths that could be stood on to acquire the status of a ‘Living Sculpture’, the exhibition shows the Uova (Eggs), hard-boiled eggs certified by Manzoni’s fingerprint. These groundbreaking sculptures could have been eaten, creating a spiritual and physical union with the artist or kept in a small case that recalls the worship of relics. In both cases, there is a strong reference to religious themes and an important anticipation of the relational art developed during the mid-1990’s, aimed at creating a contact between artists and their audience, in a dialogue where process and motivation become more meaningful than the final artwork.

Piero Manzoni 1933-1963 will run through 2nd June 2014.

Monica Lombardi 
04/04/2014

Italian Renaissance Theaters: Teatro all’Antica

Teatro all’antica (“Theatre in the style of the ancients”) is a theatre in Sabbioneta near Mantua. A jewel of rare beauty, it was the first free-standing building designated exclusively for theatre performances. In fact, it would anticipate subsequent abandonment of open-air plays in favour of indoor performances. It is the second-oldest surviving indoor theatre in the world (after the Palladian Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza), and is, along with Teatro Farnese in Parma, one of three remaining Renaissance theatres.

In May 1588, Duke Vespasiano Gonzaga commissioned Vincenzo Scamozzi to build a theatre in his idealized town of Sabbioneta. Even though Scamozzi’s design relies on that of his master, Palladio, it was nevertheless compromised by completely different needs in terms of space and form. While Palladio’s theatre in Vicenza is wide and shallow (almost squared), Scamozzi’s is narrow and deep (rectangular), with seating area arranged around an almost horseshoe-shaped plan. Though smaller in scale, with only five rows of seats, the theatre in Sabbioneta retains some of the original Palladian solemnity, adding, at the same time, a unique and innovative element to the structure: a back entrance reserved for the artists, with direct access to dressing rooms.

Currently, one of the remaining elements of the original theatre is the elegant and harmonious lodge consisting of a Corinthian colonnade surmounted by crown statues representing deities of the Olympus. The statues of Gods and the elegant mouldings were built by the Venetian sculptor Bernardino Quadri (school of Veronese), while the raised stage was characterized by sets designed by Scamozzi himself, destroyed in the second half of the 18th century. It represented an urban perspective, a street lined with noble and bourgeois buildings. The sense of depth was accentuated by tilting both the stage and the vaulted ceiling, made of woven river reeds, plastered and painted blue.

The buildings of the scene, as in Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, were made of wood, stucco and painted canvas with faux marble and faux stone, while frescos on the side completed the scene giving the illusion of great distance. While we cannot define the structure built by Scamozzi a proscenium arch in the modern sense of the term, it nevertheless presented a very elaborate stage design. Larger than the one in Vicenza, much of the stage space in Sabbioneta is used to create the illusion of an outdoor perspective, leaving little room for actors. In fact, it proved to be too hampering, and was substituted with movable flats in later productions.

Unlike the theatre in Vicenza, surrounded by buildings on all sides, the one in Sabbioneta is almost free-standing and Scamozzi was free to design three imposing facades, severe enough in style to be defined Palladian – a plain ground floor with rusticated quoins, doorways and windows, and a piano nobile with coupled pillars and niches – a unique and precious gem of Italian Renaissance architecture.

Giulio Ghirardi 
03/04/2014

Style Suggestions: Fashion and Art

From Yves Saint Laurent’s famous Mondrian dress to Céline’s Brassaï graffiti prints fashion has often sought inspiration from art. This Spring/Summer 2014, the trend continues moving from the catwalk to your wardrobes so have fun this season with an art inspired statement piece.

Prada, Christopher Kane, Roy Rogers, Marni, Gary Hume, Sarah Hardacre, Mac Brushes

Styling by Vanessa Cocchiaro 

02/04/2014

Sophie Rowley: Fashion for a Better Future

With innovative material combinations, eye-catching collections and great construction, the London-based designer, Sophie Rowley challenges our perception of fashion. After graduating with a BA from fashion in Berlin, Sophie Rowley moved to London to do an MA in textile and material at Central Saint Martins. She is now working as a freelance designer at the Studio Toogood and has collaborated with brands like Hermès, Diane von Furstenberg, and Alexander McQueen, but her own designs are as interesting as the brands she has worked for.

Rowley´s own collections are all influenced by the modern society and the topics of today. Her bachelor collection “Deepwater horizon” which was shown at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin 2011, was, for example, inspired by the oil catastrophe in the gulf of Mexico and the contrast between the beautiful underwater world and the environmental disaster caused by the oil. Her environmental interest is also shown in her choice of materials, which in this case were leftovers from the automobile industry. Her other collections share the same spirit, and are also made of unexpected or reused materials, an example of which is a sweater made of knitted paper.

In terms of materials, the structure of her creations and the great construction and sewing skills that lays behind them, Sophie Rowley is remaking the definition of what fashion is and what it should be made of. She is therefore an important and inspiring example of a designer who challenges both herself and the rest of the industry to seek new ways of interpreting the concept of fashion itself.

‏Hanna Cronsjö 
01/04/2014

The art of Sister Corita

“Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail, there’s only make.”, wrote Sister Corita together with her students at the Immaculate Heart College back in 1967, summarizing, at the same time, the enthusiasm, passion, persistence and wit that has characterized her personal output though the years. Sister Corita Kent was born in 1918 as Frances Elizabeth Kent into an Irish-American Catholic family living in Iowa. At the age of five, she moved to Hollywood where she would later (at 18) enter the convent of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Religious Community.

Upon entering the Community, Sister Corita met her mentor and fellow art entrepreneur Sister Meg, with whom she would later travel, teach and work for more than a decade, becoming a sort of an establishment for the local creative community, collaborating and exchanging ideas with personalities like Buckminster Fuller, John Cage, Peter Yates, Virgil Thomson, Josef von Sternberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Saul Bass, Daniel Berrigan and Charles and Ray Eames. While teaching at the Immaculate Heart College, Sister Corita would use a myriad of different and mostly unorthodox techniques in showing her students how to think and look at the surrounding world. Her idea was that art was on the streets and in the marketplace: those were the sources students were asked to draw inspiration from.

In fact, Sister Corita’s work itself was primarily focused on text and vibrant color, manipulated type and images appropriated from the newly burgeoning consumer culture of her era. Rather than using the trappings of materialism to point out its flaws, however, she would radically reframe the elements she extracted from advertising logos and signage by spatially manipulating the text. She would then add quotations from sources as diverse as the Bible, author and philosopher Albert Camus, poet Rainer Maria Rilke, and contemporary pop songs by the Beatles.

After leaving the religious community in 1968, Corita Kent’s work has nevertheless changed, turning into a more subtle, nuanced approach to art making. Currently, two different exhibitions are celebrating her work, one at the Circle Culture Gallery in Berlin, and the other at Galerie Allen in Paris. Both exhibitions aim at retracing the richness and variety of Sister Corita’s work, bringing to life her spirit of collaboration, renewal, positivity and joy, that many students, art workers and teachers could still benefit from today.

“Let the Sun Shine In – A Retrospective” will run until May 10th 2014 at Circle Culture Gallery in Berlin, while “But, There Is Only One Thing That Has Power” will run until April 19th at Galerie Allen in Paris.

Rujana Rebernjak 
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