formafantasma: the stranger within at MAK

formafantasma: the stranger within at MAK – vienna design week 2013
MAK exhibition view, 2013, studio formafantasma. the stranger within, 2013
rug, loan from: nodus, milan
rug, wool, hand-knotted

studio formafantasma – the stranger within
 MAK, vienna 
september 14th to december 12th, 2013

once again, the geymüllerschlössel provides the backdrop for a contemporary design intervention and simultaneously opens itself to juxtapositions reaching across the eras. starting from the location’s history and its present use as a museum site, the MAK design salon invites internationally renowned creatives to deal with this one-of-a-kind cultural legacy in order to set up aesthetic and thematic links to the present and open up new perspectives. while the initial intervention last year, time & again by london-based designer michael anastassiades, was influenced by the villa’s old viennese clocks from the franz sobek collection, the work ‘the stranger within’ by 2013 salon guest studio formafantasma, deals with the fascination evoked by the ‘exotic.’

MAK exhibition view, 2013, studio formafantasma. the stranger within
studio formafantasma, bladder chandelier, 2013
loan from: studio formafantasma
chandelier, cow bladders, brass
image © MAK/katrin wißkirchen

the geymüllerschlössel’s architectural style, façade ornaments, and interior tell of that era’s bourgeois and somewhat faddish predilection for oriental cultures. the panoramic tapestry showing temples in the so-called blue salon provided a starting point from which the design duo set out to analyze this paradox phenomenon in which a yearning for distant places coexisted with biedermeier ‘homeliness.’ andrea trimarchi and simone farresin evoke a multilayered and sensitive way of working; their object series moulding tradition (2009), which deals with early arabian-african influences on the sicilian majolica that subsequently conquered all of europe, took on a whole new urgency and significance when the sicilian island of lampedusa became synonymous with a looming invasion of african refugees.

MAK exhibition view, 2013, studio formafantasma. the stranger within
MAK branch geymüllerschlössel
drawing room
image © MAK/katrin wißkirchen

studio formafantasma’s various series of handcrafted artifacts such as botanica (2011) and craftica (2012) are the outcomes of research to track down ancient techniques and forgotten resources. like archaeologists, they derive their information from the sediments of cultural residues—but as designers they use it as inspiration for the future.

MAK exhibition view, 2013, studio formafantasma. the stranger within
MAK branch geymüllerschlössel
studio formafantasma, craftica, 2012
series of objects, loan from: gallery libby sellers, london
image © MAK/katrin wißkirchen

the intervention the stranger within by studio formafantasma will provide the occasion and the content for a number of events linking the supposedly historical to the contemporary, while also musing about the foreign and breathing new life into the “salon” format.

MAK exhibition view, 2013, studio formafantasma. the stranger within
studio formafantasma, botanica (edition geymüllerschlössel), 2013
series of objects, loan from: studio formafantasma
image © MAK/katrin wißkirchen

MAK exhibition view, 2013, studio formafantasma. the stranger within
MAK branch geymüllerschlössel
studio formafantasma, botanica (edition geymüllerschlössel), 2013
series of objects, loan from: studio formafantasma
image © MAK/katrin wißkirchen

MAK exhibition view, 2013, studio formafantasma. the stranger within
studio formafantasma, moulding tradition, 2009
series of objects, loan from: gallery libby sellers, london, studio formafantasma
image © MAK/katrin wißkirchen

vienna design week 2013 – a city full of design
september 27th to october 6th, 2013

the aim of vienna design week is to show and enable people to experience the many-faceted creative work in the fields of product, furniture and industrial design as well as experimental design. after six successful festivals yet another exquisite and colourful programme of events will be awaiting the visitors in october 2013. design has been and is an important field in the production of culture: it shapes our material culture, our everyday life and our consumer world, it influences our lifestyles and fashions and most fundamentally our aesthetic sense and judgements. this wide-ranging impact is a reason both to celebrate design and to examine it critically, and vienna design week has made both of these its mission.

designboom is an official media partner, stay tuned for more coverage of this year’s event!

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