Foundation
Spazio Krizia, Peep-Hole, 2017
In 2017 Formafantasma during Salone Del Mobile has been invited to occupy and re-open the Milanese venue Spazio Krizia1, after several years of vacancy. The space has previously hosted presentations from designers such as Ingo Maurer and Ron Arad.
Formafantasma presents a selection of objects from their 'Delta' collection, developed for the gallery Giustini / Stagetti Roma2, and a series of experiments with light, developed for Peep – hole3, an independent art centre in Milan. Presented as a companion to the launch of the studio’s first industrially produced objects with the lighting company Flos, 'Foundation' offers a deeper insight into their thinking. The show is conceived as a display of studies and the groundwork for current and future developments in the field of lighting.
While the finished objects are formally developed and define a new, more industrial direction for the studio, the experiments (concisely named by the designers as 'tests' and numerically divided) demonstrate the duo’s intuitive and research-based process. These tests, designed as three – dimensional sketches, are instinctively yet carefully assembled, using stationery (pencils and erasers) and standard industrial materials (steel rods, bricks and insulation material).
LED strips are left visible and unfiltered, embracing the punctuated light as an opportunity, rather than a limitation. The result is a meticulous investigation into the components of light – reflection, shadow, colour, space – and the use of optics, mirrors and glass to shape it. Elements that at first appear sculptural, reveal a specific intent on closer inspection. Responding to the lack of colour saturation during the winter months, the designers created three objects that cast brightly – tinted reflections on walls, through the layered dichroic glass.
Another object, fitted with a crystalline, polycarbonate lens suspended under a LED light source, is designed to cast a perfect round reflection on the floor. When using the very symbol of sculptural materials – bronze – the designers apply its most essential characteristics: weight and reflectiveness. In this way, 'Foundation' highlights the studio’s consistent focus on rethinking object typologies through material investigations.
