hella jongerius & louise schouwenberg add automated, animated shadows to la rinascente in milan

hella jongerius & louise schouwenberg add automated, animated shadows to la rinascente in milan

for the third time, serpentine galleries has collaborated with la rinascente on a special installation for the department store’s storefront windows during milan design week 2016. ‘a search behind appearances’ presents a unique collaboration between designer hella jongerius and theorist louise schouwenberg, which reflects on what lies behind-the-scenes of the complex world of design. with a sophisticated interplay between shadow and light, the eight displays feature ingeniously animated and automated small-scale machines that assemble and disassemble iconic design objects — each evoking questions and offering alternate means for reading the true value of a design piece.

¿has the full potential of design been exploited?

while the first and last windows explain the premise of the project in more depth, the six central vetrines host a collection of fabrics bearing complex woven patterns. on these textiles, shadows generated by the continuous movement of small letters and scale models of designer items are projected. the animated mechanism that produces the shadows is not hidden — instead, viewers are invited to read the fictional realities hidden behind the images, and make connections between them and the wider context of design.

the six central vetrines host a collection of fabrics

‘hella jongerius and louise schouwenberg encourage us to meditate on the world of design in all its forms; dismantling and leaving them bare for all to see, showing us the complex world that lies beneath the surface of every object that will invade our city during the design week,’ alberto baldan, CEO of la rinascente, describes. 

a sequence of letters creates the word ‘POSSIBILITIES’

the machine turns the forms in such a way that the viewer sometimes sees fragments of design objects
gif © designboom

¡judge a design by the questions it evokes!

water is pumped, causing an incessant inflation and deflation of the abstract forms

the water flow represents ideas going back and forth, projected onto a fabric that contains questions about design

¿why design for a world of plenty?

the machine casts shadows of well-known design objects onto a blank sheet

 

A video posted by milan design week 2016 (@milan.design.week) on Apr 12, 2016 at 6:35am PDT

the design ‘confetti’ refers to the recurring production of new designs

the blank slate refers to design fairs, when objects become isolated items on temporary pedestals
image © designboom

¿how to entertain a vivid dialogue with the archive?

the machine produces a flow of fragments of letters, which eventually string into coherent sentences

 

A video posted by milan design week 2016 (@milan.design.week) on Apr 12, 2016 at 6:43am PDT

fragments spin and turn into letters and words, projected on fabric that contains references to weaving techniques

¡innovation requires serendipity!

the turning machine casts light on the fabric where the details demand attention

placing a spotlight in front of the fabric reverses the shadow, and allows viewers to see the details of the weaving

¿what is cultural innovation?

a constantly inflating and deflating form is projected onto the woven quotes of great thinkers

as the form blows up, the printed word ‘NEW’ grows larger, losing contours and meaning

air is blown into a cushion-shaped form that increases and transgresses the fabric, then deflates
image © designboom

see designboom’s instagram coverage @milan.design.week