Formafantasma
Culture Makers
Words by Sarah Dorkenwald
Woods come into view; thick, dense woods, seen from above, with white, tightly curled treetops like florets of cauliflower. The higher they are, the whiter, contrasting with the deep blood-red of the lower undergrowth in a clear portrayal of the complex structure of this white forest. The camera pans slowly over the forest at a measured pace, exploring, seeking to understand, yet also enraptured, transported. A voice is heard, clear and firm, speaking slowly with deliberate pauses between the words. The tree is speaking to us. It says, You probably are surprised to hear me speaking. You’ve always imagined us as incapable of intelligence, language, empathy. You can think of me only as a raw material for building your world. In your mind we have been, and continue to be, obtuse green stones, brownish, mineral zombies, at best green spots at the edge of your sight. Yet I am alive, just like the pets that surround you or, probably, more intensely alive than them. You have spent the last years and decades trying to acknowledge the rights of animals; you have extended your human privileges to them. Now we are claiming those rights. We do so because in the end, ninety per cent of the biomass on this planet is vegetal matter. We are alive — — exactly like you, although we live much longer than you do. Therefore, we know your lineage, we know your story; we are, after all, old friends. The tree talks and talks, explaining how it sheds its leaves in winter to deal with the cold more effectively, and reminding us that we are incapable of shedding parts of our body because, unlike its leaves, our limbs do not regrow. Perhaps this is a moment for us to stop short and contemplate as we listen. Perhaps we will wonder whether the forest is truly superior to us, whether we can learn from it–and whether we can exist without it.
The film is entitled Quercus, the Latin term for the oak tree. The script was written by philosopher and botanist Emanuele Coccia. Coccia’s script investigates the relationship which humankind has developed with the forest by itself adopting the perspective of an imaginary forest. We need to grasp the inseparable connection which exists between trees and humans before we can explore more radical ways of living amidst this complex ecosystem and protecting it. The woods in the film are actually an oak forest in Virginia; it is seen from an unaccustomed perspective using Lidar technology, which employs reflected laser light and measurement of distances to scan and record large areas. In recent years the technology has become widespread in the timber industry, where it is used to support the management of selective felling.
The video is part of Cambio, the latest comprehensive research and design project by designer duo Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, better known as Formafantasma. There’s no overlooking, or overhearing, the fact that these two charismatic, sophisticated and stylish men are both from Italy. Although from different environments and backgrounds — Andrea is from Sicily in the south and Simone from the north of the –—they have developed a unique, symbiotic and successful way of working together. The two first met in Florence as design undergraduates at the age of 19. They quickly realised they had no interest in continually creating new forms for objects, but instead sought to rethink objects themselves.
South Gallery
East Gallery
Moving on, they applied to the Design Academy in Eindhoven, beginning their studies with a joint portfolio and concluding them in the same way, with a joint final dissertation. Formafantasma has become their driving principle, a perpetually open-ended process of questioning, researching and investigating, guiding them to the form which only reveals itself at the end. Their formula or approach has made them world-famous in design circles and beyond; their customer roster includes Fendi, Hermès, J. & L. Lobmeyr, Established & Sons, Lexus, Krizia International and Flos. But do not be deceived by the idea that these prestigious brands commission the duo to design classically attractive and functional products.
are Studio Formafantasma
Botanica, one of their earlier projects from 2011, is an example of their conceptual and critical approach, with its focus on exploration of materials and histories. The project examines topics including sustainability, tradition and the significance of objects as elements of cultural connection. Botanica was created by Studio Formafantasma for Fondazione Plart, an Italian institution for the research, restoration and conservation of artworks and design objects made from plastics. The idea was to create plastic objects as if the Age of Oil we now live in had never taken place, taking botany — one of the most ancient of sciences — as inspiration. During their research the designers uncovered ancient botanical lore and long-forgotten methods for producing natural polymers. They immersed themselves in the past, going back to the 18th and 19th centuries and discovering formulations from a time when scientists were just beginning to use vegetable and animal products to create natural plastics. The objects made using these methods have organic shapes and amber hues that affirm the natural origin of their materials. They are a link between the Bakelite age of the early 20th century and a new post-industrial aesthetic, simultaneously archaic and contemporary. By reinterpreting old techniques that had been lost to the rise of mass-production, Botanica opened up new perspectives for plastics. Many pieces by Studio Formafantasma are now part of international collections including MoMA in New York, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, MAK Museum in Vienna and Les Arts Décoratifs and Cnap in Paris, to name but a few. As early as 2011, influential design curator Paola Antonelli included Trimarchi and Farresin in her select list of personalities that would shape the future of design.
East Gallery
This year they launched a master’s course entitled Geo-Design at the Design Academy in Eindhoven. The concept of this new course primarily seeks to investigate the extent to which social, economic, territorial and geopolitical influences shape design today. In their teaching as in many other of their projects, Farresin and Trimarchi explore the framework of diverse knowledge–from material histories to cultural world-views, from humanism to ecology, from plant and animal rights to artificial intelligence, from the Earth’s core to outer space. Their vision posits designers as critical agents in the global system, whose skillset and perspective must expand rapidly beyond isolated, self-referential processes.
