FORMAFANTASMA
FOUNDATION

April 3rd – 9th, 2017
Spazio Krizia
Milano

About the Exhibition

On the occasion of the Milano Design Week 2017, Studio Formafantasma has been invited to occupy and re-open the Milanese venue Spazio Krizia, after several years of vacancy. Known as one of the most prominent locations of the ‘Fuorisalone’ (the independent design scene that grew as a alternative to the furniture fair),
the space has previously hosted presentations from designers such as Ingo Maurer and Ron Arad. ‘Foundation’ exhibition is conceived as a display of studies and the groundwork for current and future developments in the field of lighting. The show highlights the studio’s consistent focus on rethinking object typologies through material investigations. On view a selection of objects from their ‘Delta’ collection, developed for the gallery, a series of experiments with light, developed for Peep-hole, an independent art centre in Milano, and a preview of the upcoming collaboration with the Textiel Museum in Tilburg. ‘Foundation’ also offers a deeper insight into the studio’s first industrially produced objects with the lighting company Flos. 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. Designed as three-dimensional sketches, these tests are instinctively, yet carefully assembled, using stationary (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, color, space — and the use of optics, mirrors and glass to shape it.