13 April 2016
A great experimenter who has always been attracted by the possibilities of a fusion between industrial process and handicrafts, Francesco Faccin, born in 1977, argues that “the best designs are the ones that start from scratch.” And he has backed up the claim with Serial Planks, six objects made of bronze (a trestle, a small table, a centerpiece, a chair, a bench and a pedestal) made at the Fonderia Artistica Battaglia (1913), of which he is art director. The collection has been presented at the historic Milanese foundry, on the occasion of this year’s Miart, with an exhibition entitled Bronzification and curated by Maria Cristina Didero (open until April 18) in exclusive for the Nilufar Gallery, which in the spaces of what it calls its Depot will be showing a three-meter-long table and a console table created by Faccin using the same method during Design Week. This hybridizing of art and design is already being done in the name of a project that unites a classic industrial theme like mass production with as ancient a process as lost-wax casting, unchanged since the time of the Etruscans. Serial Planks is based on the modular reproduction in bronze of a wooden board (a larch plank measuring 150 x 7 centimeters), which is assembled to create endless compositions. The possibility of choosing between the multitude of patinas available from the foundry, which boasts one of the most extensive catalogues in Europe, increases the level of customization of each object. The area is that of art design, with a difference: here the spirit is closer to the logic of industry with the use of a single mold to make a range of different pieces. Serial Planks is only the first stage in an initiative on the part of Faccin and Matteo Visconti di Modrone (president of the Fonderia Battaglia) which has the goal of establishing a new relationship between designer, manufacturer and gallerist. In fact the foundry will make free of charge the first prototype for designers which it believes in and who will use their own network of contacts to find a distributor (a gallery) that will commission the production: a virtuous circle in which Formafantasma, Alvaro Catalán de Ocón and Lex Pott have already been involved.
Serial Planks, Bronzification
Curated by Maria Cristina Didero
Fonderia Artistica Battaglia, Milan
April, 9 – 18
