ELEVEN: resin and iron
Sculpture realized by Carlo Poggio Design / ZERODISEGNO for the exhibition: Time according to Alessandro Mendini and his artisans.
Size : 35 x 35 x 70 cm approx
Edition: 5 pieces
With the support of: Vacheron Constantin
In collaboration with: Fondation Cartier pou l’Art Contemporaire
A Project by: Fondazione dei Mestieri d’Arte
THE EXHIBITION
The exhibition entitled “Arts & Crafts & Design: Time according to Alessandro Mendini and his artisans ” will be presented by the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie during the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie. It is the result of a project undertaken by the Fondazione des Mestieri d’Arte in Milan in collaboration with the Cartier Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris, and is made possible thanks to the support of the Swiss Fine Watchmaking company Vacheron Constantin, which has always worked to ensure the continued survival of the artistic crafts.
This exclusive event, open by invitation only, is intended for collectors of fine watches, enthusiasts, customers, and the VIP press from all over the world.
It is the first exhibition to open a dialogue between Fine Watchmaking and design, the arts and the crafts used in other equally noble manual disciplines. Its theme is “TIME.”
Giampiero Bodino, Richemont Group’s Creative Director, designed the setting. Twelve of the thirteen pieces will be displayed in a dedicated area on tall black-and-white stands arranged in a circle to represent a perfect dial symbolising the passage of precious time as structured by moments, work, and thought. The thirteenth piece will be placed at the entrance, positioned like the winding crown of a watch. On each stand, in addition to the work designed by Mendini and created by the master craftsmen, visitors will find images by Milanese photographer Emanuele Zamponi showing how the creation of the object began. The purpose of this show-within-a-show is to pay tribute to the master craftsmen’s incredible dexterity, which brought the project to life.
WHERE CRAFTS MEET DESIGN
In the words of Alessandro Mendini, “The rules of the art set forth countless materials and techniques, in the image of the modern world’s attacks on the great traditions of the artistic crafts. These days we ‘don’t have time,’ and these thirteen works are just the kind of objects that take a great deal of it. That is why making them is meant as a demonstration. In the case in point, they speak about the beauty of works that are created, not to meet a specific goal, but as an end in themselves, and they demonstrate the existence of spaces that offer infinite possibilities in the areas that lie midway between art, craftsmanship, and design, beyond their exclusive domains.”
The intent of “Arts & Crafts & Design. Time according to Alessandro Mendini and his artisans” is to showcase the cooperative relationships that exist among art, design, and artistic crafts. The artist’s and designer’s inspiration, talent, and vision enable the craftsmen to interpret the contemporary world through their extraordinary dexterity, thus participating in a continual renewal of techniques, styles, and areas of expertise that make up an exceptional, precious, and extremely rich cultural heritage. The theme of “time” was chosen as a tribute to Fine Watchmaking, a world in which design, technique and artistic crafts are intimately connected.
CREATIONS AND MATERIALS
The creations designed by Alessandro Mendini were made by renowned Italian artisans out of thirteen different materials. The dialogue between the artist, the designer, and the master artisan, between the person who conceives the idea and the one who interprets it, conveys the vitality of an economic, productive, and cultural system of which the legacy still remains clearly in evidence today.
The exhibition’s cultural ambition is thus to highlight the fundamental role played by the artistic crafts within our society, by including them in an ongoing, progressive dialogue with modern creative expression. Each piece is signed by both Alessandro Mendini and the artisan who made it. Mendini’s wish is that the objects on display be designed to showcase the values of excellence of the main métiers d’art and materials, using techniques that are partly traditional and partly evolutionary or even experimental. Those selected to do the work are among the most talented masters of their crafts.
Each of the objects has its own aesthetic identity, its own visual language coinciding with the characteristics of the materials it “wears.” While each piece is unique and can be viewed as a “character” in its own right, the objects were also designed to be part of a consistent series in which the common thread is either logical or dimensional.
THE EXHIBITIONS
After Geneva, Vacheron Constantin will send the exhibition on a tour to promote the importance of dialogue between the craft trades and design. Once the travelling phase is completed, the pieces will be auctioned, with the proceeds going to a charitable organisation.
Objects created by:
Zero. Bisazza, mosaic
One. Venini, blown glass
Two. Comitato per la Promozione del Merletto di Cantù, lace
Three. Superego Design, ceramic
Four. Slide, lacquered polyurethane
Five. Galleria Paolo Curti & Annamaria Gambuzzi, lacquered wood
Six. Giovanni Scacchi, methacrylate
Seven. Gori Lab, bronze
Eight. Fedeli Restauri , inlaid wood
Nine. Cleto Munari, gold-plated brass
Ten. Henry glass, sandblasted glass
Eleven. Carlo Poggio Design, resin and iron
Twelve. Riva 1920, natural woods
