Autarchy

Autarchy

Self initiated, 2010

Autarchy1 is an installation that proposes an autonomous way of producing goods and outlines a hypothetical scenario in which a community embraces a serene and self – imposed embargo, and where nature is personally cultivated, harvested and processed to feed and make tools to serve human needs.
№ 2.1.1.5 – Autarchy, view of the installation.
№ 2.1.1.1 – Cene di San Giuseppe, Salemi, Sicily.
№ 2.1.1.2 – Cene di San Giuseppe, Salemi, Sicily.
Autarchy pays homage to the uncomplicated, the simple and the everyday. In the installation, a collection of vessels naturally desiccated or low – temperature dried are produced with a bio-material composed of 70% flour, 20% agricultural waste, and 10% natural limestone. The differences in the colour palette are obtained by the selection of distinct vegetables, spices and roots that are dried, boiled or filtered for their natural dyes. As guests in the project, Formafantasma invited the Italian broom maker Giuseppe Brunello and the renowned French bakery Poilâne to join in the development of the installation.
№ 2.1.1.7 – Autarchy, view of the installation.
№ 2.1.1.4 – Autarchy, view of the installation.
The cereal sorghum works as a link between these crafts – in a perfect production process without waste, the cereal is harvested and used to create tools, vessels, and food. As an open-source where information and knowledge are shared, the installation displays the different steps in the research, explaining the material and production processes of the products. The furniture used to display the products is based on the manufacturing and drying processes used in the project, and feature a drying oven and mill. Autarchy suggests an alternative way of producing goods in which inherited knowledge is used to find sustainable and uncomplicated solutions.
№ 2.1.1.3 – Autarchy, material samples.
№ 2.1.1.8 – Straw broom.
№ 2.1.1.9 – Straw broom, detail.

Notes, References and External Links

1. Autarchy. Self – sufficiency. Autarchy is the characteristic of self – sufficiency, usually applied to societies, communities, states, and their economic systems.

2. Poilâne. Lionel Poilâne was a French baker and entrepreneur whose commitment to crafting quality bread earned him worldwide renown. His father, Pierre Poilâne started a baking business in 1932, creating bread using stone-ground flour, natural fermentation, and a wood – fired oven.

– Dictating Food: Autarchy, Food Provision, and Consumer Politics in Fascist Italy, 1922 – 1943.

St. Joseph bread sculptures. St. Joseph's Day Altars. In Sicily and some parts of Southern Italy, communities traditionally lay a common St. Joseph’s table in the main piazza, some of which also offer free meals and bread to visitors. 

Contributors

CONCEPT, DESIGN Andrea Trimarchi, Simone Farresin
PRODUCTION Formafantasma, Giuseppe Brunello, Poilâne
PHOTO CREDITS Formafantasma


Literature

The New York Times, Creating Objects to Recall the Past
DomusFormafantasma at Sotheby's London
Dezeen, Autarky by Studio Formafantasma
Spike Art Magazine, The Avant – Garde of a Post – Industrial Aesthetic
VU Amsterdam, Autarchy: The Making of Dutch Design in Practice
Abitare, Autarchy by studio formafantasma
Design Indaba, The simple life
Klat Magazine, Formafantasma Back to the future